On Thu, 3 Jun 2004 23:43:15 -0700, "Gary S. Terhune"
wrote:

[Note to regulars: I will soon create a webpage or two or three that
replicates the following (with enhancements, of course, plus some additional
t-shooting, Grystmill style), so I can reduce the load I impose here by
repeating it so often. I know it's long overdue, but that's life, s.) The
below includes significant new material. Review, comments and corrections
requested.]

I'm sure many will be looking forward to checking out the web page.
The following points are submitted as constructive comments:

I think the following para may be confusing to the uninitiated.
Suggest you re-write the following para into a Firewall para and AV
para. The 3rd a 4th sentence has switched from firewalls to AVs with
the 5th sentence referring to both.

Tradition had it that Firewalls were generally not needed when using simple
dial-up modem connections. Alas, this is no longer the case. *Everyone*
needs a firewall! Also, I make no bones about it--Norton, McAfee and
Trend-Micro products (and probably a few others) are ABOMINATIONS!,
particularly when it comes to Win9x systems. They are massive suites that
intrude into basic functions where they simply do not need to go. For
freeware solutions, I suggest AVG or AVAST (based upon the recommendations
of others, though each has it's minor drawbacks) and ZoneAlarm Firewall. But
for really good, inexpensive, and trustworthy protection, you simply can't
beat eTrust Armor. Antivirus and Firewall combined, very non-intrusive upon
the system itself (I've *never* seen a crash caused by EZ Antivirus, and
there's hardly any impact whatsoever on Resources, etc.) eTrust is from
Computer Associates Inc.--the antivirus is a version of their corporate
product usually known as Inoculan, and they got smart recently and switched
to using a version of ZoneAlarm for their firewall.

You can get a one-year free trial of eTrust EZ Armor at
http://www.my-etrust.com/microsoft/. This offer was initially slated to end
this June, but has been extended through February 2005. The trial offer is
also included in at least some versions (not sure about all languages) of
Microsoft's Windows Security Update CD, an item *everyone* should own.
(However, do *not* just run the Update CD on your system without a proper
analysis of where your system stands with regard to Updates. Might do more
harm than good.) EZ Armor would normally cost $50 for the first year (a deal
in itself), and yearly renewal subscriptions only cost $25--an absolute
steal when compared with other offerings. Order the Windows Security Update
CD directly from MS, totally free, including S&H, at
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/cd/order.asp

Some precautions in using the WSU CD above may be welcome. I've seen
comments like "Presumably when wmp7.x is already installed, you get
updated to 9.x, which if you've been avoiding it like the plague will
be as welcome as ship full of rats." True? I don't know!

Also acknowledgement of the Windows Security Guidance Kit April 2004
Release, may be helpful.

BoB