[Gtrplyraj]

Well a few months back I was hit relatively lightly from some adware that installed itself from a banner ad when I was visiting a reputable site I trusted (I contacted their webmaster and they had the advertiser blocked). That situation got me thinking heavily about security, information protection, and heightened use of utilities. I'm going to name off my programs and please feel free to suggest programs in areas you think I missed; I know for certain I need a rootkit scanner. I scan my system once a month, if not more often.

Security:
Avast! Anti-Virus
ZoneAlarm free firewall
Ad-Aware 2007
Spybot Search & Destroy
TrueCrypt
Firefox running AdBlock Pro
Password Generator (my own program, generates random passwords up to 256 characters, alphanumeric, special, and HEX)

Utilities:
PerfectDisk Defragmenter
TrueImage data backup
CCleaner
Registry Repair Wizard 2007
Spinrite
G-Parted (Boot cd partition editor)
Emergency Boot CD (Linux based)

Thanks for your opinions and suggestions. This is to protect a home system.

Edit: I have a router connecting my home network, so hardware firewall is covered.

[RootbeaR]

Originally Posted by Gtrplyraj

Well a few months back I was hit relatively lightly from some adware that installed itself from a banner ad when I was visiting a reputable site I trusted (I contacted their webmaster and they had the advertiser blocked). That situation got me thinking heavily about security, information protection, and heightened use of utilities. I'm going to name off my programs and please feel free to suggest programs in areas you think I missed; I know for certain I need a rootkit scanner. I scan my system once a month, if not more often.

Security:
Avast! Anti-Virus
ZoneAlarm free firewall
Ad-Aware 2007
Spybot Search & Destroy
TrueCrypt
Firefox running AdBlock Pro
Password Generator (my own program, generates random passwords up to 256 characters, alphanumeric, special, and HEX)

Utilities:
PerfectDisk Defragmenter
TrueImage data backup
CCleaner
Registry Repair Wizard 2007
Spinrite
G-Parted (Boot cd partition editor)
Emergency Boot CD (Linux based)

Thanks for your opinions and suggestions. This is to protect a home system.

It is lists like that which make me glad I use Linux.
My List?
NETGEAR router. I had it already for XP. I recommend a router that will also be your hardware firewall. Better than software firewall. If you have an old PC around, you don't need to buy one.

[hewee]

Get a router to add to your system.

Other things that are great is.
WinPatrol - http://www.winpatrol.com/

SpywareBlaster
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

A good hosts file.
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm