I can see people are quite lost with this problem and not many of them know what is it all about and what to do.

So for those, who are able to follow simple instructions and think a little bit before they act, here's the SHORT! (really) how-to. If anyone disagrees with me in any point, please feel free to let me know, so I can update my knowledge

1. AntiVirus
Well known programs are Symantec, McAfee, Panda, Kaspersky, AVG, NOD32, Avast, Trend Micro & more.. More about most of them, some tests, etc. you can find on the Virus Bulletin (beside hundreds of others) - http://www.virusbtn.com/
All of them have strong and weak sides, nice or crappy designs, etc, but if you don't prefer anything particular, go for BitDefender
http://www.bitdefender.com/bd/site/form.php
It is the fastest and the most often updated AntiVirus, with inbuilt Antispam and Firewall. In meaning of worms, viruses, intrusion (and spam) you don't need anything else, it just does the job very well. (Who has other experiences, please feel free to express them, but I REALLY CONSISTENTLY TESTED all mentioned (and more) Antivirus systems)
NOTE: BitDefender updates quite often (several times a day) and it usually restarts its program (no chance for a virus to infect the Antivirus itself), can be annoying to have the activity bar pop up every time after you hid it. Go to Antivirus options > untick Show Scan Activity Bar. Other thing is realtime protection, first action is Disinfect, but the second is Deny access and continue. You should change the second action to Move file to quarantine, since Deny access will actually leave the infected file on the same place. Antivirus Options > More Settings > Second Action..

2. AntiSpyware
There are plenty of AntiSpyware programs out there, what lot of people are not aware of, that there are only few which are not bogus (spyware themselves) You can take a look here: http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm and get the idea of what am I talking about
So what to use? Everyone whatever he likes, but my suggestion is this.
A) Microsoft AntiSpyware - http://www.microsoft.com/athome/securit ... fault.mspx
Yes, it is beta, but what even the well-oriented people don't know, MS AntiSpy is an assimilated Giant AntiSpyware, which was the first really working tool for STOPPING the malicious process to being EXECUTED. Anyway, enough of blabla, MS AntiSpy is a must and it's FREE!
NOTE: Some people say it doesn't find as much results as Ad-Aware or SpySweeper.. Oh yeah, but did they say the most of the difference between them are in counting COOKIES and or SUSPICIOUS programs? (even non-spyware sometimes)
B) SpyBot S&D - http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html
Another FREE util to stay protected and it's real-time protection is one of the best - it CAN STOP PROCESS to be executed. It suggests you to use SpywareBlaster to block KNOWN ActiveX and cookies. So go for it
NOTE: What MS AntiSpy can't catch (rare) SpyBot can. You may want to disable the splashscreen and opening program (running scan) at Windows startup, but don't forget to enable TeaTimer (real-time protection)
C) SpywareBlaster - http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
FREEWARE. Again. Disables all known ActiveX threats and dangerous cookies (cookies are not really dangerous, but whatever)
NOTE: Blocking cookies can prevent some sites to work properly (use rather other broswer with its own cookie management, like FireFox)
X) Ad-Aware is good, but I would compare it to Norton AntiVirus, too big, too much of a resource eater. And is not better than what we have now instaled, trust me SpySweeper is known to be the best in finding the most. True or mostly true. And I kinda like it, nice design, speed, everything, but it has one BIG weakness i don't realy get. SpySweeper is not able to STOP the harmful process to be executed. It just INFORMS and you can thereafter run the Scan&Clean..
SPECIAL NOTE: There are utilities like CWSShredder (now sold), HiJackThis - http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html, etc. I don't say they're bad, they're good to spam forums with your process logs and if you wanna ask an advice from advanced users. But if you install everything mentioned here, you just don't need anything else.

3. Browser
Exactly, the weakest part of all (if we don't mention unbelievably cool people opening their mail attachments without working AntiVirus iExplorer, Opera, FireFox, Mozilla, NetScape, AvantBrowser, NetCaptor, ...
A) If you surf securely, go for FireFox - http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/ has absolutely everything you need, if not inbuilt, you can find everything on their plugins/extensions page which can make a VERY POWERFUL browser out of it. Even the full control over tabbed browsing dear IT Pro's whoever reads this! The only disadvantage is not supporting ActiveX what can make some pages to not work properly.
NOTE: Contains Popup blocker and everything-possibly-harmful-blocker, with plugins also adblocker and more, you really do't need any other protection And it's FREE.
B) If you just don't like FireFox or wanna stay faithful to Microsoft go for NetCaptor - http://www.netcaptor.com/download.php Tabbed browser based on iE, has everything you may need and dream of for basic browsing. Popup blocker, groups of favorites, quicksearch (very powerful thing), cleanup, url blocking, on-fly activex and javascript turn on/off, etc. There are other iE-based tabed browsers with lot of features, AvantBrowser - http://www.avantbrowser.com/download.html, FastBrowser - http://www.fastbrowser.net/download.html and others (if you feel like trying, go for them, maybe u'll like them more than NetCaptor)
NOTE: Since NetCaptor has it's own popup blocker, you don't need to install any other 3rd party util. But there's one much better a MUST HAVE tool. RoboForm - http://www.roboform.com/download.html It fills and saves web forms, logins, everything you need to fill on web pages. You don't need to remember your passwords anymore 100% secure, don't worry.
C) Internet Explorer - necessary for windowsupdate site, but you can open ALL iE-only-supported pages with NetCaptor
If you still use iE ONLY (no idea why, but ok), you should install some popup blockers, like Google Toolbar (it's the least crappy around i guess http://toolbar.google.com/ And be prepared for the new iE 7.0 some time around this summer
X) Other browsers have good and bad parts, Opera is rather weird and it's rendering engine supports whatever it want's and they actually want you to pay for it? Huh.. NetScape is very complex and for normal people just too much (although supports iE rendering engine). And Mozilla is just an old FireFox What other choice we've got?

4. Windows Security
There's nothing much to say - http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ SP2 is a MUST, AutoUpdate is essential, but you can just visit the update website and check if there's something new for you. Or get Linux

5. Regular CleanUp
A) You should clean up your TEMP and INTERNET TEMPORARY FILES once in a while. All browsers have different locations, in FireFox you can clean it via Tools > Options > Privacy > Clear. In iE it's Tools > Internet Options > General > Temporary Internet Files > Delete..
B) There are hundreds of tools which can do this for you automatically, so you don't have to care (and also clear other temp files of other programs).Feel free to use anything or just nothing and do it manually, but if you want a good one, use Webroot Window Washer (yes, the creator of SpySweeper) - http://www.webroot.com/products/windowwasher/
NOTE: These utils have one backdraw, they might delete automatically something what you don't really want to, be careful
C) Uninstall - Everyone knows Start > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs. This place should be realy under control, otherwise you system just slows down and slows down and slows.. One very good program for this is Your Uninstaller - http://www.ursoftware.com/uninstaller.htm, but its not free to download anymore. Other is Advanced Unistaller Pro - http://www.innovative-sol.com/uninstaller/ and Ashampoo UnInstaller Suite - http://www.ashampoo.com/ Give them a try. Or not

6. AntiSpam
A) I don't really want to dive into this, since it doesn't belong to security issues (so much), BitDefender provides AntiSpam facility and these days most mail servers have some or other spam engines installed (SpamAssassin is prolly the best). If you want to try different ones, for whatever reason,use the good old Google - http://www.google.com/search?hl=en& ... q=antispam and click trough
B) What you should be AWARE OF, and there's no protection against this whatsoever, is PHISHING - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phishing and PHARMING - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharming (and clones). You are all clever now after reading wikipedia, so just a quick note(s).
NOTE: Phishing is relying on user's naivity. WHO THE HELL ever seen a bank to ask you for REENTERING YOUR DETAILS OR YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE CLOSED (or something like that). Anyway, phishing can be recognized VERY EASILY - when you follow the link in the spam mail, it shows you a mirrored page of whatever institution it wants, but the URL address in the ADDRESS BAR is different. Eventually if you are not sure what is supposed to be the correct address, just hit google.com and search for your 'BANK OF AMERICA' and you will see the difference for yourself
NOTE2: Pharming is far more dangerous. They can use spyware to redirect your pages (to show correct URL address, but different location!), but since you are protected now, that's not gonna happen. Hacked DNS servers are a real problem. If the Pharmers hacked your ISP's DNS server, you are in real danger pretty much. The only way how you can find out if the site is bogus (but why would you be suspicious if everything seems normal and you are visitng your bank's site the usual way?) - to ping/traceroute the site AND compare it to the REAL IP of the REAL website, what can be found out trough proxy servers or 3rd party trace/ping websites - http://www.tracert.com/cgi-bin/trace.pl for xmple. But this is really advanced stuff, so let's leave it.

7. Infection
If you are already infected, you don't really need to reformat or reinstall Windows (even though the reinstall time by time helps to speed it up Just instal everything mentioned here and start to scan and repair. There are some forms of AGGRESSIVE spyware, which can be tough to get a rid of once you have it running in your memory, for that you should ask an ADVANCED user to do it for you and give him the basic hints to look for:
A) Regedit - [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] and [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] also RunServices and RunOnce at the same place. Some spywares if running in memory are able to consistently check and rewrite these entries, so a manual deletion doesn't have to work.
B) Safe mode - F8 at Windows boot. Spyware don't load in safe mode (mostly). You can Scan&Clean there. And remove REGEDIT entries as well.
NOTE: There are also other places where the harmful prog can load itself, like win.ini, system.ini, extensions infection, startup folder, etc, but they're not likely to be used. It would take 3 more pages to cover everything.. If you didn't get a rid of your spyware this way, you should really ask someone experienced, who knows how to use memory scanners & stuff (one for basic use is WinPatrol - http://www.winpatrol.com ), since it's NOT THAT EASY and you have a VERY AGGRESSIVE APYWARE, *Gulg*.

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This is a VERY SIMPLIFIED way of ultimately protecting your computer against everything (but dumbness , you can open your email attachments even if they contain viruses, you can visit underground or xxx websites, you are safe (if they don't use an unknown WINDOWS EXPLOIT, though). Be sure all of your instaled protection programs have AUTOUPDATE enabled, otherwise you can guess what might happen.. Some of the programs mentioned here are free, for some of them you have to pay (or get it otherwise, oops ) - but if some people are keen to pay for virus/spy removals even for SPECIFIC spyware, i'd say rather pay for something more useful
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So for the last, what we have installed? Keep in mind, this combo is tested and doesn't interfere, if it does, something's wrong with your pc -_+

AntiVirus: BitDefender Pro (also Firewall and Antispam)
AntiSpy: Microsoft AntiSpyware, SpyBot Search&Destroy, JavaCool SpywareBlaster (and Webroot SpySweeper to have nice icon in tray
Browser: FireFox, NetCaptor
Security: Windows AutoUpdate
CleanUp: Webroot Window Washer
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Read it, discard it or appreciate, should u have any comments or questions, have your say.

Searcher Out

Very outdated for sure, but the information provided is still an often overlooked necessity of modern computing. And with the increase in Virtual Desktops and the ability to share/link/combine/trade/modify almost anything with anyone through file shares and storage access, these precautions are even MORE critical.

As the old saying goes, "tis better to have it and not need it, than to need it, but not have it."

A little bit of an update if I may. Recently my home network became infected with the WORM_NETSKY.P thanks to my room mates total lack of any sort of protection whatsoever (other than what Windows comes with; ie a Firewall and malicious software detector). We also have a D-Link DIR-685 router housing a network hard drive with which we store and share our movies, games, music and backup files. As luck would have it, he pulled the virus from somewhere, let it get into the network drive, and I was able to block it and detect it's presence before it was able to do anymore damage. He was forced to wipe his drives, write them over with 0's several times and then do the fun task of reinstalling everything he could salvage. I merely took the chance to reassess my own precautions and dove in for some research.

I found a ton of useful and great products, but tis not possible to use them all, and not really wise to even attempt to do so.
In my decision on my chosen protection softwares/services I took into consideration the following:
-system resource consumption
-online backup availability/cost
-cost
-simplicity of setup/daily usage
-how easy is it to uninstall (some things simply will NOT go away)
-technology and future plans
-aggressiveness/effectiveness of functions vs windows stubborn system services
-compatibility with other protection software

In the end I chose to stick with the following softwares and I am very happy.

Anti-Virus
Avast 5:- (Avira is maybe a smudge better, however I despise the constant full screen nag to buy it. Automatic failure merely due to that intrusion. Kaspersky and Symantec are also two of probably better products, but neither is free and both are pretty system resource intensive. Neither of which allowed me to sustain an overhead remnant of memory for gaming of more than 500mb. With Avast, I am able to get my system usage, Windows 7 Ultimate, down to a paltry 480mb sustained.)

Anti Spyware:- Malware Bytes and Super Anti-Spyware and Microsoft built in Defender

Anti Rootkit:- GMER

Defraggers:- Ultimate Defrag for file placement as I desire and Puran Defrag for on the fly defragging and PerfectDisk for scheduled defragging


System Control:- Cacheman 7 memory manager
Process Lasso Process Controller/Enhancer
Mz Ultimate CPU Accelerator
SMART v1 Service control in conjunction with ProcessKO 1
Mz Ultimate Startup Manager