Securing a PC for novice users

hi there,

tommorrow I'll be getting an older pc from a friend. He said the machine has become very slow and he was worried about Intrusions and malware that might be on his Computer. He told me some strange things about popups he's getting etc...He's a novice Computer user and doesn't know much about it...

I will Format the pc completely and put Windows 7 x86 back on it. Now as I want to Keep it as simple as possible for my friend using the Computer I wonder which programs I could install for security purposes.

My friend will use the Computer only for Surfing the web and watching YouTube Videos now and then. No gaming etc whatsoever...

Also I want to Keep it as simple as possible for me to Setup the Computer cause I don't want to spent too much time in Setting up the machine.

I thought about These programs so far: EMET, Geswall 32bit, SRP...

I think it would be strong enough protection to just run the browser restriced / isolated cause that is all he does basically. Using the Webbrowser...

Of course I will give him a Standard user account but I just wanted to know what you guys would suggest to install on a novice user's Computer...

When I visited them a while ago I already did some work on their Computer. I cleaned 5GB with Ccleaner so you know what Kind of a Computer that is


Any tipps are appreciated!

Regards!

 

Educate your Friend on Sandboxie and Returnil.

 

Simple

MSE
Chrome w/ addblock plus & do not track
EMET
Disable auto run
Create a user account for him that is not ADMIN (optional)

No need for Geswall, Sandboxie or anything else. Keep it simple.

 

Considering that you mentioned you don't want to spend a lot of time configuring the system, then you should make yourself one question - Do you have the time to help your friend everytime he doesn't know how something works, or why something isn't working as it should due to incompatibility issues?

If you lack the time for that, then I'd keep it as simple as possible, and I would put too many restrictions on such a system, unless he really wants that kind of restriction, SRP and the likes would be way too much for him to handle, IMHO.

My pick would be...

1. Standard User Account (You mentioned it.)
2. Google Chrome + Adblock Plus + BitDefender TrafficLight
3. Microsoft EMET
4. Microsoft Security Essentials

If the computer's resources allow for an AV to be installed. Also, I highly doubt your friend will see any false positives for Windows own files, something that third-party AVs managed to screw up more than once.

5. HitmanPro for on-demand scans

(Don't forget backups. Tell him to back important files, at least, should he consider image backups to be too much for him to handle.)

 

LOL i think the answer is in your signature

 

SUA, UAC max, an AV and Sandboxie free for browsing.
And perhaps teach him how to reimage his OS partition when you've made separate OS and Data (and OS image) partitions.
A simple 5-10 step plan (1 Insert Imaging CD, 2 choose...etc) with something like Paragon Free should suffice.
I used to immediately make an OS part. image for friends pc's, when it gets bricked, he/you can reinstall in 10-15 minutes and avoid a repeated chore.
Perhaps also install HitmanPro3 and let it start at bootup always if he will use it for online purchases/banking.
Not sure if EMET is ready for the masses. edit; and a backup of docs oc as moonblood mentioned.

 

Maybe too late already and going out on a limb suggesting this, but Lubuntu should satisfy your friend's needs and save you from future malware cleanups. It can even be installed alongside Windows.

*EDIT*

I would now recommend xubuntu over lubuntu.