system
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Hello Marauding, being in the same situation as you, having a teenage son and one computer that I want to keep clean as long as possible, I’ve taken some measures.
I’ve installed a freeware parental control filter which can be found here : http://www.snapfiles.com/get/iprotectyou.html
This doesn’t replace me as a parent, but it throws a few extra sandbags for the door.
I also installed Spywareblaster and Spysites.
Spywareblaster can be found here : http://www.snapfiles.com/get/spywareblaster.html
and Spysites free version can be found here : http://www.camtech2000.com/Pages/SpySites_Program.html
And I’ve also installed Winpatrol, which I think is an essential program that everyone should use.
It can be found here : http://www.winpatrol.com/
All of these programs are free and work perfectly together with Avast! As for the firewall, as Eddy suggests, it’s better to use another one than the Windows one. Zone-alarm is easy to use, but I personally prefer Outpost 1.0 free, which can be found here : http://www.agnitum.com/download/outpost1.html (it’s the blue button of the “old free version”).
Of course this are only suggestions, but you can read the links and see for yourself. (The links don’t lead you to automatic downloads, just information about the programs so it is safe to click on them). If you have any questions before (or after) you install any of them, just ask here in the forum or send me a PM.
Especially firewalls are sometimes a bit confusing to configure.
As for the settings in Avast! I suggest you use the default settings as Avast! comes “out of the box”. These should be sufficient in your case. (I think that’s one of the best parts of Avast! The average user can start using it immediately after installing without the need of modifying things)
Just make sure you set up the mail-wizard once and please make sure your son uses a safe emailprogram like Eudora, Pegasus or Thunderbird for example (preferably NOT OutlookExpress). And while your at it, read this :
http://www.childnet-int.org/safety/parents.aspx
Good luck,
Fast