Never Had A Trojan - I Think

I'm sure most, if not all, of us are here because we ALREADY CAUGHT something malicious… What if I believe a (newer) computer to be free from viruses and trojans? Should I be installing ad-aware, spybot, etc anyway? What other steps can I take to prevent trojans in the first place?

I would advise installing and running Spybot and Adaware on EVERY PC connected to the Internet.

Spyware on the Internet is kind of like catching a cold… It's not a question of IF you'll ever meet up with it, it's only a question of WHEN you will.

Items you may wish to consider to harden your defenses against future infections:

Read "How did I get infected in the first place?" here:

http://boards.cexx.org/viewtopic.php?t=957

Download IE-Spyad here:

https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ehowes/www/resource.htm

IE-Spyad puts over 4000 known malicious web sites into IE's "restricted zone" to help prevent you from getting infected.

Check your browser settings here:

http://browsercheck.qualys.com/index.php

A series of "tests" (and suggested fixes) to help tweak IE's settings to help prevent infections when surfing the web.

Follow safe Internet practices:

1. Keep your virus definitions up to date, and scan your system regularly.

2. Don't open email, or download attachments from unrecognized email addresses.

3. Be careful when downloading email attachments, EVEN FROM PEOPLE YOU KNOW! Many virii, worms, and trojans infect a persons system then immeadiately spread themselves to the people in the infected persons addressbook via email attachments.

4. Be careful downloading files from the Internet. Scan all downloaded files with a reliable UP-TO-DATE antivirus program. Scan "zip" files BEFORE unzipping, and scan all unzipped files BEFORE USING THEM.

5. Keep your Windows and IE current with all the latest patches and updates.
(Personally, I'm NOT recommending SP2 for XP at this time)