Best Internet Security Practices

Many of our new customers have never had "always on" Internet access. Because of the long times to download files, most people haven't kept up to date on the latest Operating System (OS for short) patches and other important updates to their computers. With always on, high-speed Internet access, you should keep your operating system updated to protect both your PC, and the rest of the LP Broadband network. We are sure many of you have read the news or heard on TV about the latest and greatest Internet Worms, or Email viruses. It is critical that you do whatever you can to prevent these `bugs' from attacking your machine. This section is intended to help educate you on what you can do that will help you prevent worms, viruses or other problems on your computer.

Windows Update
The Windows Update feature of Windows is available for all versions of Windows beginning with Windows 98. You should make it a regular practice to visit this site (weekly) in order to keep your computer updated. The section below labeled "MANUAL UPDATES" describes how to manually update your computer. There is a section entitled "MAKING WINDOWS UPDATE AUTOMATIC" will teach you how to be notified of critical updates. A "critical update" is an update that fixes a security flaw in Windows.

Manual Updates
1. Click "Start" then "Windows Update" and install all updates for your system that are called "Critical update". You can, also, type the address http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ in Internet Explorer (IE 5.5 is required to use the windows update feature).

2. If you are prompted to reboot after installing the update, do so.

3. As soon as your computer is back up, you should return to the Windows Update site to insure that there are no further updates available. Depending on the updates that were applied, there may be other updates that will show up as "critical updates". Repeat the steps described in this section until there are no critical updates listed. This can take quite some time, so be prepared with a good book.

Making Windows Update Automatically
WINDOWS XP
1. Click "Start" then "Control Panel"
2. Click "System"
3. Click the tab labeled "Automatic Updates"
4. Check the box next to "Keep my computer up to date" near the top
5. In the "Settings" section (below), select the first option "Notify me before downloading any updates and notify me again before installing them on my computer".
6. Click "OK" and close the control panel


OTHER VERSIONS
1. Follow the steps above in the section labeled "Manual Updates" and install the "Critical update notification" utility. The exact name of the utility depends on the version of Windows you are using.

VIRUS ALERT IS HIGH PLEASE CHECK YOUR COMPUTER REGULARLY AND KEEP IT UPDATED!

Please refer to the information below for more information and tools to help keep your system clean of viruses and worms.

This will help us keep the Internet working better for everyone. Thank you!

Router Support Information

Highest-Rated Anti-Virus Tools by AV Comparatives

Anti-Virus Software Links

AVG GriSoft LP Broadband recommends AVG Anti-Virus through good experience as a free anti-virus.

See also reviews at Star Reviews

Other Resources