A real set and forget is something hard to find. In this case may paid Kaspersky with password protection or Sophos Home Premium that he could manage from distance.
Security setup for my parents
- Thread starter Pixel_
- Start date
Please provide comments and solutions that are helpful to the author of this topic.
- Apr 24, 2016
- 7,256
Correct, nothing is truly set and forget ,but my third option: F-Secure Safe (free from her ISP) + SWH + MS Edge with uBlock Origin works great for me and my mother in law.
It is almost set and forget.
I think that install-and-forget solutions in this case are the best options.
In this case I would suggest Norton or Bitdefender, besides, remember that they will hardly manage to infect the PC with real malware, in most cases, those who are not very tech savvy have the device full of PUP/PUA due to installing unwanted software. In that case, ESET would be nice as long as it is well configured to become more automated you will save them from this problem.
In this case I would suggest Norton or Bitdefender, besides, remember that they will hardly manage to infect the PC with real malware, in most cases, those who are not very tech savvy have the device full of PUP/PUA due to installing unwanted software. In that case, ESET would be nice as long as it is well configured to become more automated you will save them from this problem.
- Jul 21, 2017
- 358
Nothing pops up with hc. Anything that gets blocked is done in the background. From personal experience, looking after a senior person's computer, there's been no problem in years of running this configuration. They only do some very basic browsing and that's it.
- Oct 16, 2022
- 624
@MrFellow In my humble opinion I would also recommend using a standard account, without administrative rights, this helps a lot to mitigate some vulnerabilities.
- Jun 7, 2022
- 153
Thank you all for the great advices! Will think it through and decide in a few days! 
- Jan 27, 2018
- 1,410
Ok, but when I was using HC I got several popups when trying to use some of my tools/programs I have, I had to change the configuration to Avast/Hardened or something like that, don't remember exactly. In any case its probably a moot point here as I am quite sure his parents don't have any of the tools I use.
- Apr 5, 2021
- 620
Any of @Gandalf_The_Grey recommendations from post #2 are top shelf
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Stenographers
Level 2
- Nov 11, 2022
- 48
One thing I haven't seen mentioned here, but do make sure to turn on controlled folder access in Windows. It denies program's access to user files by default until someone unblocks it. Very useful against ransomware.
- Jan 27, 2018
- 1,410
Stenographers
Level 2
- Nov 11, 2022
- 48
That is a good point. Although at first you do get a lot of popups, once you have it dialed in it is pretty quiet. Takes some time though.
- Aug 30, 2012
- 6,598
My mother likes to play some online puzzle games and read news on her PC.
This setup protected us for a couple of years.
It's an old laptop that supports Windows 7 at maximum. ( Extended support of course
)
MSE + NVT ERP ( learning mode for some time, configured by me, after that Lockdown mode) + Edge with uBlock Origin + Secure Folders to block execution and access to specific folders.
This setup protected us for a couple of years.
It's an old laptop that supports Windows 7 at maximum. ( Extended support of course
)MSE + NVT ERP ( learning mode for some time, configured by me, after that Lockdown mode) + Edge with uBlock Origin + Secure Folders to block execution and access to specific folders.
Change your browser settings.
Most PUP notifications come from Chromium browser notifications if allowed.
brave://settings/shields- Aggressive trackers and ad blockingbrave://settings/socialBlocking- Block Google/Facebook logins to prevent accidental sign ups.brave://settings/content/notifications- Don't allow websites to send Notifications. Also Block Mic/Webcam/Location access etc.
Enable power settings to assist sleep PC after x hours of inactivity.
How to adjust power and sleep settings in Windows - Microsoft Support
Get the steps for adjusting power and sleep settings in Windows.
support.microsoft.com
- Local Admin user account with password
- Standard user account with Windows Hello PIN (simple 4 digit)
- Block apps outside of Store.
- Microsoft Defender (configured per usage) + Firewall (default)
- Adguard for Windows - also blocks malware and phishing pages
- May 29, 2021
- 427
A couple of my friends and family only use f-secure safe, win10, uBlock + Privacy Badger. They also have hardware firewalls in their routers. They all have standing orders to follow my recommendations otherwise they have to fix the problems themselves . I ensure that programs are regularly updated and check whether the machines are clean. Most of them just surf and pay bills at the bank, but a couple of young people download what young people like to watch at any time, but in all these years no one has had their machines infected, incredible but true. I run tests regularly in case something has crept in, but so far, clean machines.
. I ensure that programs are regularly updated and check whether the machines are clean. Most of them just surf and pay bills at the bank, but a couple of young people download what young people like to watch at any time, but in all these years no one has had their machines infected, incredible but true. I run tests regularly in case something has crept in, but so far, clean machines.
- Jul 11, 2018
- 227
For a free antivirus, you could use that antivirus, or you could use Windows Security set to Recommended settings by DefenderUI instead, or you could use that antivirus along with Windows Security set to Periodic Scanning mode & set to Recommended settings by DefenderUI, which would give you a free antivirus and a free automatic second opinion antimalware scanner.
For one-time payment ad / tracker / malicious website blocking at the operating system level you can keep Adguard For Windows, get the lifetime license(s) when on sale like it often is on StackSocial et cetera, and install the free Adguard Browser Assistant in Brave Browser.
For free web browser protection, you can use Malwarebytes Browser Guard instead of Bitdefender TrafficLight, or use them together in Brave Browser; and make sure that your web browser's built-in security settings are turned on & up.
For a free second (third) opinion on-demand antimalware scanner, you could use Sophos Scan & Clean set to automatically scan at start-up using Windows Task Scheduler.
For a free custom DNS with ad blocking & tracker blocking & malicious website blocking, you could use Adguard DNS Public Default or Family DNS servers (in Adguard For Windows and / or Brave Browser and / or your Router et cetera).
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- Mar 29, 2018
- 7,613
Most CFA blocks can be disregarded as they usually don't block important files, i.e. files which user intended to run. I can't explain the technical reasons but @Andy Ful, @RoboMan or @SeriousHoax could.
Windows Defender, Adguard (family license $16 on stacksocial with code) or NextDns, and make sure the default browser is a Chromium variant either MS Edge, Brave or Chrome that automatically updates with no user interaction. You can add TeamViewer if you want to go down that remote route if anything happens to the computer and they need you to fix it. Anything more complicated and you're going to get many phone calls from the parents asking about a popup or setting being blocked.
- Aug 21, 2020
- 608
- Kaspersky Security Cloud Free
- uBlock Origin on all browsers. Google default on all browsers. HTTPS only.
- Set Windows to auto-update everything
- Set up NextDNS servers with good privacy/security lists that do not cause breakage
- Install every program they might need (PDF, Office, Messaging, Email) so that they won't download the wrong thing from some malware website
Each one of these is a layer and combined, those layers alone should keep 90% of malware at bay. About the other 0.1%, I think it's a very low chance that the parents will ever run into them since it now has to get past uBO malware list, NextDNS malware list, Kaspersky signatures and Windows/App update.
- uBlock Origin on all browsers. Google default on all browsers. HTTPS only.
- Set Windows to auto-update everything
- Set up NextDNS servers with good privacy/security lists that do not cause breakage
- Install every program they might need (PDF, Office, Messaging, Email) so that they won't download the wrong thing from some malware website
Each one of these is a layer and combined, those layers alone should keep 90% of malware at bay. About the other 0.1%, I think it's a very low chance that the parents will ever run into them since it now has to get past uBO malware list, NextDNS malware list, Kaspersky signatures and Windows/App update.
- Aug 12, 2014
- 165
On the topic of DNS server it probably better to just use one that got malware protection Quad9 or Cloudflare security or possibly nextdns and keeping the ad blocking list to a minimum, the reason is DNS level ad blocking is more risky for site breakage, since browser extensions or whole pc filtering like Adguard app is able to filter ads/trackers a few ways based on domain/URL/Div on page where DNS level just block the whole domain where the extension might only block certain URL for a domain where DNS would block the whole domain.
Also if you already got ad blocking setup on the browser it's kind of redundant blocking it at DNS level as well, if you do use DNS for ad/tracking use Nextdns and keep the number on of lists to a minimum.
Also if you already got ad blocking setup on the browser it's kind of redundant blocking it at DNS level as well, if you do use DNS for ad/tracking use Nextdns and keep the number on of lists to a minimum.
- Jan 21, 2018
- 814
I wish I'd included that in some of the agreements I have/had to help 'friends' with their IT issues!.....They all have standing orders to follow my recommendations otherwise they have to fix the problems themselves
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