The Action Centre houses most of the security settings.
The new Action Centre included as part of Windows 7 is the natural successor to the Security Centre you’ll be familiar with from XP and Vista. Its remit has been expanded to include maintenance tasks and general PC housekeeping as well as virus scanning and malware protection. The first time you notice the Action Centre will probably be as a small white flag that appears in the notification area (or system tray) – this usually indicates that there’s a task that needs to be completed or a scan that needs to be run in order to keep your PC secure. More urgent tasks will be flagged up using a red cross.
The Action Centre also covers system backups, Windows Update, program compatibility and performance information, making it a comprehensive resource that should make managing your computer and preventing serious problems much easier. You can open the Action Centre by clicking on the icon in the notification area or by navigating through Control Panel. Any important messages or recent actions will be displayed in the centre of the screen, with further options and settings available on the left. Some of the options – such as User Account Control – will require administrator privileges before any changes can be made. When you visit the Action Centre, the most important and urgent messages will be displayed first – you’ll also be given quick links to deal with the issues that have been listed. On the left hand side are the key tools and settings you’ll need, with further utilities available at the bottom.
The Windows Firewall can be tweaked in a number of ways.
Microsoft first introduced a built-in firewall as part of Windows with later editions and Service Packs of XP, and while it doesn’t offer much in the way of advanced features, it’s an important first line of defence against the various threats that are lurking out on the Web. The good news is that it’s straightforward enough for everyone to use, and doesn’t need much in the way of configuring (though a number of more advanced options are available should you need them). The firewall will be activated by default when you install and start up Windows 7, while the Action Centre will warn you if it is ever switched off or disabled by accident. The easiest way of getting to it is via Control Panel – switch to one of the icons views and you’ll notice a Windows Firewall icon at the end.
You can think of a firewall program as acting as a border patrol for your PC – if it’s doing its job, it will be checking both incoming and outgoing data to make sure there’s no suspicious activity that might indicate a remote hacker or a spyware program installed on your hard drive. Whenever a new connection attempt is made, you’ll usually be prompted to either allow or block access, and the firewall can be configured to remember which applications you do and don’t trust. Over time, your firewall should become better at spotting potentially dangerous network activity.
Microsoft Security Essentials is available as a free download.
Windows 7 has gone further than any previous release of the operating system in terms of providing enhanced security. Microsoft has also taken the extra step of offering its own antivirus product in the form of Security Essentials, and what’s more it’s available to download for free. Security Essentials goes further than the Windows Defender package that’s supplied along with the operating system. Whilst the latter only guards against spyware, Security Essentials covers a much wider range of threats. Like most anti-malware applications it relies on a threat definition file and it’s important to keep this up to date to ensure that your machine is protected. When you install the program the first thing it will do is download the latest updates. It will then scan your system to check for existing infections.
Once the program is installed and running, the home page is colour-coded to show you the system status. You can opt to do a one-off scan at any time by choosing between Quick, Full and Custom then clicking the Scan Now button over on the right. On the Settings tab you can set up a schedule to run a scan automatically at a selected time. You also have the option to exclude certain files, locations and file types from the scanning process. Make sure that Real-time protection is turned on, which enables the program to monitor your system for suspicious activity and to have it automatically scan downloads and email attachments. On the History tab you can get an overview of the program’s activity.
(For a full guide to Windows 7, order the Essential Windows 7 Handbook 3rd Edition, on sale now from newsagents and online.)
