-- Posted by x Jean Paul x at 8:31 am on April 23, 2008 Following on from here , I realised that loading security software was part of a bigger process and so I decided to try and come up with a simple guide/proposal for what I (and other newbies) could implement fairly easily. I'm going to try and add links to guides for each part as I find them. My Goal To produce a system that has a decent balance of usability and unobtrusiveness with a high degree of security and recovery options. My Proposed System A PC running XP with a small (30Gb) partition for system files and applications and a larger (90Gb) partition for data (with an external HDD for more storage).(This makes recovery easier and helps minimise the chances of catastrophic loss. Security features: Returnil, AVG, Online Armor, Sandboxie, Firefox (with Noscript and AdblockPlus)(This set up should provide several degrees of varying effectiveness against malware threats. Recovery features: (Returnil provides backup for the system partition) Karen's Replicator.(Between Returnil and Karen's Replicator most of the system should be recoverable) Proposed Method   1.Backup 1.Back up data on external hdd. 2.Back up Firefox extensions with FEBE extension onto ext HDD. 3.Backup Firefox Bookmarks with Foxmarks extension onto Foxmark's online storage. 4.Backup Firefox profile with Mozbackup onto Ext HDD ~ http://mozbackup.jasnapaka.com/download.php 1.Reinstall 1.Boot from Partition Boot CD (Eg Ultimate Boot CD - with Cute Partition Manager) 2.Partition HDD (Eg using Cute Partition Manager: 120 GB HDD - 2 partitions first 30gb, second 90gb) 3.Restart PC booting from XP install disk. 4.Load XP onto 30gb partition. 1.Loading Security 1.Install Returnil, AVG, Online Armor, Sandboxie, Firefox. 2.Move "My Documents" to the Data Partition. ~ http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/1...-xp-and-vista/ 3.Before running Firefox install and run Mozbackup to move profile to Data partition - http://lifehacker.com/software/ask-l...sta-257297.php 4.Put a short cut to sandboxed Firefox ~ http://www.sandboxie.com/index.php?ConfigureMenu#shell 5.Edit the Sandboxie Configuration to allow changes to Firefox (my own personal preference and not very security-minded but it's one place where I might have to compromise) If anyone's got any tips, changes or recommendations I should add, please let me know. I'll try and update the OP so that it's as close to ideal as possible. -- Posted by marshmellowman at 8:35 am on April 23, 2008 Nice idea, but you have to be pretty paranoid to use Sandboxie. It will only make the usage of software slower.