Best softwares to secure my computer?

[jbarnes77777]

What are the good software tools both paid and free that I can use to secure my laptop from other computers using the same wireless network?

I want to be sure that I keep away the snoopers.

[enjourni]

You want to secure yourself from your own network? Odd.

You don't need any software, you just need to configure your computer settings. The only thing I can think of to do this is to make sure you turn off sharing services (files, printers, etc.) and any network discovery services. You can do all of that from Vista's Network control panel.

Here link will help: windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-us/help/0e5f2e0c-9906-4518-b7c7-d3632105dcad1033.mspx

To protect your network from unauthorized users, make sure you enable wifi encryption. Use the encryption standard WPA2 if at all possible- it's the most secure. Pick a hard-to-guess password for the WPA2 password. Next, change your SSID (your network name) from the default to something else, and disable SSID broadcast. This can all be done from your router's setup page (open a browser and it's usually 192.168.1.1) Disabling broadcast will make it harder for network snoopers to find your wireless network.

[jbarnes77777]

Thanks enjourni, this is very helpful. I thought so too, I have disabled network sharing and discovery but not quite sure if it is working properly.

I will check it one more time to be sure all sharing is turned off.

[enjourni]

Originally Posted by jbarnes77777

Thanks enjourni, this is very helpful. I thought so too, I have disabled network sharing and discovery but not quite sure if it is working properly.

There's an easy way to test: just check other computers on your network and see if they can see your computer or not.

Actually with Vista it's more likely it will err on the side of your network NOT seeing you than seeing you (especially if the other computers are XP.)

[jbarnes77777]

I do not have access to any other computer on this shared network. I'll have to figure something else out.

Originally Posted by enjourni

There's an easy way to test: just check other computers on your network and see if they can see your computer or not.

Actually with Vista it's more likely it will err on the side of your network NOT seeing you than seeing you (especially if the other computers are XP.)