Everyday new users come to cyberspace, and many of them are gamers. As a public service to new gamers in cyberspace I'm starting a newbie cyberspace traveller survival guide thread to help you quickly learn to enjoy navigating cyberspace while avoiding many of the pitfalls, perils and predators that await newbies to victimize.

First off, the most important rule: IF YOU'RE ONLINE, GET YOUR COMPUTER COVERED WITH A VIRUS CHECKER, AND KEEP IT UPDATED!!!

Going into cyberspace without a running virus checker is like going into battle without shields raised, a very stupid thing to do and one that will cost you big time.

The simple fact is that a lot of wastes of skin have access to the net and many of them think it's fun to basically assfuck a total stranger they've never met, never will meet and will never even know about, so they spend their worthless lives creating viruses just to make people as miserable as they are. Also lost of people create viruses for the sole purpose of getting into your computer and stealing things like credit card numbers.

Some people think this sort of thing sucks, and produce anti-viral software to protect people from it. You can buy AV software or use free versions. A good free version is AVG, and as long as you use it for personal, and not business, computers it's free. You can get it here> //www.grisoft.com


Another thing you need is a firewall, don't trust the ones that come with windows. You can get a free and effective firewall by going here>
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/trial_zaFamily/trial_zaFamily.jsp?dc=12bms&ctry=US&lang=en

Closely related to viruses, but not quite the same is adware, and if you don't protect yourself from it it'll pile up in your system, eat your resources and generally affect your computer like a bad case of constipation. To eliminate it  get ad-aware on your computer. It's free and works. Go here> http://www.lavasoft.de/

Those 3 things are the most important bits a total newbie needs. There's a lot more to learn and maybe I or someone else here will post more on this later.

Quote from: Dominus NoxGoing into cyberspace without a running virus checker is like going into battle without shields raised, a very stupid thing to do and one that will cost you big time.

One of the Guardian's computer columnists spent the whole of last year without a virus checker or any other anti-malware software on his PC other than a firewall (and I think he used the one that comes with XP).  Just kept everything bang up to date and didn't click on anything he wasn't certain about

He got caught out once

But the rest of us need this software.  I'd add Spybot: Search and Destroy to the list

It's also good to run HijackThis every now and then, especially if you like to install fun new toys. It can be a little confusing, but if you post the log it creates to one of the HijackThis forums you'll find plenty of people willing to help you decipher it.

Quote from: James McMurrayIt's also good to run HijackThis every now and then, especially if you like to install fun new toys. It can be a little confusing, but if you post the log it creates to one of the HijackThis forums you'll find plenty of people willing to help you decipher it.

Yeah, I was going to mention hijackthis a little later, thanks for saving me the trouble.

Ok, for some RPG related fun on the net, go to this site http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0001.html and be sure you do it when you've got a few hours to spare, the comic is up to 409 issues and it's hard to stop reading it.

For some free rpg stuff that's legal to download, try this link: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/catalog/index.php?sPath=233


To keep this site from catching shit I'm just posting links to free legal stuff, you'll have to find the illegal stuff on your own.

More free legal game stuff here: http://www.rpgnow.com/default.php?cPath=268&

I use the hell out of Crap Cleaner.  (grab the "Slim" version with no Yahoo toolbar)

It probably won't keep you safer, but it'll keep things tidy and has a few nice Features.

If they can make money off of it, they will sell it. You're welcome. We're America, and we're here all day.

Crap wrong thread. Moved my comment.