Any tips/tricks on securing Windows 7

Kind of a part II for this thread:

http://www.techexams.net/forums/off-topic/94845-need-help-cleaning-windows-7-laptop.html

I have the laptop restored and am doing Windows update now. Any tips on securing it the best I can for click happy parents? I know about virus protection. I usually go with AVG unless someone recommends another with good reason. However, there has to be some more things I can do, such as disabling services and such.

Any help is appreciated.

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SteveFT

The most obvious one would be to make sure they are using a standard user account. I know that this isn't foolproof, but it would be a good start.

wes allen

Non admin account.
Autoupdate OS and all plug ins.
firefox with adblock plus and noscript
disable / don't install java app
Avoid having flash enabled if you can.
I just use MS Sec esentials works as well as any of the others, but is free and seems to have a smaller footprint.
If you really want to lock things down, EMET with whitelisting. (Windows Security 101: EMET 4.0 — Krebs on Security)

CoolAsAFan

+1 for what wes allen has said. Since this laptop is for your parents, you might skip on the adblock plus depending on their computer experience. It could dramatically decrease website usability if not used properly, but is absolutely amazing for security when used properly! The same kind of goes for disabling flash.

One other thing you can do that really helps, is to disable unneeded/unused system services. There is a good site called black viper (I think?) that has a great list of services for different windows version to disable to increase security. This also greatly enhances performance.

And lastly, the best thing to do is educate your parents about common attacks (email phishing, identity theft, social engineering type stuff). Good luck!