This guide is just my personal experience and not a professional opinion, but it may help people who have little experience with computers and are new to Ebay, who are maybe a bit wary of spending money over the internet.  It will help make your PC more secure if it isn’t already and hopefully give you peace of mind.  But if you are buying and/or selling on Ebay you should learn as much as you can on the dangers that are out there.  Ebay has help on spotting fake web sites and more.  You should also search the internet for topics on computer security terms like Phishing, Spoof Email, Trojan Horse, Virus, Spyware, Adware, Malware, Keylogger, Tracking Cookie and you will see why it is important to be wary of stuff like this.  Typing these terms into google will lead you to other terms which may seem a lot to take in, but it’s good to learn.  There are programs out there to deal with stuff like viruses, trojans and spy ware and a lot of them are free.  See below.

Make sure you have an antivirus and firewall running when on the internet.
The ones I use, which both have free home editions, are Avast Antivirus Home edition and Zonealarm Personal Firewall.  Keep these updated and scan for viruses regularly and your halfway there.  

Type Avast into Google and it should come up with Alwil software’s  page at the top.  The Home of Avast.  If you didn't have an antivirus installed I suggest saying yes to schedule a boot time scan when installing.  Avast will update automatically if you give it access to the internet through your firewall.
Avast Home Edition will work fine for 60 days but if you register it (free to home users) you will receive updates for 14 months.  I personally prefer using this antivirus than paying money for Norton, which I think is terrible.  People still buy it because they know the name (my personal opinion).

Type Zonealarm into Google and download from Zonelabs.  If this program is new to you, then watch the video tutorials, they will help.

Another program to download is Spybot Search & Destroy.  The latest version is 1.5.2.  While installing, download the updates, which are required to get the program started.  You should only select tea-timer if you want the program to let you know when settings are being changed on your PC.  This can be confusing to a beginner though.  Only install it if you understand the registry.  When the program starts make sure you immunize, this will help stop a lot of spyware getting installed on your system while browsing the internet.
Next click search & destroy if your not already there then click search for problems.  Spybot will now start searching for pests on your PC.  If anything is found, click on Fix Selected Problems to clean them up.
If you don’t normally check your PC for spy ware, then don’t be surprised if spybot finds a lot of problems.  But don’t worry, this program is very good at getting rid of them.  If it did find a lot then you should notice a performance boost if there were some of the more nasty pests.

Another program for spy ware is Adaware by Lavasoft.

A good browser to use instead of Internet Explorer, is Mozilla Firefox, which Spybot will also help protect against some spy ware.  Another good browser is Opera, although I haven’t used it in a while.

There are a couple of other programs that are good for getting rid of spy ware and other dodgy stuff, but only use if you know what you are doing, please!  
The easier of the two to use is Security Task Manager.  I suggest beginner’s do download it and learn of the things you see but don’t remove anything if your not sure what will happen, but for the braver of you, you can return things to the way they were from quarantine.  You will know what I mean if you try it.

The other program is Hijack this.  It is not a program for beginners but there is plenty of help on the internet for this program.  If you think you have something dodgy on your PC which isn’t being detected by Spybot or other like programs, then Hijack This or Security Task Manager (registered version to show drivers) will maybe show it up.  

I use Windows XP but I am sure all these programs have versions to work with Vista.

Be wary of some programs that say they will remove spy ware but will actually install some and try to charge you to get rid of it.  If you get offered to download any toolbar, spy ware program or antivirus, google it to see what other people are saying about it.  It could save you a lot of problems.

Make sure your guest account has a strong password.  To do this click Start > then Run > and in the Run box type CMD and hit enter or OK.  A command prompt window should pop up (a box with black screen).  Type this at the flashing blinker > net user Guest *******  - where ******* is where you type the password.  I prefer to use numbers, letters and special characters like @ or &.

Since we are on the subject of passwords, it is good practice to have different passwords for different accounts, e.g Ebay, Paypal and your email should all have different passwords.  Write them down in a little hardback notepad and make them strong with at least 8 characters, like, A8cD32!xYZ@

You should also only use a limited user account for the internet.  If you aren’t already using one, you can go to Users in the control panel and make a new account as a Limited User, not an Administrator.  To install an application with a limited user account, right click on the program and select Run As... and enter details of an administrator account.

If you have a wireless router make sure you have a WEP or WPA Wireless Security Key Enabled.  Most internet providers now give you the router which is set up with a security key before you get it.  If you know your wireless is unsecured please find out how to enable a wireless key on your router and how to enter that key on your laptop so you have a secure connection to your router.  It is important your wireless is secure, anyone can be using your internet, and maybe doing a lot more.

Make sure your Windows Operating System has all the latest updates.  It is best to have Automatic Updates enabled to download updates automatically and let you choose when to install them.  To check the status of automatic updates, right click on my computer and select properties, then select the Automatic updates tab and choose your preference.

There are a few services running by default on XP I like to have disabled.  If you are new to this then it helps to find out a little about what services are and what each service does.  You can still disable these though if you are running just a normal home PC setup.  To do this, click Start > then Run > and type services.msc and hit enter.  To disable a service either double click on service or right click and select properties, and from the drop down box in the General tab, select disabled.  Do not experiment if you are not sure what you are doing.  You might cause yourself big problems.

Services I have disabled:
Alerter
Clipbook
Computer Browser (only if you don’t connect or share files with another PC over your network)
Fax Services (if installed)
IPSEC Services
Messenger (this is not MSN Messenger)
NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing (if you don’t use NetMeeting)
Network DDE
Network DDE DSDM
QoS RSVP
Remote Desktop Help Session Manager
Remote Registry
Routing and Remote Access
Server (same as Computer Browser)
Smart Card
SSDP Discovery Service
Telnet
Terminal Services
Uninterruptible Power Supply
Universal Plug and Play Device Host
Webclient
Wireless Zero Configuration (on this PC I use Ethernet but with laptop I use this!)

You may have other services running by programs you have installed.  If you see a service which was associated with a program you are sure have uninstalled you may disable it.  E.g. Sometimes Norton leaves behind running services after being removed from PC, which may conflict with another antivirus you may be trying to install.  Well in this case it would be safe to disable the services associated with Norton.

If you have a lot of icons beside your clock on the taskbar which you don’t use, you can get rid of them by clicking Start > then Run > then typing msconfig  > OK or Enter.
Go to the Startup Tab and deselect the items you don’t use.  It is safe to deselect most of them but should keep a tick for your antivirus and firewall at least .  Also keep the display driver items selected.  Things like Nero check, Microsoft office startup? and items to register programs (if you don’t want to be reminded to) can be safely deselected.  There is plenty of information available on probably all the items you see on that list.  If your not sure about something just check it on google.  If you don’t want to do this you don’t have to, it’s not a necessity, but may help give your PC a needed performance boost.

There is always more you can do but this guide will help make your PC more secure, this and vigilance, and of course knowledge.  It will also maybe make your computer and/or your internet run better.

I know I could have went into more detail but hopefully by not doing so, you will try to find out more about the stuff I talked about.  It pays to learn about this stuff and hopefully make it harder for the bad people out there trying to get their pay day illegally.

Please vote if this helped you in any way.  I would like to know.  I would also like to hear any suggestions or corrections needed.  

Thanks,    Lee.