I agree. Does anybody here use Acronis for the above purpose? I think regular backups, along with no internet, is the way to go. Winston, Yes I agree. My computer that I will use for ATS is brand new except I have been using it for internet/movies, etc the past few weeks. I think I will wipe everything, install XP32 and other programs (TWS, ibc, Amibroker), and then take off IE. I guess I can just install downloaded programs through a USB after downloading from my desktop so my trading comp does not access the net directly.
It certainly depends on how resource hungry your ATS is. If you can afford it then why not going the secure way and installing an anti virus software? I was using Avira free edition for the last couple of years and so did others. However over the last year, I have seen a couple of trojans on computers protected by Avira. Could be that Avira is updating the files too slow so that new trojans can slip through the defense. The bad thing is that Avira later detects the trojans but is not able to remove them. If your computer is infected and you want to avoid reformatting the hard drive (which certainly would be the most secure thing to do) you can do the following: Download and install Kaspersky Anti-Virus on whatever computer. Then create the Kaspersky boot CD. On your infected computer, boot from this Linux CD and let it scan your hard drive(s). You should be able to remove even the most persistent malware this way. Make sure that you are connected to the internet when booting from the CD and the software will connect to Kaspersky's server and look for the most current virus definition files. Kaspersky Anti-Virus seems to be state of the art. I even installed it on my Apple MacBook and guess what? It found a trojan...