How to know if your computer has been hacked

for example if you send me a .ZIP file with password protection I have a program with me called Pico Zip Password Recovery that can retrieve the password in minutes if the password is small. That's only from my laptop, imagine if I pick the file and go to a computer center where they have lots of CPUs designed only for such tasks... You see my point. It's very easy to hack a password so imagine how easier it is to hack a single computer. Not even the firewall or the antivirus can stop the hack and as soon as your computer is pluged to the internet you are at risk. Don't worry because the number of machines that can be hacked are so many that it's highly improvable you will be the next hacked one. Now if your computer was really hacked there is a way to know it. Stop all internet activity and close all internet applications like Messenger. If you still see the lights flashing then someone probably is accessgin your computer remotely and uploading or downloading files from or to it. This can be easily monitored with a firewall like Comodo Firewall. However keep in mind that the fireall can only provent hacks, not heal it. If the hacker deletes some file you can try to get it back using a file recovery propgram. Lots of free programs like this on Google. I will not recommend you a particular one because it depends on your expereicne and taste. Another way to see if your computer is being hacked is to check if any program has its configurations changed. Most common hacks include changing your internet explorer start page and search engine. Sometimes you think you are visiting a legitimate bank website and the hacker pointed you to a fake website. It's common these days. Be careful. Finally you can see the size of your hard disk. Some hackers try to download lots of files to it to have better access later. If you see a significant change in your hard disk usage you are being hacked. How to fight those harckers? Get a secur operating system. Windows is not secure not even Vista. Just surfing the web Vista get virus and trojans, just to prove the point. If you want better security the pick Linux, its free and more secure at the expense of not having so many programs to it. I believe Microsoft will never learn or be able to build a completely secure operating system...