OT: Firewall Software

Spybot doesn't kill anything. It finds stuff and you do the "killing". If you don't know what something is don't kill it until you find out what you are killing.

What is wrong with the firewall that comes with XP? That is an easy one.

The XP firewall completely ignores outgoing traffic. That should be enough to make you nervous.

ZA is good but the more recent versions are suffering from program bloat. Version 4.5 is good enough without the bloat.

AVG from Grissoft is a good free anti-virus.

I would recommend a router even if you have only one computer. Change the default password and setup encryption.

Reply to
Unknown
Loading thread data ...

I'm looking for firewall software for a new win XP box I'm putting together. I'm currently using Norton's Personal Firewall, which I like, but Norton Antivirus annoyed me enough that I ditched it, so I'd like to look at what else is around. I do have a router that seems to do a pretty good job of blocking casual sniffing, etc., but in addition to the extra security of the firewall, like being able to tell when *my* software is trying to phone home and have the option of blocking such activity.

I do also use Spybot and Adaware.

Any recommendations for something that's not too expensive? I tried Zone Alarm several years ago and was not real happy with it, but would look again if folks are happy with it.

Ned Simmons

Reply to
Ned Simmons

Sygate Personal Firewall - free & works. sygate.com

Reply to
Stephen Young

Reply to
Thomas Kendrick

Crap, there goes another one...

Reply to
Stephen Young

Zonealarm, never had a problem with win2k

Reply to
Tony

Zone Alarm works for me.

Ken.

Reply to
Ken Davey

AtGuard used to work, but SP4 knackers it beyond repair.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

Reply to
Spehro Pefhany

What's wrong with the firewall that comes with XP? I ran zonealarm for years with no problems but the XP firewall seems to work fine. Don't run the XP firewall with another softfirewall. Be careful with spybot. It has a tendancy to kill your auto updates for your antivirus program. It sees backweb as a spyware program .. which it can be but several AV programs use it for updates.

formatting link
has some good info. The leak test is interesting.

Reply to
Glenn

The "problem" with the firewall built into WindowsXP is that it only works on incoming packets. I prefer a firewall that regulates both incoming as well as outgoing packets. I've used ZA for the last four years and am happy enough to keep using it.

Jon

Reply to
Jon Danniken

Ned Simmons wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news.suscom-maine.net:

You would probably be better off setting up your (or about any) old computer with *nix or BSD and using that as your network head-in. This lets you take advantage of the very powerful firewall built into linux/BSD.

Reply to
Anthony

I have been using it on this (XP) for a while and used it on my old (98) one for a long time with no problems. ...lew...

Reply to
Lew Hartswick

I don't know if you have a cable modem, but I'd highly suggest you get a hardware firewall AND a software firewall.

A friend who got one for $10 after rebate. I would not use Belkin. D-Link or Linksys is my suggestion. (LinkSys is now owned by Cisco).

Personally - I'd worry about about most of the software firewalls. Consider the latest root kit that was part of the Sony CD's. If the firewall was any good, it would prevent Sony from installing a rootkit in your system, but most mainstream commercial products "approves" of Sony's software. There are all sorts of partnerships going concerning digital rights management that Microsoft isn't going to prevent.

Reply to
Bruce Barnett

That's good to know. I have a NATS firewall plus F-secure now. Of course NATS only obscures your IP to incomming traffic. F-secure firewall lets you decide what can go out or come in. The antivirus portion is fairly non intrusive. Unlike Norton or Mcafee.

Reply to
Glenn

It was 3 or 4 years ago that I was using Zonealarm, but my recollection is that it worked well, just was not as easy as Personal Firewall. With Personal Firewall, whenever a new program, or one that's been previously configured to present a prompt, tries to access the net, a window pops up with pretty clear info as to which program is trying to do what. At that point you can allow or block access and decide whether to make the choice permanent or one time only.

How does this compare with Zonealarm's current setup?

Ned Simmons

Reply to
Ned Simmons

That's my concern as well. The router seems to do good enough job on incoming stuff that I'd probably trust XP for that, but do want to know what's going out as well.

Ned Simmons

Reply to
Ned Simmons

Well at least you didn't suggest I dump windows and switch to Linux . (I can't) I've thought about doing just what you suggested, and agree it would be a good way to go, but really don't have time right now to learn a new OS and set up and administer another computer. But I may take the old machine and use it to learn a bit about linux as time permits.

Ned Simmons

Reply to
Ned Simmons

I have had very good results with the latest version of Zone Labs firewall on my disktop. see

formatting link
I have also installed Iolo system mechanic 5.0 mainly for the registery tools. When I started having problems with norton, I unloaded it and turned the Iolo system mechanic antivirus and popup blockers on. Works fine.

In setting up a new laptop [using w2k not xp] I installed the new System Mechanic 6.0 Pro see:

formatting link
also has a firewall in addition to the antivirus, popup blocker, system tools, and startup editor. This seems to work well. I was in Walmart and they had the complete 6.0 pro on cd for less that the upgrade cost from 5.0 to 6.0.

Only complaint is the frequency of virus id updates, but this is better than no updates.

I was shocked the first time I ran the System Mechanic virus/parasite scan and discovered how much "stuff" norton allows through.

Between cleaning the system and registery, iolo system mechanic is a winner.

==> From the experience of other people I suggest using w2k pro rather than wxp.

Be reminded that you generally can't run two firewalls, two antivirus programs, two pop-up blockers, etc. at the same time.

Uncle George

Reply to
F. George McDuffee

I've done that and it seems to do a good job. But as you say, I'm still concerned about the outgoing stuff.

Ned Simmons

Reply to
Ned Simmons

Ned Simmons wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news.suscom-maine.net:

Probably take you less than 2 hours to figure out how to do that. An hour of that would be installing the OS. I use Fedora, mainly because that is what I am used to. freeBSD is really good too. The thing to remember...in a *nix system firewall, NOTHING is allowed by default. If you want it enabled, you have to explicitly allow it. In actual practice though, it is fairly simple.

Reply to
Anthony

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.