Windows Firewall

[wally246]

I visit the CNET forums and this one and I have seen little about Windows Firewall. Makes me wonder if its effective or do people hold it in little regard... I'm running XP/SP2 and have never used it myself. If this has been discussed somewhere here, I'd like to check it out, thanks.

[SpySentinel]

Windows Firewall is ok. It stealths your ports but does not control inbound/outbound traffic. To put it simply, I would not rely on it.

I would go with ZoneAlarm Pro or Comodo Free Firewall

[johnwill]

Actually, the Windows firewall controls inbound traffic just fine, just like any other firewall. It does not have any control of outbound traffic. For many folks, it'll work just fine.

[wally246]

Thanks!

[Cellus]

Windows Firewall uses Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) much like a router, so it does block incoming connections quite well. Against popular belief, Windows Firewall is actually quasi-intelligent in that you can designate not only ports but programs to permit connections for.

It should be noted Windows Firewall is only available for Windows XP with Service Pack 2. SP1 and earlier had the nigh-useless earlier iteration called the Internet Connection Firewall (ICF).

[sultan_emerr]

Originally Posted by wally246

I visit the CNET forums and this one and I have seen little about Windows Firewall. Makes me wonder if its effective or do people hold it in little regard... I'm running XP/SP2 and have never used it myself. If this has been discussed somewhere here, I'd like to check it out, thanks.

Just curious how you are connected and which software firewall you are now using. Using a router?

[wally246]

Originally Posted by sultan_emerr

Just curious how you are connected and which software firewall you are now using. Using a router?

I am currently using Norton which I am going to dump soon most likely in favor of Comodo. No router, still on dialup.

[sultan_emerr]

Originally Posted by wally246

I am currently using Norton which I am going to dump soon most likely in favor of Comodo. No router, still on dialup.

Just for your info, a few hours ago I downloaded Comodo, disconnected from the net, uninstalled Sygate and installed Comodo, and reconnected to the net, and the first thing that happened was that for the first time ever I got one of those fake window messages trying to trick me into downloading some spyware. Not sure yet if that has anything to so with a weakness in Comodo, but if it happens again the next time I reboot, I'm going to get rid of Comodo, and try the Free Kerio Firewall = Quote from site = It will give you "full version" access for 14 days, then will revert back to free version(which works just fine).= http://www.sunbelt-software.com/Kerio.cfm
.
Reviews at [L=wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=060131ED-Review ]http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=060131ED-Review [/L]
also at [L=xpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=060131ED-Review2 ]http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=060131ED-Review2 [/L]

or

Ashampoo Firewall 1.00 = Freeware =
http://mail.vnunet.com/cgi-bin1/flo/...VN0TOo0DMlI0Ee

I also don't like Comodo because it doesn't have the blue and red activity arrows like Sygate did. I sure hated to get rid of good old Sygate, as it has served me well all these years, but I just started to feel uneasy about using a firewall that is no longer supported.
I also was considering switching from Avast to AntiVirl. since AntiVirl seems to be rated higher, and scoring higher on all the tests, but after this experience I am begining to wonder if I shouldn't just stick with what works untill there is a problem with it.

Since you mentioned being on dial-up, whenever my cable goes out and I have to switch to dialup backup, I turn off the router, and turn on = AnalogX PortBlocker = http://www.analogx.com/contents/down...ork/pblock.htm

In either case, I always have my gear plugged into an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) = http://computer.howstuffworks.com/question28.htm ,

and use/run SpyBot S&D, AdAware, SpywareBlaster, SpyCatcher Express - free spyware removal software = http://www.tenebril.com/consumer/spy...er-express.php ,
and AnalogX Script Defender = http://www.analogx.com/contents/down...em/sdefend.htm
and
http://www.winpatrol.com

The most important thing to keep in mind, regardless of which anti-virus, anti-malware, anti-spyware and firewall you use is to keep it UPDATED, just as it is important to make sure you have all windows critical and security updates + http://update.microsoft.com/windowsu....aspx?ln=en-us

[Cellus]

Avast! and Antivir are quite close in performance - Antivir is slightly higher than Avast!, but it also sports a slightly higher false positive detection rate as well.

http://antivirus.about.com/od/antivi...s/a/freeav.htm

[wally246]

Originally Posted by sultan_emerr

Just for your info, a few hours ago I downloaded Comodo, disconnected from the net, uninstalled Sygate and installed Comodo, and reconnected to the net, and the first thing that happened was that for the first time ever I got one of those fake window messages trying to trick me into downloading some spyware. Not sure yet if that has anything to so with a weakness in Comodo, but if it happens again the next time I reboot, I'm going to get rid of Comodo, and try the Free Kerio Firewall = Quote from site = It will give you "full version" access for 14 days, then will revert back to free version(which works just fine).= http://www.sunbelt-software.com/Kerio.cfm
.
Reviews at [L=wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=060131ED-Review ]http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=060131ED-Review [/L]
also at [L=xpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=060131ED-Review2 ]http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=060131ED-Review2 [/L]

or

Ashampoo Firewall 1.00 = Freeware =
http://mail.vnunet.com/cgi-bin1/flo/...VN0TOo0DMlI0Ee

I also don't like Comodo because it doesn't have the blue and red activity arrows like Sygate did. I sure hated to get rid of good old Sygate, as it has served me well all these years, but I just started to feel uneasy about using a firewall that is no longer supported.
I also was considering switching from Avast to AntiVirl. since AntiVirl seems to be rated higher, and scoring higher on all the tests, but after this experience I am begining to wonder if I shouldn't just stick with what works untill there is a problem with it.

Since you mentioned being on dial-up, whenever my cable goes out and I have to switch to dialup backup, I turn off the router, and turn on = AnalogX PortBlocker = http://www.analogx.com/contents/down...ork/pblock.htm

In either case, I always have my gear plugged into an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) = http://computer.howstuffworks.com/question28.htm ,

and use/run SpyBot S&D, AdAware, SpywareBlaster, SpyCatcher Express - free spyware removal software = http://www.tenebril.com/consumer/spy...er-express.php ,
and AnalogX Script Defender = http://www.analogx.com/contents/down...em/sdefend.htm
and
http://www.winpatrol.com

The most important thing to keep in mind, regardless of which anti-virus, anti-malware, anti-spyware and firewall you use is to keep it UPDATED, just as it is important to make sure you have all windows critical and security updates + http://update.microsoft.com/windowsu....aspx?ln=en-us

I did get rid of Norton yesterday, downloaded Comodo Firewall and didn't see anything untoward. I also have Spybot, Ad-Aware and AVG free anti-virus and I update it all regularly.

[wally246]

Norton did have a good pop-up blocker. Since I am a Firefox user, I guess I will have to look for an extension for this.

[Flatiron]

Originally Posted by wally246

Norton did have a good pop-up blocker. Since I am a Firefox user, I guess I will have to look for an extension for this.

In Firefox>Tools>Options>Content>check Block Popup Windows->Ok

[wally246]

Originally Posted by Flatiron2

In Firefox>Tools>Options>Content>check Block Popup Windows->Ok

I did that but I am still getting banners and ads that I didn't before. Anyone know of a Firefox extension I may need?