adhawkins Posted February 19, 2005 Posted February 19, 2005 since my Mono days... That wouldn't happen to be Monotype? Nope, MonoChrome, a BBS from my Uni days. It should be here, but it doesn't appear to be working right now. A BBS of the old school... Andy Quote
swiftr Posted February 19, 2005 Posted February 19, 2005 Talking of old school...... How about asbestos for firewall and penicillin for anti-virus? For everything else, there's McAfee (cheap and cheerful and does the job). Quote
hilux Posted February 19, 2005 Posted February 19, 2005 I have just been testing my firewall using the all the free links that I could find here.. The only info any of them could find from 2 hours testing was my operating system is XP and browser IE6. No open ports So now I'm reasonably happy with the performance of the firewall. I did a few of these out of interest as I`m an enthusiastic PC user but not very knowledgeable about the complicated software bits. I`ve looked at the back of my PC and inside and cant find any openings to shut Seriously though, I`ve a few ports open, how do I shut them and do I need to? Cheers Paul Quote
langy Posted February 21, 2005 Posted February 21, 2005 Have just had Broadband installed at home and have an idea of what Firewalls do (stop 'outsiders' accessing and abusing your computer). I'm running windows XP with service pack 2 which has its own firewall. I have also downloaded and am running the Zonealarm firewall. Can you have 2 firewalls running at the same time ? or should i disable 1 ? if so which one is the better of the 2 ? Any advice appreciated. Sean Quote
RobC Posted February 21, 2005 Posted February 21, 2005 I run Avast virus and windows firewall all running behind Protowall 2.0 If you not familiar with this tool its an IP blocker, for both incoming and outgoing IP attacks. Handy if you are downloading stuff from dodgy sites. Been using this for a while now seems very good. Once activated it will stop all traffic leaving your computer including all the background communication with Microsoft Quote
steve_m Posted February 21, 2005 Posted February 21, 2005 The problem with software firewalls on Windows 2000/Xp is that there are viruses that can turn them off, and there will be moe of these as time goes by. One of the best things to buy for home use is a Linksys or Netgear (or similar) firewall - they're only £60 or so. They usually come with a 4 or 5 port switch, firewall and often now a wirlesess AP too. These sit in-line between your PC's and the broadband connection and assuming you change the default password, can't be turned off or disabled by a virus or trojan. Quote
RobC Posted February 21, 2005 Posted February 21, 2005 Your right about WINXP firewall being open to virus attacks but a firewall would not stop viruses, thats the job of a virus checker, such as AVAST or AVG etc... As mentioned I use Protowall which blocks everything bad incoming and outgoing... worth a look if you a worried about net threats... I did a test it out and it was like I was invisible... For general internet use though you would be more than covered with any on the market (apart from Norton)... Quote
Mike H Posted February 21, 2005 Posted February 21, 2005 I'd go with what steve_m says. By all means enable XP firewall on your broadband connection too. Mike Quote
Mike Posted February 21, 2005 Posted February 21, 2005 i have always found trend internet security to be as good as mcafee. just because its downloaded off the internet and not bought in shops doesnt mean its not any good. Just remember to activate it and download the updates regular. mike Quote
Camel_Landy Posted February 21, 2005 Posted February 21, 2005 WRT Multiple software firewalls... Just stick with the one, less overhead on the system & easier to troubleshoot. Ultimately, you would be better off with an external, hardware firewall and as a basic one is only £60 you'd be mad not to. M Quote
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