Firewall confusion -- please assist

[Timothy Miller]

Greetings,

I'm moderately experienced on another platform, but Windows is a new
world for me.

My newish Windows XP laptop shipped with a demo copy Norton Internet
Security installed. I paid for the registration, which gives me access
to periodic updates of virus data, trojan data, and so on.

I haven't installed SP2 yet. Among other reasons, I can't get onto the
damned internet lately, for reasons I don't understand. I probably
changed a configuration, but I don't know which one.

My question involves Norton Internet Security. This product seems to
have two elements -- a complex firewall, and Virus Protection. The
Norton firewall doesn't just open and close ports. It makes and enforces
complex firewall rules, which I don't completely understand.

Here's my question:

Does Norton Internet Security set up a second, independent firewall,
independent of Windows XP's native firewall?

--or--

Does Norton Internet Security merely assist the user in managing Windows
XP's native firewall?

If Norton Internet Security sets up a second, independent firewall, is
this really necessary, particularly if SP2 is installed? It seems like a
recipe for headache and confustion.

If I know the answers to my questions, I'll probably be able to solve
various headaches, which I won't bore you with.

Have a nice day.

Tim Miller

 

[Tiny Johnson]

Norton is totally independant and i would suggest turning off the xp
firewall which isnt very effective

 

[zippy]

Norton Firewall and Windows firewall are two different products. Do not run
both as you will more than likely have conflicts. I'm not fimaliar with
Norton, but I do know that Windows Firewall does not block outgoing traffic.
Meaning, if you should happen to have a trojan horse on your computer and it
was trying to phone home, Windows firewall would let it. I am not confident
with Windows Firewall. Yes, it is a small step made by Microsoft. But more
work needs to be done to refine the product.

Basically, you only want to allow access to the internet to programs that
you know need it. Internet Explorer needs it, your dialer (if on dial up)
needs it. There is a program called Generic Host process for windows32 that
needs connection, that one is a little tricky. But for instance, if Notepad
asked for permission to access the net, I would deny it because there is no
reason for it to access the internet. Usually what that means is you have a
trojan on your system that is masquarading as other programs. If you are
unsure about a program, deny it at first and see if anything is not working
that should be working. You can always go into Firewall and change settings
later on.

 

[Timothy Miller]

Thanks, Tiny and zippy.

A short followup question--

If I continue to use Norton Internet Security and update it regularly,
will SP2 offer any particular security advantage? I'll probably leave
the native XP firewall turned off, as you suggest.

Are there other reasons to install SP2, aside from the new and improved
firewall?

Are there good reasons NOT to install SP2, if I'm going to be getting
good security from the Norton product anyway?

Thanks in advance.


Tim Miller

 

[Doug G]

SP2 contains fixes for a number of other holes in XP that might not be
covered by virus/firewall software, such as the "buffer overrun"
vulnerabilities. Plus there is a new popup blocker in IE and some
enhancements to Outlook Express (e.g., by default, OE won't load pictures in
HTML messages that might be spam). Overall it is a worthwhile update and I
did not personally have any trouble on any of the three PCs that I have
installed it on so far.

BTW, I also have Norton Security, and the SP2 update does recognize that you
have the Norton firewall (and anti-virus) and it then does not enable the XP
firewall. For best results, make sure that you have used Liveupdate to get
the latest Norton updates that are also SP2-aware.

Doug G

 

[Ron Martell]

Norton is totally independant and i would suggest turning off the xp
firewall which isnt very effective

Correction.

The Windows XP firewall is very effective at doing what it is intended
to do, which is to block unwanted incoming traffic to your computer.
It is as effective at doing this as any of the other firewall
products.

Where the Windows XP firewall has shortcomings is in the area of
unwanted outgoing traffic, where (by design) it does absolutely
nothing.


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."