firewall

[pala]

my subscribition to norton firewall is ending soon but i
have microsoft xp firewall, do i need norton or is
microsoft xp enough, thx. i also have norton antivirus

 

[Begotten]

The XP software firewall is enough. There is an IPv6 firewall included with the advanced networking pack as well. You can enable/disable it under add/remove windows components. So there are two firewalls.


my subscribition to norton firewall is ending soon but i
have microsoft xp firewall, do i need norton or is
microsoft xp enough, thx. i also have norton antivirus

 

[Guest]

Well currently the XP Firewall only blocks incoming
traffic. It does nothing for monitoring and allerting you
and nothing for outgoing traffic. Nortons does and you can
set the levels. Choose and use one. Using 2 can cause
conflicts and let things in. Also the current windows
firewall will not let your computer work on a home network
(if you ever plan to go with that). Your best bet is to
go with a 3rd party firewall like nortons, or if you dont
want to pay go get zonealarm.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

WinXP's built-in firewall is _adequate_ at stopping incoming
attacks, and hiding your ports from probes. It doesn't give you any
alarms to tell you that it is working, though. Nor is it very easily
configurable. What WinXP also does not do, is protect you from any
Trojans or spyware that you (or someone else using your computer)
might download and install inadvertently. It doesn't monitor
out-going traffic at all, much less block (or at even ask you about)
the bad or the questionable out-going packets. It assumes that any
application you have on your hard drive is there because you want it
there, and therefore has your "permission" to access the Internet.
Further, because the ICF is a "stateful" firewall, it will also assume
that any incoming traffic that's a direct response to a Trojan's
out-going signal is also authorized.

ZoneAlarm, Kerio, or Sygate are all much better than WinXP's
built-in firewall, and are much more easily configured, and there are
free versions of each readily available. Even Symantec's Norton
Personal Firewall is superior by far, although it does take a heavier
toll of system performance then do ZoneAlarm or Sygate.

When my subscription to Symantec's updates for Norton Internet
Security 2002 came up for renewal (at a cost substantially higher than
last year's subscription), I decided to try less expensive solutions.
I downloaded and installed the free version of GriSoft's AVG
(http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php ) and the free version of
Sygate's Personal Firewall ( http://smb.sygate.com/free/default.php ).
Both have proven to be easily installed, easy to use, and quite
effective. Additionally, I was pleasantly surprised to see a small
but very noticeable improvement in my PC's performance, once I'd
replaced the Symantec product.


Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:




You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

 

[Begotten]

Trend Micro's Internet Security 2004 has a software firewall and is cheaper than Norton. Personally, I use no software firewalls and use my router as a hardware firewall.


Greetings --

WinXP's built-in firewall is _adequate_ at stopping incoming
attacks, and hiding your ports from probes. It doesn't give you any
alarms to tell you that it is working, though. Nor is it very easily
configurable. What WinXP also does not do, is protect you from any
Trojans or spyware that you (or someone else using your computer)
might download and install inadvertently. It doesn't monitor
out-going traffic at all, much less block (or at even ask you about)
the bad or the questionable out-going packets. It assumes that any
application you have on your hard drive is there because you want it
there, and therefore has your "permission" to access the Internet.
Further, because the ICF is a "stateful" firewall, it will also assume
that any incoming traffic that's a direct response to a Trojan's
out-going signal is also authorized.

ZoneAlarm, Kerio, or Sygate are all much better than WinXP's
built-in firewall, and are much more easily configured, and there are
free versions of each readily available. Even Symantec's Norton
Personal Firewall is superior by far, although it does take a heavier
toll of system performance then do ZoneAlarm or Sygate.

When my subscription to Symantec's updates for Norton Internet
Security 2002 came up for renewal (at a cost substantially higher than
last year's subscription), I decided to try less expensive solutions.
I downloaded and installed the free version of GriSoft's AVG
(http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php ) and the free version of
Sygate's Personal Firewall ( http://smb.sygate.com/free/default.php ).
Both have proven to be easily installed, easy to use, and quite
effective. Additionally, I was pleasantly surprised to see a small
but very noticeable improvement in my PC's performance, once I'd
replaced the Symantec product.


Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:




You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

That's your choice, of course, but it's not something I'd
recommend that any but the most experienced and paranoid (in a good
way, computer-security-wise) computer user do.

Like WinXP's built-in firewall, NAT-capable routers do nothing to
protect the uninformed user from him/herself. Again -- and I _cannot_
emphasize this enough -- almost all spyware and a great many Trojans
and worms are downloaded and installed deliberately (albeit
unknowingly) by the user. So a software firewall, such as Sygate or
ZoneAlarm, that can detect and warn the user of unauthorized out-going
traffic is an important element of protecting one's privacy and
security. Most antivirus applications do not scan for or protect you
from adware/spyware, because, after all, you've installed them
yourself, so you must want them there, right?


Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:




You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH


Personally, I use no software firewalls and use my router as a
hardware firewall.

 

[just that guy on the net]

-----Original Message-----
my subscribition to norton firewall is ending soon but i
have microsoft xp firewall, do i need norton or is
microsoft xp enough, thx. i also have norton antivirus
.

keep the Norton anti-virus,Symantic is a well known
company and updates are usually pretty quick to be
released as they get them, Although if you run both
firewalls, chances are you may run into some wierd issues
with xp.I use the xp firewall myself with no problems
along with Norton utilities and virus scan 2003>