Multiple Firewalls

[Paul Calcagno]

I'm running Vista Home Premium SP2, 2 GB RAM, SAS, MBAM, CA (California
Associates) AV (e-mail scanning disabled); Avira AV/Update scheduler,
CCleaner, and Windows Firewall, WLM on an Acer Aspire Desktop machine.

The system is running just great, however, I've always wondered why I need
both the CA and the Windows firewall running at the same time. In CA I can
create a list of website that are allowed thru the firewall, but I'm not
sure if I can do that with Windows firewall.

Is it OK to disable the CA firewall permanently? Is there a way to specify
what is allowed thru the Windows firewall. And lastly, should I just
uninstall the whole CA suite altogether?

Thanks in advance..........Paul C.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I'm running Vista Home Premium SP2, 2 GB RAM, SAS, MBAM, CA (California
Associates) AV (e-mail scanning disabled); Avira AV/Update scheduler,
CCleaner, and Windows Firewall, WLM on an Acer Aspire Desktop machine.

The system is running just great, however, I've always wondered why I need
both the CA and the Windows firewall running at the same time. In CA I can
create a list of website that are allowed thru the firewall, but I'm not
sure if I can do that with Windows firewall.

Is it OK to disable the CA firewall permanently?

No question about it: you should turn off one of the two firewalls.
You get no extra protection by having both, you hurt your performance
by having both, and you run the risk of their conflicting with each
other.

The same is true of your two anti-virus programs. Get rid of one of
them. You hurt your performance by having both, and you run the risk
of their conflicting with each other.

If it were me, I would dump all the CA software and keep the Avira
Anti-virus and the built-in Windows firewall.

 

[Ǝиçεl]

Hello Paul,

"Do not use more than one firewall, 2 or more is a sure way to hit trouble,
just as with AntiViru's."


The built-in Windows firewall is just as good as
any third-party firewall.

There are two interfaces for Vistas built-in firewall:

1) A simplified one accessed through the Control Panel that is the only
one most people see.

2) And the more advanced "Windows Firewall with Advanced Security
(WF.msc)," accessed via the Start Menu's Administrative Tools folder,
for the experienced user who wants better control.
-=-


<http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/security/internet/sp2_wfintro.mspx>


http://www.microsoft.com/security/firewalls/faq.aspx
-=-

 

[Paul Calcagno]

Thanks to you and PA Bear for your fine advice.

I think I'll be uninstalling my CA. That will leave me with active AV
scanner on Avira and just Windows firewall. Paul C.

 

[Paul Calcagno]

Do you happen do know the command for the Advanced Firewall settings in Win
XP. I tried `wf.msc' on my wife's WinXP computer and it doesn't work. Paul
C.

 

[Paul Calcagno]

Pa Bear, et al.

I just got finished uninstalling CA/restarting and the computer is running
much faster. Thanks for that...............Paul C.

 

[Drew]

The built in firewall in xp is worse than useless as opposed to win vista or
win 7.. There are many free firewalls that work well with xp (comodo and
zonealarm to name 2)

http://personalfirewall.comodo.com/
http://download.cnet.com/ZoneAlarm/3000-10435_4-10039884.html

 

[Paul Calcagno]

Drew, any more detail as to why WinXP firewall is so useless? Paul C.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Drew, any more detail as to why WinXP firewall is so useless? Paul C.

Just to give you another point of view, I, and many others, disagree
that it's useless. I think it's fine.

I used to be convinced that the XP firewall was greatly inferior to
third-party ones because the XP firewall monitors incoming traffic,
but does nothing to stop spyware programs trying to call home. I no
longer feel that way. Although there's truth in that statement, from a
practical standpoint it doesn't matter. Once the spyware program has
infected you, it can get around restrictions on trying to call home
anyway.

 

[Drew]

Personally I never used it.. If you google win xp firewall you will probably
find gazillions of hits on it though. Probably most of the reasons why
Microsoft produced so many service packs and patches for win xp was due to
its security problems.

 

[Paul Calcagno]

Ken and Drew. Here's my 2 cents about Windows Firewall. I noticed after I
removed my 3rd party firewall (CA Security Suite) that EVERYTHING runs
faster BUT both my Avira and Spyware Doctor are catching lots more junk now
than they ever did. Almost 2-3 infections every day. Does this mean Windows
firewall is not catching stuff as effectively as CA? I don't know. The only
way to tell would be to re-install CA and see if the incident rate drops
again.

Thanks for your thoughts..........Paul C.