SP2 Firewall and 3rd party alternatives

[Jasper]

Hi,

I have had SP2 running perfectly for 10 days now. One slight problem -
I'm using McAfee's Desktop Firewall, which does an excellent job, but
SP2 does not recognise it. When I tell the Security Center that I am
monitoring the Firewall myself all is fine until I reboot. Then I have
to go through the whole procedure again....SP2 doesn't seem to
remember that I already have an active firewall. Is there anyway I can
update my settings so that SP2 knows I have an active firewall running
?

TIA

Jasper

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

You'll need to check with McAfee to see if they've provided a
patch that enables their product to be recognized by SP2's Security
Center.

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 isn't very good advice.

WinXP's built-in firewall is _adequate_ at stopping incoming
attacks, and hiding your ports from probes. What WinXP SP2's firewall
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, other
than to check for IP-spoofing, much less block (or at even ask you
about) the bad or the questionable out-going signals. 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 Windows Firewall is a "stateful" firewall, it
will also assume that any incoming traffic that's a direct response to
a Trojan's or spyware'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 the commercially
available Symantec's Norton Personal Firewall is superior by far,
although it does take a heavier toll of system performance then do
ZoneAlarm or Sygate.


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

 

[Guest]

Disable “Security Centerâ€. It’s useless anyway.

 

[Jasper]

Disable “Security Center”. It’s useless anyway.

Done ! Thanks to all for the responses

Jasper