Windows Firewall & Windows Defender

[Lyle Giles]

Are they worth installing or should I continue using Zone Alarm firewall &
AdAware & Spybot anti-spyware programs?
/Gilgie

 

[GO]

Personally, I'd recommend sticking with the third-party solutions. MS can't
even get the security properly locked down in it's OS I certainly wouldn't
feel comfortable letting them protect me from other risks (apparently
Defender's already had a couple of blunders). As well, I feel MS shouldn't
be in the anti-spyware market as they are the ones that have created the
problem. Rather than masking the problem with a product to remove
ad/spyware after the fact they should fix their browser so it's isn't a
problem in the first place.

 

[Guest]

Are they worth installing or should I continue using Zone Alarm firewall &
AdAware & Spybot anti-spyware programs?
/Gilgie

Stick with them, as windows Firewall will not protect you from Outbound or
even from inbound traffics in some cases, but ZA will if you configure it to
protect you from intruders, hackers and Trojans.
By keeping these software up2date, also following safe hex with common
sense and scan regularly your system your risk if getting infected is reduce.
HTH
nass

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Are they worth installing or should I continue using Zone Alarm
firewall & AdAware & Spybot anti-spyware programs?

Two different questions with different answers.

1. Regarding the firewall: You should run only a single firewall, and in my
view, ZA is the better of the two.

2. Regarding Windows Defender, a single anti-spyware product is not enough
to protect you. None is good
enough and you need at least two. Note what Eric Howes, who has done
extensive testing on Anti-Spyware products, states:

"No single anti-spyware scanner removes everything. Even the best-performing
anti-spyware scanner in these tests missed fully one quarter of the
"critical" files and Registry entries" See
http://spywarewarrior.com/asw-test-guide.htm


I personally run the following anti-spyware programs (all are free):

Spyware Blaster
Adaware
Spybot Search and Destroy
Windows Defender.

 

[Lyle Giles]

Thanks to all who responded.
/Lyle Giles

Two different questions with different answers.

1. Regarding the firewall: You should run only a single firewall, and in
my view, ZA is the better of the two.

2. Regarding Windows Defender, a single anti-spyware product is not enough
to protect you. None is good
enough and you need at least two. Note what Eric Howes, who has done
extensive testing on Anti-Spyware products, states:

"No single anti-spyware scanner removes everything. Even the
best-performing anti-spyware scanner in these tests missed fully one
quarter of the "critical" files and Registry entries" See
http://spywarewarrior.com/asw-test-guide.htm


I personally run the following anti-spyware programs (all are free):

Spyware Blaster
Adaware
Spybot Search and Destroy
Windows Defender.