Windows or McAfeeFirewall (is spyware doctor needed)

[Guest]

I have XP pro and subscribe to Comcast as my cable provider. McAfee virus and
firewall suite is included with the Comcast subscription. Which firewall
should I use?.
Is Spyware Doctor a good program to install?. I start to suspect that I
may cause more problems by having too many security programs .

 

[philo]

I have XP pro and subscribe to Comcast as my cable provider. McAfee virus and
firewall suite is included with the Comcast subscription. Which firewall
should I use?.
Is Spyware Doctor a good program to install?. I start to suspect that I
may cause more problems by having too many security programs .

Although I'm not a big McAfee fan...if it works OK for you...just stay with
it.

You are right though...too much security can have problems of it's own...but
the built-in Windows firewall is so minimal...
it rarely hurts to have another.


As to Spyware Doctor...though I don't know how good it is...
there are plenty of good, freeware apps out there...so I probably would not
buy it

 

[Ed Metcalfe]

I have XP pro and subscribe to Comcast as my cable provider. McAfee virus
and
firewall suite is included with the Comcast subscription. Which firewall
should I use?.
Is Spyware Doctor a good program to install?. I start to suspect that I
may cause more problems by having too many security programs .

If it was my computer I'd dump McAfee and download Avast for my AV software.
The Windows firewall is fine for my purposes, although I am happy to do
without outbound protection. If you want outbound I'd recommend Sunbelt
Kerio. ZoneAlarm used to be my firewall of choice, but the newer versions
were causing me so many problems I uninstalled it.

Ed Metcalfe.

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

Avast or AVG free Anti-Virus editions are good. If you want to pay, go for
NOD32.

Re firewalls, the Windows offering is as pain free as it gets. Comodo do a
free firewall.

WinPatrol and Windows defender are good to use relatively pain free too..

 

[Kayman]

I have XP pro and subscribe to Comcast as my cable provider. McAfee virus and
firewall suite is included with the Comcast subscription. Which firewall
should I use?.

The windows firewall deals with inbound protection and is adequate for the
average homeuser. It doesn't give you a false sense of security. Best of
all, it doesn't implement lots of nonsense like 3rd party PFW's do.

Activate and utilize the Win XP SP2 built-in Firewall; Uncheck *all*
Programs and Services under the Exception tab.
Read through:

Understanding Windows Firewall.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/security/internet/sp2_wfintro.mspx

Using Windows Firewall.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/security/winfirewall.mspx

How to Configure Windows Firewall on a Single Computer.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/smallbusiness/prodtech/windowsxp/cfgfwall.mspx

Troubleshooting Windows Firewall settings in Windows XP Service Pack 2.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=875357

In conjunction with WinXP SP2 Firewall use:
Seconfig XP 1.0
http://seconfig.sytes.net/
(http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/Seconfig-XP-Download-39707.html)
Seconfig XP is able configure Windows not to use TCP/IP as transport
protocol for NetBIOS, SMB and RPC, thus leaving TCP/UDP ports 135, 137-139
and 445 (the most exploited Windows networking weak point) closed.)
OR
Configuring NT-services much more secure.
http://www.ntsvcfg.de/ntsvcfg_eng.html

Is Spyware Doctor a good program to install?.

Steer away from it

I start to suspect that I may cause more problems by having too many security
programs.

You're not wrong.

A number of experts agree that the retail AV version of McAfee, Norton and
Trend Micro has become cumbersome and bloated for the average user.

Removal tools for recent Mcafee products:-
Request assistance from here:
http://forums.mcafeehelp.com/
or download and run:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/McAfee_Consumer_Product_Removal_Tool_d5420.html
or
Download and run the McAfee Removal tool:
https://us.mcafee.com/root/MCPR2.exe
If you receive a security alert, click Yes.
Click Save to download the file to a location on your computer.
Navigate to the location where the file was saved.
Ensure all McAfee application windows are closed.
Double-click MCPR2.exe to run the removal tool.
Note: Windows Vista users must right-click and select Run as Administrator.
Restart your computer when prompted. Your McAfee products will not be fully
removed until you restart.
All McAfee products are now removed from your computer.

Real-time AV applications - for viral malware.
Do not utilize more than one (1) real-time anti-virus scanning engine!
Disable the e-mail scanning function during installation (Custom
Installation on some AV apps.) as it provides no additional protection.
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#3
In fact, most of experts (incl. Norton) believe that scanning incoming and
outgoing mail causes e-mail file corruption.

Avira AntiVir® PersonalEdition Classic - Free
http://www.free-av.com/antivirus/allinonen.html

Free antivirus - avast! 4 Home Edition
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html
(Choose Custom Installation and under Resident
Protection, uncheck: Internet Mail and Outlook/Exchange.)

ESET NOD32 Antivirus - Not Free
http://www.eset.com/
Have you seen these "extra settings for NOD32"?
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=37509

On-demand AV application.
(add it to your arsenal and use it as a "second opinion" av scanner).
BitDefender10 Free Edition
http://www.bitdefender.com/PRODUCT-14-en--BitDefender-8-Free-Edition.html

A-S applications - for non-viral malware.
The effectiveness of an individual A-S scanners can be wide-ranging and
oftentimes a collection of scanners is best. There isn't one software that
cleans and immunizes you against everything. That's why you need multiple
products to do the job i.e. overlap their coverage - one may catch what
another may miss, (grab'em all).

SuperAntispyware - Free
http://www.superantispyware.com/superantispywarefreevspro.html

Ad-Aware - Free
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_aware_free.php
http://www.download.com/3000-2144-10045910.html

Spybot Search & Destroy - Free
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html

Windows Defender - Free (build-in in Vista)
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx
Interesting reading:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136195/article.html
"...Windows Defender did excel in behavior-based protection, which detects
changes to key areas of the system without having to know anything about
the actual threat."

A clarification on the terminology: the word "malware" is short for
"malicious software." Most Anti-Virus applications detect many types of
malware such as viruses, worms, trojans, etc.
What AV applications usually don't detect is "non-viral" malware, and the
term "non-viral malware" is normally used to refer to things like spyware
and adware.

Some more useful applications:
Spyware Blaster - Free
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

Rootkit Revealer - Free
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/Utilities/RootkitRevealer.mspx

Crap Cleaner - Free
http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/
If Windows Defender is utilized go to Applications, under Utilities
uncheck "Windows Defender".

CW Shredder - Free
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/Popup-Ad-Spyware-Blockers/CWShredder.shtml

Consider this also:
1. Do not work as administrator, use a limited user account (LUA) for
day-to-day work.
2. Keep your system (and all software on it) updated/patched.
3. Re-evaluate using IE and OE
4. Don't expose services to public networks. You can achieve that either
by disabling the services you don't need.

Good luck

 

[xxx_]

You said that you should use a limited user account for day to day work when
you have access to the administrator account. What's the reason behind this?

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I have XP pro and subscribe to Comcast as my cable provider. McAfee virus and
firewall suite is included with the Comcast subscription. Which firewall
should I use?.

Personally, I wouldn't have anything to do with McAfee products. The
only worse security vendor is Norton.

There are several free anti-virus programs that are much better, such
as Avast!, which I prefer.

Regarding a firewall, you can use the Windows firewall or choose a
third-party one, such as the freeware ZoneAlarm.

Is Spyware Doctor a good program to install?. I start to suspect that I
may cause more problems by having too many security programs .

I have no experience with Spyware Doctor, so won't comment on it,
other than to say that you should not fear having too many security
programs. What you should fear are security programs that conflict
with each other. For example, you should *not* run two firewalls or
two anti-virus programs simultaneously.

However, for complete protection, an anti-virus program and a firewall
is *not* enough. You also need anti-spyware protection. In fact, a
single anti-spyware product--even the best one--is *not* good
enough. 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

Over and above the anti-virus and firewall programs, I recommend some
combination of at least two or three of the following (all free):

Spybot Search and Destroy
Adaware
Spyware Blaster
Windows Defender
Super Antispyware

 

[Ace]

Should any kind of malware enter your system while you are logged in as
an administrator, the malware has full control over your system and can
do whatever it pleases.
Should any malware however enter your system while you are logged in as a
limited user, the malware has limited control over your system, and may
not even be able to complete it's intentions due to lack of permissions.
Running as a limited user however is only part of the work you need to do
to keep your system (and your data) as safe as you can.