For the most part, as long as you have a firewall on either the modem or router, you should be fine. The more firewalls, the more issues you can have with programs accessing the network/internet. Everyones opinion is different with this issue.
That is not a virus removing/detecting program or firewall. A firewall is only needed for people that have a high speed connection, dial-up users are fine because a hacker wouldnt even waste their time trying to attack a dial up user(unless they were your enemy) because the connection is just to slow for the hacker to transer/recieve data from your pc. Oh, and BTW, Mac users don't have to worry about hacker attacks because only windows is so vulnurable. I use a router, even though it has its own built in firewall, I still use zone alarm pro and Protowall (it updates every 12 hours to protect against gov and other things) l, then I run Kaspersky, and I once in a while run adaware and spybot Do you really want to spend 60 bucks for every worm/trojan/virus you get?, just to lower the chance of infection, there are many user friendly antivirus programs, I currently like Kaspersky, whatever anti-virus program you have, you have to let it update its virus definitions ( so that the program can detect the newest viruses), no antivirus program is good when its virus defs are 1 YEAR OLD! Its useless. Even adaware, and spybot have definitions. Good luck with all your computer struggles, its only going to get worse because all these companies want to put so much useless crap so that they can "impress" a user into buying it. I think that if you get "Norton Antivirus", then they shouldnt include a firewall, zone alarm is doing the same thing, exept they are adding a firewall. Whoever has WinXP, I suggest you get sp2, even though i've heard many people complaining, I havent had any problems at all, even with new games and program (it includes its own firewall, and it nags at you to get an antivirus program) wow, I got carried away. Slawek
If you are using XP and do not want to use SP2 (I don't) you can still set up XP's firewall. Simple and ez to do. Click Start, Control Panel, doubleclick Network Connections, right-click the desired connection, Properties, Advanced tab, Under Internet Connection Firewall, check the Protect my computer and network by limiting or preventing access to this computer from the Internet check box.
As I said earlier, I can fix my own machine, explained what I use to protect my machine. I do not spend $60 per worm/virus because my system is stable to where I have NEVER gotten one in the 9 years of being online. Was merely suggesting that if someone is not technical enough nor has the resources to fix their own machine, there are more affordable time saving alternatives, that's all. As other people have said, being careful about what is downloaded/viewed from the net plays a big part in the stability of a machine. Anti-virus software does do a decent job however can also cause other computer issues that uninstalling the software does not always solve.
my bad Sorry about that. Have you guys got used to the new look, or do you not even remember what happened? p Slawek
Not trying to argue here, but when I was hit with the worms, I was using dial-up. So a firewall can't hurt even on a slow connection.
The main thing you need to take into consideration is, "is this application adaptable?" the major problem with most if not all "free" software is that it serves only ONE purpose and as time goes by, is obsolete. AVG in all its free-ness is a fairly good program for home use, and only that. It does not catch anything but viruses. Ad-aware, and Spy Bot (search & destroy) only catch spyware, adware, and malware. The major thing that this thread is missing is processor power being used by a lot of applications, this will also cause the machine to run slowly, thus defeating their very purpose. A firewall will of course block anything and everything you tell it to. once again, everything and anything YOU tell it to, it is not perceptive and cannot know what to block, anything that does it by itself cannot be trusted for reliablity. Sadly in the internet world, the only thing you can really trust is something you MUST buy, the key is, you have to buy the software that most likely fits your needs, if you dont know or want to close or open ports, go with something simple, if you want something complex, go cisco. with the proper firewall, anti-virus, and adware/spyware software, you can have a happy clean internet experience, but it takes time and experimentation on your system. this is also a good way to block the kiddies from porn, internet chat, etc. :Comp: all in all, its up to the network your making, too strong of a firewall and you just blocked yourself :spank: too few and everyone is having a party on your network :beer: or you can be like me, paranoid and have everything monitored, with honeypot, and etc. but im just a sick vindictive guy like that... uzzled: p.s. you want to make sure you get a firewall that hides your IP Address. Preferably with NAT or PAT. if you need further info, PM me. :TU:
You get worms when you get free programs that include some of that crap, it is possible for the hacker to transfer it to your hard disk. If you have a slow computer and you use dialup, I say it is not worth it,becuase it just takes up more memory, unless you just use you computer for internet (v8buick ) Slawek :Comp:
Thats not always the case, most likely in todays most current virus infections come from web pages, active x, scripts etc. A good firewall will block those scripts or if you have XP SP2 it can also.
Hi, I stumbled onto a site called PCpitstop, It is a deal where it tests your PC for free and tells you what is wrong if anything and its weak points, it is really a cool site and I have not seen any bad things from doing the test. It gives alot of info. I have also learned alot about PCs from the forums there too. Panda also has a free virus and removale test, I ran it on our good PC with the norton 2004 and it found and removed a problem that norton would not. Tom
I just dowloaded "Spycatcher" which my ISP(Cox.net) started providing to its customers. It works well and caught many things that spybot did not. Also, recommended is a site and product called Pest Patrol (http://www.pestpatrol.com), they have a great research site. - Bill :TU:
Run AVG. its the best anti solution out there and its FREE http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/1/ its small and your system wont take a hit on resources like Norton.
