Firewall

wary

I'm sure this must have been asked hundreds of times before, but to save me ploughing through lots of old posts ...

We've been using McAfee for protection on our Windows XP PC, and although it has generally worked fairly well over the years, there has been a few things recently that I've not been happy about.

I believe that AVG is a good/free anti-virus, so I'm really looking at recommendations for a replacement firewall. I don't mind paying a modest amount to get something decent although there must be some free software available too.

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

[Deleted User]

Give these pages a read:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1371573&highlight=firewall
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1428881&highlight=firewall
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1486805&highlight=firewall

wary

Deleted_User wrote: »

Give these pages a read:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1371573&highlight=firewall
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1428881&highlight=firewall
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1486805&highlight=firewall

Thanks for those links David. Plenty of food for thought and indeed plenty of schools of thought.

You've mentioned using the XP SP3 Firewall. As someone who is not well up on PCs, how would I know whether I even have SP3 installed never mind whether its Firewall is switched on?

Kane99uk

wary wrote: »

how would I know whether I even have SP3 installed never mind whether its Firewall is switched on?

Open Windows Explorer (press the Windows Key & E together). Right click My Computer and click Properties. Should tell you straight away which version of Windows you're using.

As for the Firewall, go to Start>Settings>Control Panel>Windows Firewall. Should be able to activate & deactivate the Firewall from there.

[Deleted User]

Go to Start -> Run, then type "winver" (without quotes)
Second line down at the end...

aliEnRIK

AVG is nearly as bad as Mcafee

Id recommend AVIRA

Anyways ~ Use the MCAFEE REMOVAL TOOL (Else there WILL still be mcafee running on your system)
http://service.mcafee.com/FAQDocument.aspx?id=TS100507

wary

Thanks all for the info. I'll check which Service Pack we're running on when I get home this evening.
Regardless of firewalls, is it advisable to install the latest SP version anyway?

aliEnRIK

wary wrote: »

Thanks all for the info. I'll check which Service Pack we're running on when I get home this evening.
Regardless of firewalls, is it advisable to install the latest SP version anyway?

Yes ~ theyre security updates. Without them its possible you can get some VERY nasty infections (Even with top notch anti virus programs in use)

i8change

If you are using a Router with a hardware firewall built in (rather than just a modem) the Microsoft firewall should be enough.
I have just changed from AVG 8.0 free to Avira Antivir free and prefer it. You can use the default settings when you install, then you just have to set it to scan at a particular time, or else you can click "scan system now" occassionally. I found it scanned faster than AVG and has less of a load on the PC. It is currently more thorough but you don't get the Website checking facility that AVG has.
As no Antivirus is 100% foolproof, you can install Malwarebytes and SUPERAntiSpyware, also for free, and scan with those alternately as an extra safeguard, just remember to update them first before you scan. They won't interfere with your Avira Antivirus. Or if you have Java installed on your PC, Kaspersky do a free online scan which will show up any problems it finds.
If you want to be extra safe and you use the free "Firefox" web browser, rather than Internet Explorer, you can use the "Add On" called "NoScript" which will stop any attacks via Java when you click on a compromised website. You just set it to allow sites that you trust, like this one, to run Java and leave it to block Java on less trustworthy sites. This is handy if doing research and are ending up on unfamiliar and possibly dangerous sites to get the info you want.
You should install SP3 now but it can cause problems for some so check the requirements/advice on the Microsoft website first.

wary

I've just installed the freebie version of Avira. I presume that I have to manually check for updates, as opposed to the software automatically detecting & downloading these?

Also, how do these anti-virus things work? Do they run in the background, providing automatic protection? Or do they only do something when one explicitly initiates a scan?

I also have Spybot installed, which I believe does run in the background.

gaming_guy

wary wrote: »

I've just installed the freebie version of Avira. I presume that I have to manually check for updates, as opposed to the software automatically detecting & downloading these?

it checked for updates about once a day when i had it (or after every windows start)

Also, how do these anti-virus things work? Do they run in the background, providing automatic protection? Or do they only do something when one explicitly initiates a scan?

yes, it will run scans automatically (or it did when i had it) as it found a virus on a cd a few seconds after i loaded the cd. its still worth running a manual scan every so often though