which firewall?

donnajunkie

i know two on at the same time can conflict with each other and i was sure the windows firewall was turned off. however while looking through today i noticed it was turned on. as i have norton 360 that also has a firewall i dont need both and more importantly i shouldnt have both turned on should i? so assuming i am right about that, which one should i use norton 360 firewall or windows firewall?

i am slightly concerned because whee i clicked on a link in a email notification for a thread here the same page kept coming on one after the other uncontrollably. i had to shutdown to stop it.

PROLIANT

donnajunkie wrote: »

i know two on at the same time can conflict with each other and i was sure the windows firewall was turned off. however while looking through today i noticed it was turned on. as i have norton 360 that also has a firewall i dont need both and more importantly i shouldnt have both turned on should i? so assuming i am right about that, which one should i use norton 360 firewall or windows firewall?

i am slightly concerned because whee i clicked on a link in a email notification for a thread here the same page kept coming on one after the other uncontrollably. i had to shutdown to stop it.

The Windows firewall is adequate, but if you want alarms and bells when you get pinged or the wind blows in the wrong direction try one of the other 10 million freeware firewalls out there. Good luck

ronben

There is some discussion on tech forums about the windows firewall being on whilst a thrid party firewall is installed and TBH the windows firewall in XP is pretty useless so another firewall on at the same time doesnt really matter, however with Vista their do seem to be some issues especially with file sharing, so if you have XP I would say leave the windows firewall on but in Vista I would say disable, but then again it can come down to what needs access.

donnajunkie

i know there are many security type software that are available for free out there that people swear by here. i just cant bring myself to trust something that i would get for free. can i really trust their support if i'm not paying them? anyway really i just need to knoo firstly is it really bad to have both firewalls turned on at the same time? secondly if i should only rely on one then which should it be out of the two i have? windows or norton 360?

PROLIANT

ronben wrote: »

There is some discussion on tech forums about the windows firewall being on whilst a thrid party firewall is installed and TBH the windows firewall in XP is pretty useless so another firewall on at the same time doesnt really matter, however with Vista their do seem to be some issues especially with file sharing, so if you have XP I would say leave the windows firewall on but in Vista I would say disable, but then again it can come down to what needs access.

Based on what technical evidence? The windows firewall is not useless, it does the job, if you want a true firewall go and buy a CISCO PIX or ASA, these are proper firewalls.

donnajunkie

ronben wrote: »

There is some discussion on tech forums about the windows firewall being on whilst a thrid party firewall is installed and TBH the windows firewall in XP is pretty useless so another firewall on at the same time doesnt really matter, however with Vista their do seem to be some issues especially with file sharing, so if you have XP I would say leave the windows firewall on but in Vista I would say disable, but then again it can come down to what needs access.

i do have vista. it even says in the windows firewall that it can conflict with another one that is also on. i want to just leave it all to norton 360 but i dont want to go and turn the windows one of to find that that one would have been better. i guess i am just worried that the second i turn one off i am going to get attacked and i am worried that i already have been due to having two turned on. i was sure that i had turned the windows one off when i installed norton 360. so i am curious why it now seems to be on. i do install updates from microsoft so could an update do something to make it turn back on?

BillScarab

Well the Windows XP firewall has NO outbound protection and the Vista Firewall has it turned off by default. Therefore in both cases the standard firewalls are not much use as they only protect inbound traffic.

For home use one of the free firewalls that offers protection inboudn and outbound is perfectly adequate. Especially if ti's in combination with a hardware firewall built into a router.

PROLIANT

donnajunkie wrote: »

i know there are many security type software that are available for free out there that people swear by here. i just cant bring myself to trust something that i would get for free. can i really trust their support if i'm not paying them? anyway really i just need to knoo firstly is it really bad to have both firewalls turned on at the same time? secondly if i should only rely on one then which should it be out of the two i have? windows or norton 360?

Having two firewalls on at the same time is not good, you get no benefit from it and you will only have trouble with packet routing etc, extra CPU and RAM overhead. Just read a technical article on firewalls to get a better understanding then make your choice, don’t allow your self to be bewildered by "magazine speak" from "Computer user's", there is so many valid and invalid opinions around so it is best to read the "technical" facts before you make your choice. Good luck.

PROLIANT

BillScarab wrote: »

Well the Windows XP firewall has NO outbound protection and the Vista Firewall has it turned off by default. Therefore in both cases the standard firewalls are not much use as they only protect inbound traffic.

For home use one of the free firewalls that offers protection inboudn and outbound is perfectly adequate. Especially if ti's in combination with a hardware firewall built into a router.

You dont block outbound traffic from the trusted side of a firewall, most homes with broadband should have a router with on-board firewall which can do both anyway.

donnajunkie

BillScarab wrote: »

Well the Windows XP firewall has NO outbound protection and the Vista Firewall has it turned off by default. Therefore in both cases the standard firewalls are not much use as they only protect inbound traffic.

For home use one of the free firewalls that offers protection inboudn and outbound is perfectly adequate. Especially if ti's in combination with a hardware firewall built into a router.

in the windows one there is the ability to allow and disable various things but as i dont understand them i am reluctant to change them as i may do more harm than good.

donnajunkie

PROLIANT wrote: »

You dont block outbound traffic from the trusted side of a firewall, most homes with broadband should have a router with on-board firewall which can do both anyway.

i dont use a router. i am just connected to a virgin media modem.
i am right in thinking a router is for wireless internet arent i?