OT - Replacement for firewall

I've been putting up with Zonealarm security suite for a while now but now
just sick of the bugs. Eespecially the MSN live one.

So is there a good replacement firewall out there? Free or otherwise I don't
mind. I have a router with a firewall if its any importance.

Now using AVG free as my antivirus. All the other crap that came with
secrutiy suite I don't need.

Thanks

Dan

Dan wrote:

> I've been putting up with Zonealarm security suite for a while now but now
> just sick of the bugs. Eespecially the MSN live one.
>
> So is there a good replacement firewall out there? Free or otherwise I don't
> mind. I have a router with a firewall if its any importance.
>
> Now using AVG free as my antivirus. All the other crap that came with
> secrutiy suite I don't need.

Why are you expecting to get the best in each category from a single supplier ?

I've used ZoneAlarm for as long as I can remember now and have never has cause
to complain. I've used CA's AV and more recently AVG too.

All are fine as far as I'm concerned and are either free or low cost.

Graham

Eeyore wrote:
>
> Dan wrote:
>
>
>>I've been putting up with Zonealarm security suite for a while now but now
>>just sick of the bugs. Eespecially the MSN live one.
>>
>>So is there a good replacement firewall out there? Free or otherwise I don't
>>mind. I have a router with a firewall if its any importance.
>>
>>Now using AVG free as my antivirus. All the other crap that came with
>>secrutiy suite I don't need.
>
>
> Why are you expecting to get the best in each category from a single supplier ?
>
> I've used ZoneAlarm for as long as I can remember now and have never has cause
> to complain. I've used CA's AV and more recently AVG too.
>
> All are fine as far as I'm concerned and are either free or low cost.

I'd agree with that.

Since using ZA free and CA/AVG I've had no viruses at all, despite
having two children who might go to 'attractive' sites occasionally.

I also use Spybot, Adaware, Hijack-this amongst others and have a
regular 'clear-up' sequence I do each week, though this is more to do
with file maintenance and keeping the main computer and wireless laptops
we have running well, rather than security issues.

--
The Caretaker .........

The Caretaker <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> Eeyore wrote:
> >
> > Dan wrote:
> >
> >
> >>I've been putting up with Zonealarm security suite for a while now but now
> >>just sick of the bugs. Eespecially the MSN live one.
> >>
> >>So is there a good replacement firewall out there? Free or otherwise I don't
> >>mind. I have a router with a firewall if its any importance.
> >>
> >>Now using AVG free as my antivirus. All the other crap that came with
> >>secrutiy suite I don't need.
> >
> >
> > Why are you expecting to get the best in each category from a single supplier ?
> >
> > I've used ZoneAlarm for as long as I can remember now and have never has cause
> > to complain. I've used CA's AV and more recently AVG too.
> >
> > All are fine as far as I'm concerned and are either free or low cost.
>
> I'd agree with that.
>
> Since using ZA free and CA/AVG I've had no viruses at all, despite
> having two children who might go to 'attractive' sites occasionally.
>
I've used nothing at all in my Win2k PC for years, and I have been
virus free too.

A modicum of common sense is much more effective than dozens of
'utilities' digging around in the innards of the operating system.

--
Chris Green

"The Caretaker" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
newsQeDg.8891$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> Since using ZA free and CA/AVG I've had no viruses at all, despite having
> two children who might go to 'attractive' sites occasionally.
>
> I also use Spybot, Adaware, Hijack-this amongst others and have a regular
> 'clear-up' sequence I do each week, though this is more to do with file
> maintenance and keeping the main computer and wireless laptops we have
> running well, rather than security issues.
>
> --
> The Caretaker .........

Agreed - go for the free (firewall-only) ZoneAlarm and the free Grisoft AVG
anti-virus. Why bother with the extras and paid versions when these are both
excellent?
As The Caretaker says, also get a couple of free anti-spam applications -
those named above are excellent - and above all, set everything (including
Windows updates) for automatic updating. Or in the case of the anti-spam
jobbies, do a manual update at least weekly.
No problems and all free of charge.
QED
George

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:44ddaed8$0$632$(E-Mail Removed)...

> I've used nothing at all in my Win2k PC for years, and I have been
> virus free too.
>
> A modicum of common sense is much more effective than dozens of
> 'utilities' digging around in the innards of the operating system.

How do you know your pc is virus free? Just because you may not have any
symptoms it does not mean there is nothing there.

Beck wrote:
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:44ddaed8$0$632$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
>> I've used nothing at all in my Win2k PC for years, and I have been
>> virus free too.
>>
>> A modicum of common sense is much more effective than dozens of
>> 'utilities' digging around in the innards of the operating system.
>
> How do you know your pc is virus free? Just because you may not have any
> symptoms it does not mean there is nothing there.
>
>
For me it's easy, my Windows PC lives on a network populated with Mac
and Linux machines and is only used for things where I can't get a
program for the others or if I really need it to convert something from
a Windows proprietary format to something more useful. So it's safely
behind a Linux-based firewall and is not used to connect to web sites or
to read email. I've also got a line in the firewall rules that make it
log every attempt by the machine to talk to the outside world - it's
interesting to see how many commercial programs phone home for updates.

--
Dave
mail da (E-Mail Removed) (without the space)
http://www.llondel.org
So many gadgets, so little time

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:

> I've used nothing at all in my Win2k PC for years, and I have been
> virus free too.

How do you know ?

Graham

"Dave {Reply Address In.sig}" wrote:

> Beck wrote:
> > <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:44ddaed8$0$632$(E-Mail Removed)...
> >
> >> I've used nothing at all in my Win2k PC for years, and I have been
> >> virus free too.
> >>
> >> A modicum of common sense is much more effective than dozens of
> >> 'utilities' digging around in the innards of the operating system.
> >
> > How do you know your pc is virus free? Just because you may not have any
> > symptoms it does not mean there is nothing there.
>
> For me it's easy, my Windows PC lives on a network populated with Mac
> and Linux machines and is only used for things where I can't get a
> program for the others or if I really need it to convert something from
> a Windows proprietary format to something more useful. So it's safely
> behind a Linux-based firewall and is not used to connect to web sites or
> to read email. I've also got a line in the firewall rules that make it
> log every attempt by the machine to talk to the outside world - it's
> interesting to see how many commercial programs phone home for updates.

So, completely untypical of anyone posting here then !

Graham

Beck <beck@none> wrote:
>
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:44ddaed8$0$632$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> > I've used nothing at all in my Win2k PC for years, and I have been
> > virus free too.
> >
> > A modicum of common sense is much more effective than dozens of
> > 'utilities' digging around in the innards of the operating system.
>
> How do you know your pc is virus free? Just because you may not have any
> symptoms it does not mean there is nothing there.
>
If there aren't any symptoms (at all) I don't care! :-)

In 'symptoms' I include trojans and stuff which send mail without my
knowledge.

I *occasionally* run a manual scan (with a copy of the latest virus
scanner from work) and that has always, so far, been clean. I also
check the logs on the router and other places to see if anything
unexpected seems to be going on.

--
Chris Green