Firewalls after SP2 upgrade

  • Thread starter Thread starter KK
  • Start date Start date
K

KK

Hi

I have (at last) upgraded to SP2, thankfully without any apparent problems.
(Thanks to your advice)

Before upgrading I had Norton Internet Security providing my firewall. Now I
have MS firewall as well

Are they ok working together, or should I close one of them ?

I know how to check Norton status, but how do I check the MS security
system ?

Thanks for all advice

KK
 
KK said:
Hi

I have (at last) upgraded to SP2, thankfully without any apparent
problems. (Thanks to your advice)

Before upgrading I had Norton Internet Security providing my firewall.
Now I have MS firewall as well

Are they ok working together, or should I close one of them ?

I know how to check Norton status, but how do I check the MS security
system ?
Click to expand...

No, they are not OK working together. You should use the NIS firewall.
Go to Control Panel and double-click on the Windows Firewall icon. If
it isn't turned off, do so.

Malke
 
Thanks, but when I do this I get an error message 'Due to an unknown problem
Windows cannot display the firewall settings'

KK
 
KK said:
Hi

I have (at last) upgraded to SP2, thankfully without any apparent
problems. (Thanks to your advice)

Before upgrading I had Norton Internet Security providing my
firewall. Now I have MS firewall as well

Are they ok working together, or should I close one of them ?
Click to expand...


Don't run two firewalls. You achieve no extra protection, you incur the
extra overhead of running two firewalls, and you run the risk (probably
small, but not zero) of conflicts between them.

See http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/firewall.mspx which
includes the following:

"Q. Should I use both the built-in firewall and a software firewall from a
different company on my Windows XP computer?

"A. No. Running multiple software firewalls is unnecessary for typical home
computers, home networking, and small-business networking scenarios. Using
two firewalls on the same connection could cause issues with connectivity to
the Internet or other unexpected behavior. One firewall, whether it is the
Windows XP Internet Connection Firewall or a different software firewall,
can provide substantial protection for your computer."

Also note that if you update your third-party firewall to a new version, the
update routine will probably turn it off first. If the Windows firewall
isn't running, you will temporarily be left with no running firewall, which
is very dangerous. So turn on the Windows firewall temporarily before doing
maintenance on your third-party firewall.

The Windows firewall monitors incoming traffic only. Almost any third-party
firewall will also monitor outbound traffic, stopping rogue programs trying
to call home, and is a better choice.
 
KK said:
Thanks, but when I do this I get an error message 'Due to an unknown
problem Windows cannot display the firewall settings'
Click to expand...

That can be fixed, but since you don't want to run the WF anyway I
wouldn't bother. If you want to be sure the WF isn't running go to
Start>Run>services.msc [enter] and scroll down to the WF service. It
should show that it isn't running. You said you know how to check that
the NIS firewall is running, so I assume you did and it is.

Malke
 
Malke, Thanks again , but I don't see WF anywhere in the list of services
running.

As you say, I don't need WF anyway, but it would be nice to be able to find
Windows Security Centre just to be sure it has installed properly & to see
what it's doing ?

If it helps, I ran Spybot a few minutes ago & got 2 warnings -
'Microsoft.WindowsSecurityCentre.FirewallDisableNotify' and
'Microsoft.WindowsSecurityCentre.AntiViruslDisableNotify' .

According to Spybot these are registry entries which prevent Windows
security centre from warning me that I also have NIS switched on. I chose
not to remove these registry entries.

Thanks agin for your help

KK



Malke said:
KK said:
Thanks, but when I do this I get an error message 'Due to an unknown
problem Windows cannot display the firewall settings'
Click to expand...

That can be fixed, but since you don't want to run the WF anyway I
wouldn't bother. If you want to be sure the WF isn't running go to
Start>Run>services.msc [enter] and scroll down to the WF service. It
should show that it isn't running. You said you know how to check that
the NIS firewall is running, so I assume you did and it is.

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
Click to expand...
 
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