Hi Kayman, thanks for your reply. I will probably take your advice if
nothing changes in the next few days as I'm coming to the end of my tether.
Wish I'd stuck with my original ZA product and not "upgraded" it, it was
working fine. Thanks for taking the time out to reply.
FYI:
For the average homeuser, the Windows Firewall in XP does a fantastic job
at its core mission and is really all you need if you have an 'real-time'
anti-virus program, [another firewall on your router or] other edge
protection like SeconfigXP and practise Safe-Hex.
The windows firewall deals with inbound protection and therefore does not
give you a false sense of security. Best of all, it doesn't implement lots
of nonsense like pretending that outbound traffic needs to be monitored.
Activate and utilize the Win XP built-in Firewall; Uncheck *all* Programs
and Services under the Exception tab (re-check on this setting frequently).
Windows XP: How to turn on your firewall.
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/firewall/xp.mspx
Read through:
Understanding Windows Firewall.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/security/internet/sp2_wfintro.mspx
Using Windows Firewall.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/security/winfirewall.mspx
PFW Criticism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_firewall#Criticisms
"Personal Firewalls" are mostly snake-oil.
http://www.samspade.org/d/firewalls.html
Why your firewall sucks.
http://tooleaky.zensoft.com/
"But I quickly realized the truth: The added protection provided by
outbound filtering is entirely illusory."
At Least This Snake Oil Is Free.
http://msinfluentials.com/blogs/jesper/archive/2007/07/19/at-least-this-snake-oil-is-free.aspx
Deconstructing Common Security Myths.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/technetmag/issues/2006/05/SecurityMyths/default.aspx
Scroll down to:
"Myth: Host-Based Firewalls Must Filter Outbound Traffic to be Safe."
Exploring the windows Firewall.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/technetmag/issues/2007/06/VistaFirewall/default.aspx
"Outbound protection is security theater—it’s a gimmick that only gives the
impression of improving your security without doing anything that actually
does improve your security."
In conjunction with WinXP SP2 Firewall use:
Seconfig XP 1.0
http://seconfig.sytes.net/
(
http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/Seconfig-XP-Download-39707.html)
Seconfig XP is able configure Windows not to use TCP/IP as transport
protocol for NetBIOS, SMB and RPC, thus leaving TCP/UDP ports 135, 137-139
and 445 (the most exploited Windows networking weak point) closed.
If on high-speed Internet connection use a router.
For the average homeuser it is suggested blocking both TCP and UDP ports
135 ~ 139 and 445 on routers which will not do this automatically.
Implement Countermeasures against DNSChanger:
http://extremesecurity.blogspot.com/2008/06/use-default-password-get-hijacked.html
How Security Companies Sucker Us With Lemons.
http://www.wired.com/politics/security/commentary/securitymatters/2007/04/securitymatters_0419
http://www.schneier.com/index.html
For your consideration:
Avira AntiVir® Personal - FREE Antivirus
http://www.free-av.com/
(The free version won't scan your emails.)
Why You Don't Need Your Anti-Virus Program to Scan Your E-Mail
http://thundercloud.net/infoave/tutorials/email-scanning/index.htm
Ensure your e-mail program is configured to display e-mail messages in
'Plain Text' only.
Windows Defender - Free
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx
WD monitors the start-registry and hooks registers/files to prevent spyware
and worms to install to the OS.
Interesting reading:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136195/article.html
"...Windows Defender did excel in behavior-based protection, which detects
changes to key areas of the system without having to know anything about
the actual threat."
Routinely practice Safe-Hex.
http://www.claymania.com/safe-hex.html
Hundreds Click on 'Click Here to Get Infected' Ad
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2132447,00.asp
Malwarebytes© Corporation - Anti-Malware
http://www.download.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html?tag=mncol
--or--
http://majorgeeks.com/Malwarebytes_Anti-Malware_d5756.html
--direct--
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam/program/mbam-setup.exe
--and--
SuperAntispyware - Free
http://www.superantispyware.com/superantispywarefreevspro.html
--direct--
http://www.superantispyware.com/downloadfile.html?productid=SUPERANTISPYWAREFREE
Both free versions of MBAM and SAS are on-demand scanners and offer no
'real-time' protection. Keep them installed and use them as
'second-opinion' scanner which is purposely (by design) recommended by
their respective authors.
CCleaner - Free
Cleans temporary internet files, cookies, history, recent urls, application
MRUs, etc. ...(*Tune out the registry scanning/fixing option!*)
http://www.ccleaner.com/download/builds/downloading-slim
If Windows Defender is utilized go to Applications, under Utilities
uncheck "Windows Defender" (so it won't delete the history of WD).
If you wish, click 'Options' button the 'Settings' [check] 'Run CCleaner
when the computer starts'.
--or--
Setup CCleaner to Automatically Run Each Night in Vista or XP
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/wind...-automatically-run-each-night-in-vista-or-xp/
Good luck