security question

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G

Guest

Hello all

Bear with me....don't know much about computers. I am a home pc user and I
have been having lots of trouble with my norton internet security program
that I am using. It may be a software incompatibility, I have been told. A
friend of mine has told me that I shouldn't need a firewall to protect my pc,
just antivirus. My friend has said that as long as I keep my Internet
Explorer updated, it should be protecting me from intrusion attempts. Can
anyone tell me if this is true? I have had many blocked intrusion attempts
(Trojan Horses, etc) and I am concerned about leaving my pc unguarded against
these types of attacks, if I don't have a firewall.
 
free zonealarm zonelabs.com (firewall)
but may conflict with norton

free avg antivirus grisoft.com

xp firewall. no way. it's one way only.

and you need a firewall, just to keep the script kiddies out.

norton internet security ,i find no problems unless you
like running spyware like kazaa. or other file sharing program.
get spybot safer-networking.org and check your system
for crap.
then go to symantec.com and click on support for any issues
with norton.
 
In
tj said:
Hello all

Bear with me....don't know much about computers. I am a home pc user
and I have been having lots of trouble with my norton internet
security program that I am using. It may be a software
incompatibility, I have been told. A friend of mine has told me that
I shouldn't need a firewall to protect my pc, just antivirus. My
friend has said that as long as I keep my Internet Explorer updated,
it should be protecting me from intrusion attempts. Can anyone tell
me if this is true? I have had many blocked intrusion attempts
(Trojan Horses, etc) and I am concerned about leaving my pc unguarded
against these types of attacks, if I don't have a firewall.
Click to expand...

Your friend has given foolish advice regarding firewalls. Keeping IE
updated as well as your AV software and your OS will assist in preventing
infections, but a firewall is the first line of defesnse from the outside
world.
Post the troubles you are experiencing and possibly someone here can help
with your issues. What operating system are you using? What version of
Norton Internet Security?
 
tj said:
Hello all

Bear with me....don't know much about computers. I am a home pc user and I
have been having lots of trouble with my norton internet security program
that I am using. It may be a software incompatibility, I have been told. A
friend of mine has told me that I shouldn't need a firewall to protect my pc,
just antivirus. My friend has said that as long as I keep my Internet
Explorer updated, it should be protecting me from intrusion attempts. Can
anyone tell me if this is true? I have had many blocked intrusion attempts
(Trojan Horses, etc) and I am concerned about leaving my pc unguarded against
these types of attacks, if I don't have a firewall.
Click to expand...

Hi tj,
These easy steps should help you determine your security needs.
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.aspx
As for Norton Internet Security, contact the program vendor regarding
the compatibility issues you're having.

Hope this helps, please feel free to post back if you have further questions.

Regards,

Silj

--
siljaline

MS - MVP Windows (IE/OE) 2003/04 AH-VSOP
________________________________________
Security Tools Updates
http://forum.aumha.org/viewforum.php?f=31

(Reply to group, as return address
is invalid - that we may all benefit)
 
Thanks Ron, for your reply to my question. I am using Windows ME and Norton
Internet Security 2003. At first it seemed to be working, but after some
time, I began having problems. The first problem noted was that the NIS icon
in the syst tray would indicate that NIS was disabled. This was a periodic
problem. Other periodic problems also appeared and generally during startup
of my pc. Sometimes the taskbar and syst tray icons loaded fine, but no
desktop icons. Sometimes the taskbar loaded but not syst tray. Sometimes no
icons would load and I'd see the little hourglass running and running. All of
this was periodic but with increasing frequency, and at times, I would have
to shut down manually. The tech at the pc place where I take my computer,
couldn't find the source of the problem and concluded that it must be a
compatibility problem - he thought probably to do with the NIS. At that time,
a complete product recovery was done on my pc and I put my software back on.
Quite some time went by before I started noticing the same problems
reoccuring. I did the product recovery again and now have just the bare
minimum on my pc. I haven't put my NIS back on, hoping to find some answers
to the problem before I try installing the software. At this point my pc
seems to be operating fine, but I haven't put any software back on. All I've
done at this point, is do all the critical updates identified for my pc. I
may attempt to put the printer software back on the pc this evening, as it is
helpful to be able to print info that may help guide me through steps of
resolving a problem.
 
It sound like since you have already gone to the measure of returning to a
basic install, you have a good method of tracking down what may be causing
the issue. If you have the time and patience to slowly reinstall software
and track to see if it gives any problems, you might be able to track this
down and find the offending item. I agree that having a printer sure makes
things easier to keep track of information during the tracking period.
Are you connected via High speed connection or Dial-Up? The reason I ask is
to ascertain how vulnerable you are while doing your testing.

--
Ron Bogart {} ô¿ô¬
Associate Expert
Expert Zone -
"Life is what happens while we are making other plans."


In
 
Hi Ron

I am connected by high speed and so I am concerned about being vulnerable. I
have been disconnecting from my phone line and just connecting long enough to
check posts and send the odd email. I have been told of hardware firewalls
also, and considered it, but I can't really afford to spend the money at this
time, and hope to get what I've already purchased, working properly.
 
In
tj said:
Hi Ron

I am connected by high speed and so I am concerned about being
vulnerable. I have been disconnecting from my phone line and just
connecting long enough to check posts and send the odd email. I have
been told of hardware firewalls also, and considered it, but I can't
really afford to spend the money at this time, and hope to get what
I've already purchased, working properly.
Click to expand...

I am a chicken - I couldn't access the net without some sort of firewall.
Take a look at this link and make your own decision. It only takes a second
of open access to the net to get hammered real hard. 8^)
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=free+firewalls
 
Hello again and thank you!

I have connected my printer and printed your posts. They have been very
helpful. I will check out that site when I have a bit more time. I imagine
I'll be adding to this thread again in a day or two.

TJ
 
In
tj said:
Hello again and thank you!

I have connected my printer and printed your posts. They have been
very helpful. I will check out that site when I have a bit more time.
I imagine I'll be adding to this thread again in a day or two.

TJ
Click to expand...

We'll keep a light on for your return. Best of luck. 8^)
 
Hi Ron, I'm back.

Have been so busy and also a bit worried to spend more time online without
some sort of intrusion detection. Last night I bit the bullet and installed
the NIS 2003 again to give it a try. Maybe I can find and resolve the problem
(hoping!). Not a great start though, because when I booted up this morning
nothing loaded on the desktop except the taskbar icons - no syst tray or
desktop icons, and the pc seemed to be frozen. I guess I'll have to do some
research on this and see what I can find out. Someone must know about it.
Maybe Symantec would have some ideas for me.

I do have a question that maybe you can answer.......I have some programs on
my pc that start running when the pc boots up and I don't want them to do
that. It takes forever for my pc to boot and I also wondered if it could be
part of some timing incompatibility, causing things to get gibbled when they
are trying to run on boot. Do you know how to stop this from happening. For
example, I have an IBM NetVista computer and there is this program "Access
IBM". When the pc starts, this access ibm starts up and becomes like the
wallpaper - it has links you can click on etc. I don't want it loading all
the time - it really slows things down. Another example was my Adaptec
DirectCD - it was running on the startup too and also slowing things down. I
could have a shower, and do my hair before my pc was up and running (well,
slight exaggeration). Someone once told me to go into the system
configuration utility and deselect some of these things. Is there another way
that you know of?

Thanks!
TJ
 
Hi Again:
Ron, how do I know what is safe to download? Should I also be getting
something that is checking my pc for spyware?

TJ
 
tj said:
Hi Ron, I'm back.

Have been so busy and also a bit worried to spend more time online
without some sort of intrusion detection. Last night I bit the bullet
and installed the NIS 2003 again to give it a try. Maybe I can find
and resolve the problem (hoping!). Not a great start though, because
when I booted up this morning nothing loaded on the desktop except
the taskbar icons - no syst tray or desktop icons, and the pc seemed
to be frozen. I guess I'll have to do some research on this and see
what I can find out. Someone must know about it. Maybe Symantec would
have some ideas for me.

I do have a question that maybe you can answer.......I have some
programs on my pc that start running when the pc boots up and I don't
want them to do that. It takes forever for my pc to boot and I also
wondered if it could be part of some timing incompatibility, causing
things to get gibbled when they are trying to run on boot. Do you
know how to stop this from happening. For example, I have an IBM
NetVista computer and there is this program "Access IBM". When the pc
starts, this access ibm starts up and becomes like the wallpaper - it
has links you can click on etc. I don't want it loading all the time
- it really slows things down. Another example was my Adaptec
DirectCD - it was running on the startup too and also slowing things
down. I could have a shower, and do my hair before my pc was up and
running (well, slight exaggeration). Someone once told me to go into
the system configuration utility and deselect some of these things.
Is there another way that you know of?

Thanks!
TJ
Click to expand...

Go to Start | Run and type
msconfig
On the Startup tab uncheck the items you don't want to run.

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE
Please respond in Newsgroup only. Do not send email
http://www.fjsmjs.com
Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/
 
Thanks! I had done that before but wasn't sure if that was the proper was to
go about it. Was worried I was messing something up by doing that!

TJ
 
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