What's a good firewall

  • Thread starter Thread starter DJS0302
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DJS0302

I haven't connected my XP Home machine to the internet and I probably won't as
long as my Win95 machine keeps working but if the time ever comes I'm sure I'll
have to use a firewall to prevent all the nasties from messing with my
computer. I've read several messages from people saying one brand of firewall
causes this conflict or this firewall prevents a certain application from
working right. Is there a firewall out there that will only turn on when you
connect to the internet and then turn itself off when you disconnect from the
internet? Since you only need a firewall when you're connected to the internet
or a network I see no reason to have one running all the time. It would be
nice to a firewall that's available when it's needed but then goes completely
away when it's not.
 
I haven't connected my XP Home machine to the internet and I probably
won't as
long as my Win95 machine keeps working but if the time ever comes I'm sure I'll
have to use a firewall to prevent all the nasties from messing with my
computer. I've read several messages from people saying one brand of firewall
causes this conflict or this firewall prevents a certain application from
working right. Is there a firewall out there that will only turn on when you
connect to the internet and then turn itself off when you disconnect from the
internet? Since you only need a firewall when you're connected to the internet
or a network I see no reason to have one running all the time. It would be
nice to a firewall that's available when it's needed but then goes completely
away when it's not.
Click to expand...

Do you use dial-up or broadband? If dial-up, XP's built-in firewall is not
bad. It won't interfere with anything you're running, and won't stop you
from using standard internet services like e-mail.

If broadband, you're *always* connected to the internet (for most set-ups),
so you need one running all the time. You can use XP's firewall but I'd
recommend connecting a router between your computer(s) and your cable/DSL
modem. They are easy to set up.

Again, it won't stop you from doing anything. The only times I've had to
specify to my router to open ports is for hosting online games and p2p file
sharing.
 
(e-mail address removed) (DJS0302) said:
I haven't connected my XP Home machine to the internet and I probably
won't as long as my Win95 machine keeps working but if the time ever
comes I'm sure I'll have to use a firewall to prevent all the nasties
from messing with my computer.
Click to expand...

What are you using on your Win95 machine?

I use Sygate Personal Firewall. There have been no conflicts, it's free,
secure and easy to use. I did a good bit of reading and trying out
different firewalls before settling on SPF.
 
I haven't connected my XP Home machine to the internet and I probably won't as
long as my Win95 machine keeps working but if the time ever comes I'm sure I'll
have to use a firewall to prevent all the nasties from messing with my
computer. I've read several messages from people saying one brand of firewall
causes this conflict or this firewall prevents a certain application from
working right. Is there a firewall out there that will only turn on when you
connect to the internet and then turn itself off when you disconnect from the
internet? Since you only need a firewall when you're connected to the internet
or a network I see no reason to have one running all the time. It would be
nice to a firewall that's available when it's needed but then goes completely
away when it's not.
Click to expand...


Kerio Personal Firewall (www.kerio.com/kerio.html) is by far the best
personal firewall I've laid my hands on.


...
Jimmy Nilzohn
 
DJS0302 said:
I haven't connected my XP Home machine to the internet and I probably won't as
long as my Win95 machine keeps working but if the time ever comes I'm sure I'll
have to use a firewall to prevent all the nasties from messing with my
computer. I've read several messages from people saying one brand of firewall
causes this conflict or this firewall prevents a certain application from
working right. Is there a firewall out there that will only turn on when you
connect to the internet and then turn itself off when you disconnect from the
internet? Since you only need a firewall when you're connected to the internet
or a network I see no reason to have one running all the time. It would be
nice to a firewall that's available when it's needed but then goes completely
away when it's not.
Click to expand...

Zone Alarm is an excellent choice of a firewall, and it's free:
<http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/comparison.jsp?lid=ho_za>

Jon
 
The best firewall is one running on a separate machine running Linux.
I use Jay's Firewall on Fedora Core and it makes all the Win machines
invisible on the Internet. It even blocks some ads and nasty web
sites, but it is highly configurable.
 
DJS0302 said:
I haven't connected my XP Home machine to the internet and I probably won't as
long as my Win95 machine keeps working but if the time ever comes I'm sure I'll
have to use a firewall to prevent all the nasties from messing with my
computer. I've read several messages from people saying one brand of firewall
causes this conflict or this firewall prevents a certain application from
working right. Is there a firewall out there that will only turn on when you
connect to the internet and then turn itself off when you disconnect from the
internet? Since you only need a firewall when you're connected to the internet
or a network I see no reason to have one running all the time. It would be
nice to a firewall that's available when it's needed but then goes completely
away when it's not.
Click to expand...

I'm using Nortan Personal Firewall, all seems fine to me! although i got it
for free its not!
 
I'm using Nortan Personal Firewall, all seems fine to me! although i got it
for free its not!
Click to expand...

I use Zone Alarm Pro - I paid for it, but am told you can also get it
for free.
 
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