WinsXP Firewall and Zone Alarm

  • Thread starter Thread starter Karen F
  • Start date Start date
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Karen F

Can I activate both the WindowsXP firewall and use the Zone Alarm firewall
also? Thanks.
 
You should only enable one firewall with Windows XP.
Enabling more than one will cause conflicts and error messages.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

Be Smart! Protect Your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.aspx

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

| Can I activate both the WindowsXP firewall and use the Zone Alarm firewall
| also? Thanks.
 
Hi Karen,

You only need one softwware firewall running at a time. Deactivate the
Windows firewall and run ZoneAlarm. ZoneAlarm monitors incoming and outgoing
activity whereas Windows firewall only monitors incoming activity.
 
In
Karen F said:
Can I activate both the WindowsXP firewall and use the Zone
Alarm firewall also?
Click to expand...

You can, but the question is "should you?" You'll find those with
different points on view on this. Here's mine: 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.

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.

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.

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."
 
Darrell said:
Hi Karen,

You only need one softwware firewall running at a time. Deactivate the
Windows firewall and run ZoneAlarm. ZoneAlarm monitors incoming and
outgoing
activity whereas Windows firewall only monitors incoming activity.
Click to expand...

That is not completely accurate. If SP2 is installed, then it also somewhat
monitors outgoing activity.
 
In
Johnny Lingo said:
That is not completely accurate. If SP2 is installed, then it
also
somewhat monitors outgoing activity.
Click to expand...


No, what Johnny Longo said *is* completely accurate. WIth or
without SP2, the Windows firewall does not monitor outgoing
activity at all.
 
Ken Blake said:
In

You can, but the question is "should you?" You'll find those with
different points on view on this. Here's mine: 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.

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.

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.

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."
Click to expand...

Ken,

I like this last piece of advice - I had not considered that, but since I
always do a Clean Install of Zone Alarm, I will follow your advice.
 
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