[annB]

One more specific security question: Firewalls...

I tried Zone Alarm Free and it was fair, slowed down my start up and constantly threw up allow questions even though I had checked the remember this answer box. Based on a recommendation from this link http://users.telenet...irus%20Scanners provided thru aumha.org I tried online armor free, of my god it slowed start up down to a crawl! Even though the post was about what doesn't slow Windows dow. And yes I did uninstall all other firewalls first: Windows that was with my operating system, zone alarm and I used the remover tool for Norton that you guys refered my to. So any suggestions or a good review to read? I have windows XP.

thanks, ann

[mphenterprises]

Hi AnnB. I moved this question into its own Discussion. It is best to only have one issue per Discussion. Now personally, I do not provide software application recommendations; however, I am sure other forum members will see this Discussion and provide any information they can.

[SpiritWind]

:D Hi Ann :

Glad Mr Castner of the Aumha.net forums was able to provide you some help . Just

finished reading through your latest Thread there . When you said "Microsoft Registry

Repair", did you mean the link he provided for what is called "Microsoft Autoplay Repair

Wizard" ? And Mr Castner's link to his friend "Miekiemoes" make no mention of Online

Armor ; for some unknown reason, the Online Armor "Folks" call their product a "firewall",

even though many in the malware-fighting "community" call it a "HIPS" ( Host Intrustion

Prevention System ) program .

The Best Introductory Info I know concerning what is generally know to be a "firewall" is on

the Matousec.com Site . Would recommend you start with the Info at

www.matousec.com/info/articles/introduction-firewall-leak-testing.php . This link is

specifically to their "Leak-testing" article, but you will note there are links available to their

"other" articles, such as "Comparison of top 5 personal firewalls", "More about personal

firewalls", etc . Zone Alarm is generally considered a decent firewall and only IF you want

to investigate other possibilities would you use those articles . I, personally, still use the

bought-out by Symantec/Norton, then "abandoned" Sygate Personal Firewall .

[annB]

Thank you so much for moving my post into the right forum, I wasn't sure whether to continue on the old thread or start a new question. I went for the first figuring consistency was the right way to go, wrong! I appreciate it. :)

annb

[SpiritWind]

Hi Ann :



I just read through Matousec's "Firewall Challenge" article ( linked from "top 5 personal

firewalls" article ) and agree with the following that Emsi Software, the Makers of Mamutu,

wrote to Matousec :

"the test results are useless because the product was tested for features that behavior Blockers are not intended to provide in general. In oposite to Matousec, we think that Firewalls, behavior Blockers and HIPS are not the same type of software and therefore they can not be tested and compared as they were the same. "

I intended the Matousec Info to be an INTRODUCTION to the subject of "Firewalls", NOT

a complete "word" on the subject .

[annB]

Thank you, I will read thru the materials you linked to. Sometimes they are more info than I can process, so I get a little bogged down. Regarding the Aumha info, I followed so many links thru different articles I'm not sure where I ended up finding the info.



So I guess after what you've said my question goes back to this...

I've got these utilities:

Anti virus-Avast

Malware detector- Malwarebytes

Spyware removal- Anti super spyware

I also have CCleaner and Rogue Remover

My understanding is that what I'm missing is a firewall. Surely I don't also need a behavior Blocker and HIPS(whatever they are)?! I meanisn't my poor computer going to get bogged down with all this security software?

Am I overkilling with what I have now?

Thanks,annb

[smax013]

Personally, I use ZoneAlarm Pro (the paid for version), but I have used the free version in the past. The downside of it is that it can be annoying in asking which programs get access, especially for a less technically oriented person (being fairly techinically savvy, it does not bother me a bit).



If you want to try others, then in the past Comodo's Personal Firewall (www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/) has been highly recommeded by various sites and people.

[SpiritWind]

Hi Ann :
I do not use any "behavior Blocker" or "HIPS" programs; those are for more "Advanced"

Users ; when it comes to "classical" firewalls, I usually recommend the Ones at

http://www.filehippo...ware/firewalls] , particularly Sunbelt Personal, Sygate


Personal, or Zone Alarm . IF you select Sygate, let me know & I will provide a link to its


"SetUp Guide" . I avoid Comodo because there's Info it's difficult to remove if dissatified .


You are NOT "Overkilling" with what you currently have ; in fact, I recommend you install


"SpywareBlaster" from [http://www.javacoolsoftware.com as an additional "layer"; there is

a "Tutorial" on this program at www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial49.html .

NOTE : I recommend you do NOT use the "Registry Cleaner" section of CCleaner ; it is

because of that "Registry Cleaner" that I recommend the Alternative "ATF Cleaner",

developed by antiSPYWARE Expert "ATribune" & available on his website .

[annB]

I am beginning to learn that beyond the security effectiveness of your firewall how it behaves with your computer and operating system are a consideration. In other words does it run well with XP and is it a resource hog and does it run smoothly in the background? I can't seem to find that info at the firewall challenge link. Can you offer any thoughts on this issue or help me find some reviews in that direction? I'm asking because when I installed Zone Alarm free it was ALWAYS asking me to allow or deny (twice for each attempted access) and never seemed to remember by allow decision even though I checked that box. With Online Armor my computer dramatically slowed down to a near halt when I logged in to my desktop and settings were starting up. This was even though Miekiemoes recommended it in a list of good products in his article about what will slow down your computer.

I thought I'd give the sygate a try and see how it performs.

annb

[SpiritWind]

:D Hi Ann :
IF you are going to give Sygate a "Test Run", then I strongly encourage you to use the

"SetUp Guide" at http://www.kotiposti.../SPFGuide.html] . THIS IS


IMPORTANT, especially based on what you reported in the other Thread . Of course,


you "skip" the "Introduction" section and you were supposed to "Test" it at


[http://www.grc.com by using the "Shields Up" test . I do not recall EVER having Sygate

ask me about "approving" a Driver "Update" UNLESS I had gone to a driver update

Site or from the manufacturer of my computer; does either one apply ?

NOTE : How a firewall "behaves" on a computer varies from User to User, being a matter

of "experimenting" .

[KNRover]

In the May 2009 issue of PCWorld, the article "The Best Free Stuff You've Never Heard Of", PCW recommends Online Armor Personal Firewall (OAPF). I have been using Comodo's firewall, which is VERY highly rated, but it's obtrusive; constantly asking you to OK things that it should know are no threat. I was attracted to the statement in the PCW article that "This software starts out by allowing know safe applications to access the Web and bothers you only about ...programs that's it's unsure [of]", so installed it and edited my startup to NOT load Comodo and load Online Armor instead.

As a firewall, OAPF seems to be quite effective according to Shields UP! which I used to test it. However, I immediately encountered a problem with my PC. After it went into standby or hibernate, when it came out, I had absolutely NO connection to the Internet, including no e-mail connection. Also, when I told the computer to turn off. . . it wouldn't. Only way to do that was manually by pressing the power button for 4 sec.

Given that my PC is 100% up-to-date with all Windows updates and updates to my AV (Avira) and 3 antispyware programs that I run daily, I knew this malfunction was not caused by a virus or spyware. So, I uninstalled OAPF and reactivated Comodo. Connection and shutdown issues went away.

So this is a heads up that OAPF is not for everyone. If you try it and find that your computer has lost the ability to connect to the Web after coming out of hibernation, or will no long shut down when you tell it to via Windows, OAPF is the culprit.