??

SWMBO is getting broadband in a couple of days, but isnt going to get a proper router just yet... can anyone reccomend a good software-based firewall thats light on resources and easy to use (shes only using a pIII laptop)

Am i right in thinking that windows firewall should be avoided? or is it not as bad as i expect?

You could maybe look in the for sale section and find someone who has a router to get rid of cheaply and go for it early :P

??

SWMBO is getting broadband in a couple of days' date=' but isnt going to get a proper router just yet... can anyone reccomend a good software-based firewall thats light on resources and easy to use (shes only using a pIII laptop)

Am i right in thinking that windows firewall should be avoided? or is it not as bad as i expect?[/quote']

Windows fire wall is OK ...you could always try Zone alarm

http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp?dc=12bms&ctry=GB〈=en

that seems quite good and free

Foxie FIrewall is the best.... you get some useful anti spyware stuff in there to!

http://www.getfoxie.com/feature/firewall/

ZoneAlarm, Spybot and AVG for me - all free!

(although Windows Firewall is OK if you have XP, like has already been said...)

Windows firewall does not check outgoing traffic at all, so IMO is not suitable to use in isolation. I like sygate personal edition, now discontinued but you can still download from various sites, it's miles better than zonealarm; more stable, configurable and less system overhead. I haven't tried any other free ones so don't know

kerio firewall, , avg free virus protect.

check out this link on free software, very usful for evaluating firewall, antivirus etc.

http://www.techsupportalert.com/best_46_free_utilities.htm

Sygate personal was good, but now discontinued since taken over by Symantec. Zone Alarm is never light on resources.

Netveda is a good application based fireall, and light on resources but sometimes it can be a little bit of a whatname to fully set up, but not always.

I myself am using Comodo version 2.0.0.1. Although not the lightest on resources it is a cracking firewall, but does need a little learning of it. Once set up, it is one of the tightest..and totally free.

Have a look here..http://www.wilderssecurity.com/

for some further reading.

I agree with Octygone, Ive been using zonealarm from zonelabs for a couple of years, never been a problem. Just make sure you click the free version (Not Zonealarm Pro) when setting up. Otherwise you will just be on a limited trial.

:-)

Justin

The software will slow your PC down quite a bit, and you may actually just be better splashing £50 to get a good router with SPI ZyXel make some excellent cheap routers with firewall built in a switch b uilt in and wireless in this sort of price range.

Otherwise zonealarm etc is ok, or an old PC with smoothwall if the modem works under linux.

Definitely get a router. Windows firewall is okay and doesn't slow your system down as much as ZoneAlarm, all depends on your pc's spec. AVG free for anti virus and I use Adaware for spyware removal.

Some firewalls are better than others, even on a router. Try the security check at

http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/home_homeoffice/index.html to see if you get stealth mode rather than closed. This is more secure because you're invisible.

Haven't tried sygate but sounds like a good option.

Jon.

Router with firewall wont stop software connecting out.

If no knowledge, or desire to understand firewalls is the case then go for Sygate personal (if you can find it)...it is way lighter than ZA ever could be.

ZoneAlarm' date=' Spybot and AVG for me - all free!

(although Windows Firewall is OK if you have XP, like has already been said...)[/quote']

We have an IT support company for our systems in work. We have tried Sophos antivirus and various firewalls but in the end we took the advice of the professionals and havent looked back since. Zonealarm, AVG Antivirus, Spybot and Adaware (for the stuff Spybot doesn't pick up).

The windows built-in firewall is a waste of time IMO.

Am I not right in thinking that hardware firewalls on routers don't block outbound software programs because if your system is inbound protected there's no need? As long as you have a good anti-virus program, you should be okay. I've never had a problem running four computers on a wireless network for 3 years.

Cheers

Jon.

Am I not right in thinking that hardware firewalls on routers don't block outbound software programs because if your system is inbound protected there's no need?

Cheers

Jon.

Belt and braces

Belt and braces

Don't use Microsoft Windows!

ZoneAlarm' date=' Spybot and AVG for me - all free!

(although Windows Firewall is OK if you have XP, like has already been said...)[/quote']

Zonealarm, Spybot S&D, Adaware, Spyware Blaster and AVG Free Edition for me.

Oh yeah, all free. Reviews on Zone Alarm and AVG usually put them on a par or better than the usual paid for jobbies.

Am I not right in thinking that hardware firewalls on routers don't block outbound software programs because if your system is inbound protected there's no need? As long as you have a good anti-virus program' date=' you should be okay. I've never had a problem running four computers on a wireless network for 3 years.

Cheers

Jon.[/quote']

Depends on how you configure it. You can have it drop whatever you like.

A good SPI firewall can be configured to do so. Avoid NAT 'firewalls' at all costs as they are not really firewalls.

The lightest resource using firewall would probably be LooknStop. Yes the normal program is a paid for, but after the trial period it still functions as a "lite" version and so is free (some features disabled...but still a useable and good firewall).

Off topic now..

I doubt whether AVG could ever be classed as an equal to the paid for AV's, even if it is free. If it's a free AV you want, then Avast is mych better than AVG. However Comodo are just developing a new AV that like its firewall will be free for life.

As far as anti spyware, Spybot SnD is ok, Adaware can mess up your winsock, and most of the major AS players do a lite version (Spyware Doctor, Zerospyware, Ewido..although thats more anti trojan) but my choice for a limit power PIII laptop would be SpywareGuard and SpywareBlaster. Both are free, and provide excellent basic AS protection including browser hyjack.

Both of these can be found on the Wilders Security site I placed a link to in a previous reply.

As an extra, you could try Spoofstick. Its a toolbar add-on that gives the actual site you are looking at, and can be very handy. It uses next to no resource, and has 2 version, 1 for IE and 1 for Firefox.

We have an IT support company for our systems in work. We have tried Sophos antivirus and various firewalls but in the end we took the advice of the professionals and havent looked back since. Zonealarm' date=' AVG Antivirus, Spybot and Adaware (for the stuff Spybot doesn't pick up).

The windows built-in firewall is a waste of time IMO.[/quote']

I've been using exactly those for a couple of years. They are the way to go. Even though it's not in the same catagory i'd add ccleaner to that list for a healthy system. We had some problems on our work pc due to spyware and I ran addaware and spybot and got rid of 70+ items. Then when I ran ccleaner it picked up 3gb of cookies and other rubbish. I dare not tell the boss he will ban us from the internet. :P

Needless to say the machine has speeded up somewhat.

check out www.filehippo.com for the latest versions of the listed programs.

A NAT firewall is perfectly ok for most home users in reality, and it sure is better to have a dedicated appliance to route the traffic through. Most firewalls are SPI to some extent already anyway.

Turn OFF the uPnP feature is you want to stay in control of open ports, it doesn't half poke a hole through otherwise when you are say on MSN Messenger

A personal firewall can make a lot of sense, XP Pro's built-in firewall is not as good as a in & out firewall but at the same time, in a hotel on a dial-up connection it would be all I have, so for that reason alone it's handy. Not perfect, but handy.

It must be said though that a dedicated ADSL router has other benefits beyond security. Main two are that it's dedicated & therefore is more likely to be stable, and it doesn't use any resources on the PC.

In addition if you already have a network card built-in that's likely to use less CPU cycles to run than a comparable speed USB ADSL modem.

No really, I was glad to help..

Router with NAT and a software firewall (Not Windows!) would be a decent compromise - I picked up a very configurable single port router off ebay for £35 and plugged it straight into a hub to allow all nodes access to the net - for a sigle PC the latter is unnecessary.

I've been evaluating R Firewall of late and it seems pretty good - alerts you to dll changes and changes to exes that have network access.

Avoid Zonealarm on older boxes - it's massive on resources, as is Mcafee firewall :thumbdwn:

The lightest resource using firewall would probably be LooknStop. Yes the normal program is a paid for' date=' but after the trial period it still functions as a "lite" version and so is free (some features disabled...but still a useable and good firewall).

Off topic now..

I doubt whether AVG could ever be classed as an equal to the paid for AV's, even if it is free. If it's a free AV you want, then Avast is mych better than AVG. However Comodo are just developing a new AV that like its firewall will be free for life.

As far as anti spyware, Spybot SnD is ok, Adaware can mess up your winsock, and most of the major AS players do a lite version (Spyware Doctor, Zerospyware, Ewido..although thats more anti trojan) but my choice for a limit power PIII laptop would be SpywareGuard and SpywareBlaster. Both are free, and provide excellent basic AS protection including browser hyjack.

Both of these can be found on the Wilders Security site I placed a link to in a previous reply.

As an extra, you could try Spoofstick. Its a toolbar add-on that gives the actual site you are looking at, and can be very handy. It uses next to no resource, and has 2 version, 1 for IE and 1 for Firefox.[/quote']

Wow ... we seem to have found another area of Andy's expertise.

Am I the only person who doesn't run any of this software?

I occasionally run the free antivirus scan at Trend's website but it's never found anything.

I use the built-in firewall and keep Windows up to date with patches.

Wow ... we seem to have found another area of Andy's expertise.

QUOTE]

I am a fountain of knowledge, most of which is untapped;)