bigyeah
Premium
join:2004-06-25
clubs:
| What Firewall to get?
I am looking into a good firewall either free or purchased. I have never used a firewall before so i am looking to get familiar with one. I read a tutorial on how the basic functions work on any type of firewall and it looks like it is a good idea to get one. I can get the free one that came with the Optimum Online Membership, EZ firewall, it doesn't seem very good considering it came with Optimum online for free. What type of firewall would be good, i have heard of ZoneAlarm, Blackice, and a few others, but from the experts which is the best for the average user? |
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Spy
Premium
join:2001-09-22
NE | Did you read this?
»The Security firewall Poll - 2004 |
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hayc59
VoodooChild
Premium
join:2001-02-26
David R.I.P.
| reply to bigyeah
I Highly Recommend Outpost 
Outpost Personal firewall Pro
Features
Download: Outpost firewall PRO
Forum
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ãrê ¥Øu êxpêriêncêD
9/11/01 Never Forget |
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expert1
@wuschelpuschel.org | reply to bigyeah
ZoneAlarm. best and easiest firewall for a beginner. |
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rdhw
join:2002-09-21
Cambridge UK
| reply to bigyeah
said by bigyeah  :I am looking into a good firewall either free or purchased. I have never used a firewall before so i am looking to get familiar with one. I read a tutorial on how the basic functions work on any type of firewall and it looks like it is a good idea to get one. If you are runing Windows XP SP2, then you should first familiarise yourself with Windows firewall, as built-in to Windows XP. Only when you have identified the need for something different should you look for a third-party firewall.
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Robin Walker »homepage.ntlworld.com/robin.d.h.walker/ for broadband troubleshooting tips |
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Kayrac
Premium
join:2001-09-29
Rochester, NH
| reply to bigyeah
i suggest as a starter you look at zonealarm firewall......................it's free and offers every feature you need in a firewall, especially as a beginner, it also has a pay version, but for home uses the free one is FAR more than is needed in most cases, and therefor does nicely 
www.zonealarm.com
ps thats what i started learning security with |
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t277
| reply to rdhw
The problem with the Windows firewall is it doesn't block outgoing traffic, like Zonealarm, so if someone had spyware, trojans or keyloggers on their computer they would be easily able to connect out through the lame Windows firewall, and how many beginners know if they have this kind of malware on their system.
I wouldn't even waste my time with the Windows firewall it's next to worthless when it comes to protecting you against malware calling home. Better to learn about a good firewall like Zonealarm IMO. |
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wvengineer
@wv.frontiern | As of SP2 doesn't the XP firewall also monitor outbound traffic? |
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trickyrick
join:2005-03-31
UK
 ·Eclipse.Net
1 edit | said by wvengineer:
As of SP2 doesn't the XP firewall also monitor outbound traffic?
No. It still only controls inbound traffic.
You can add application control with something like the b-Wall app, but on its own it does nothing to control outbound traffic. |
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bigyeah
Premium
join:2004-06-25
clubs: | reply to bigyeah
Does Zone alarm have any un-install issues like Norton, or is it un-install friendly? |
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Kayrac
Premium
join:2001-09-29
Rochester, NH | i wanna say it doesn't, but i don't know for sure, i know it was improved greatly, and it does well, but cannot give you a def answer there, but i've had it on every computer and uninstalled and not had problems |
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ZZZZZZZ
Premium
join:2001-05-27
PARADISE
|  reply to bigyeah
said by bigyeah :Does Zone alarm have any un-install issues like Norton, or is it un-install friendly? -------------------
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TO BE A CANADIAN IS A BLESSING! |
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bigyeah
Premium
join:2004-06-25
clubs:
| said by ZZZZZZZ :said by bigyeah :Does Zone alarm have any un-install issues like Norton, or is it un-install friendly? ------------------- Huh? |
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paranoidxe
Premium
join:2002-03-29
Ogden, UT | reply to bigyeah
When I last uninstalled ZoneAlarm it screwed up my internet connection..haven't bothered with it since. But this was one of the version 3 releases..which was like in 99.
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- paranoidxe (txtfiles.org) |
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email scope
join:2005-03-06
Canada
| reply to bigyeah
One of these »www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a···3&depa=0
And this. »www.zonelabs.com/store/content/c···load.jsp
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Heal |
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email scope
join:2005-03-06
Canada
| reply to expert1
said by expert1:
ZoneAlarm. best and easiest firewall for a beginner.
True. 
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Heal |
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HA Nut
Premium
join:2004-05-13
USA
| reply to bigyeah
IMO, application based firewalls are the easiest for most of us to use. You simply allow or deny a program to have access to your network or the internet. All other traffic is blocked.
My 2 free favorites are ZoneAlarm and Sygate. Each has it's pluses and minuses. ZoneAlarm has a simpler user interface but Sygate offers better activity logging to let you really know what's going on. I run a copy of each on my PC's and I like both.
FWIW, the EZ firewall is a version of the ZoneAlarm firewall. ZoneAlarm and Computer Associates each cross market their respective products with each other (EZ Antivirus is ZoneAlarms's AV.) |
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ano356
@edu.au | Go and get visual zone for zone alarm, free and powerful logging for zone alarm.
Stop complaining about the faults and try and get a fix for them or create one. |
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bigyeah
Premium
join:2004-06-25
clubs:
| reply to HA Nut
said by HA Nut :IMO, application based firewalls are the easiest for most of us to use. You simply allow or deny a program to have access to your network or the internet. All other traffic is blocked. My 2 free favorites are ZoneAlarm and Sygate. Each has it's pluses and minuses. ZoneAlarm has a simpler user interface but Sygate offers better activity logging to let you really know what's going on. I run a copy of each on my PC's and I like both. FWIW, the EZ firewall is a version of the ZoneAlarm firewall. ZoneAlarm and Computer Associates each cross market their respective products with each other (EZ Antivirus is ZoneAlarms's AV.) Would you recomend the EZ firewall offered by Optonline over the standard ZA free? |
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HA Nut
Premium
join:2004-05-13
USA
| reply to bigyeah
Would you recomend the EZ firewall offered by Optonline over the standard ZA free? I haven't personally tested the latest free ZA or ran the EZ firewall version at all. (I run free ZA 4.5 on my older 98SE PC.) Truthfully, I'm not sure it would make much of a difference. If memory serves (and maybe someone else can verify this), the version that EZ uses is usually a version or so behind regular ZA. So if the latest and greatest is a goal, then ZA might be the best way to go.
One thing is that if Optimum supports EZ directly, then that might be a feather in it's cap. If you have "issues" (not that I would expect any), they might be good at supporting it... |
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