Firewall (I use norton)

[Bobtheduck]

I got my new computer and loved it every minute... I've got that firewall, and notice how many invaders it has stopped, but as soon as I activated norton, my new computer is almost as slow as my old one (New one AMD Athlon 3500 64-bit processor, 1 gig of ram, 200 gig HD, old one is Celeron 1 Ghz processor with 256 megs of ram and an 18 gig HD, both running the same OS, XP home edition SP2.)

I was wondering... Is there a better firewall than norton that's free or relatively cheap? One that won't slow my computer to a crawl and take bootup time around 10 minutes? I have this idea that maybe the firewall is what's making the chat not work for me, too... I'm not sure, but considering how slow my system started running after I activated Norton, I consider it a possibility...

I'd like a fast system again, the one I was tempted with when I first started my computer up...

[RedMage]

Norton is such a resource hog it's like dragging an anchor behind your PC.

I use ZoneAlarm (free) with relative success..

[Mithrandir]

Do you have a HW firewall? If so, you might wanna just rely on that.

[Arnobius]

I use a hardware router/firewall and for a software firewall I use Outpost which I started using when I got sick of Zone Alarm Pro's quirks

Only time I notice it is when 1) it asks for permissions and 2) if it has to upload a sizeable upgrade

[Raiden no Kishi]

I have a Mac. : : strikes a pose : :

In all seriousness, though . . . My family, however, runs PCs. They use software called Norman Defense Systems [IIRC]. It's supposed to be top-of-the-line [I believe the government uses it].

.rai//

[Kaligraphic]

I'm hiding behind a Sonicwall.

[Authority3000]

ZoneAlarm (free edition) is one of the better and more well known free firewalls out their, and uses a minuscule of the resources that Norton does. Just my pick.

[RedMage]

I meant to try Outpost, as ZoneAlarm does do things that irritate me sometimes.

[Authority3000]

I meant to try Outpost, as ZoneAlarm does do things that irritate me sometimes.

I found Outpost to be a rather difficult program to work with myself, and wouldn't personally recommend it to anyone without adequate technical experience.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1864610,00.asp

[Arnobius]

I found Outpost to be a rather difficult program to work with myself, and wouldn't personally recommend it to anyone without adequate technical experience.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1864610,00.asp

Version 1.0 free? I'm using version 3.51 Pro, which is recognized by SP2, and have not had the problems described here.

You can download a full trial version and see how it works if you like. I made the switch because Zone Alarm 6 Pro glitched too much. It considered the Language Bar to be a dangerous keylogger and refused to let me undo it and then decided to stop recognizing my password, requiring a clean install to undo. I thought it was garbage compared to version 5.5

Once Outpost went from 3.5 to 3.51 it was smooth sailing in the Wizard mode, though admittedly 3.5 had a few issues I required help with.

There is one issue though that you should be aware of.
If you have a Security Suite, you will (unless they fixed it with 3.51) be told that the firewall (even if disabled) conflicts and may not work. I had this problem with Trend Micro's Internet Security and even with just PC-Cillin 11

With Kaspersky AntiVirus though (which I use) there are no conflicts

[Chii]

I love teh firewall..ahh it's so sweet like a PEACH!

[Authority3000]

Version 1.0 free?

Version 1(.1817) is as high as the free edition currently goes.http://www.softpedia.com/get/Security/Firewall/Outpost-Firewall-Free.shtml

[blkmage]

Software firewalls have annoyed me to no end so I just use the hardware firewall in my router.

[Warrior4Christ]

There is one issue though that you should be aware of.
If you have a Security Suite, you will (unless they fixed it with 3.51) be told that the firewall (even if disabled) conflicts and may not work. I had this problem with Trend Micro's Internet Security and even with just PC-Cillin 11

I use Trend Micro Internet Security myself. Why would you need another firewall on top of that?

[Arnobius]

I use Trend Micro Internet Security myself. Why would you need another firewall on top of that?

I thought the firewall was worthless: I was continually baraged by popups.

My sequence was:
1) Using Zone Alarm Pro with Trend Micro IS (worked well until ZA went to version 6)
2) Using Trend Micro's firewall alone (very unsatisfactory)
3) Using Outpost with Trend Micro (Some firewall conflicts)
4) Using Outpost with Kaspersky Antivirus (No conflicts)

Version 1(.1817) is as high as the free edition currently goes.

OK, well I was referring to the Pro version. I make no guarantees as to the quality of the free version and didn't even know they had one until yesterday.

[TurkishMonky]

If you have a hardware firewall, even though i'm no MS fan, the windows firewally is actually reletively decent.

[Mithrandir]

OK. There may be a bit of misinformation here, so let me clarify a few things. Here are a few definitions to make this easier:

1. Firewall: A device or program that closes ports. A software firewall closes ports on the machine, a hardware firewall closes ports at a remote location. Hardware firewalls are nearly always faster and more secure.

2. Pop-up blocker: A program which runs on your computer at all times and attempts to surpress pop-ups that open without being clicked on.

3. Spyware blocker: A program which runs on your computer at all times and monitors for suspicious activity (like processes that access a website without a web browser open.

4. Anti-virus: A program that runs on your computer and prevents certain programs on your hard drive from being changed (a practice common among viruses.

5. SPAM blocker: A program that runs on your computer and reads your email before you do. If it finds one it thinks is SPAM, it may either flag it, delete it or file it in a "SPAM folder," depending on the program or the user's setttings.


Now then, many programs claim to do a lot of these things at once. Please note that the more of these a program does, the larger it gets. My personal recommendation would be:

1. A hardware firewall. Since a virus or bug can render your software firewall useless, it's always a good idea to have a hardware firewall.
2. Anti-Virus software: I usually have this kind of software run weekly as well as monitor for changes. Norton seems to be pretty good at this. I always disable spyware, etc scanning.
3. Spyware software: I usually run adaware personal SE from lavasoft. It's free and it does a good job.
4. Pop-up blocker: Find a good extension for firefox and be done with it. Don't use IE. It's like trying to plug the holes in a paper collendar with super glue: even if you manage to plug all the holes, just using it will generate new ones.

The best advice is this: DON'T DOWNLOAD ANY PROGRAM YOU AREN'T 100% SURE IS LEGITAMATE.