Lanman wrote:
There is one thing you can check and that is check and see if XP built firewall is turned on, because by default it is. Zone Alarm is good but I never did like it and used sygate in the past on my XP.Lyvim Xaphir wrote:
--- Bryan Phinney <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
On Tuesday 24 August 2004 10:33 am, Kaj Haulrich wrote:
1. A good, reliable firewall for Windows (preferably OSS and free) ?
Zonealarm is free for personal use and is supposed to be as good as
personal firewall solutions go. Keep in mind that trojans, worms and the like
often shut those off from the inside, thus they are limited by nature in
protecting your system.
This is true. However if the installation is performed in isolation from
the net, in theory Zonealarm should protect the box from infection, if
used properly. If the service being used is itself insecure however(such
as internet exploder or MSN Messenger) then even zonealarm cannot
completely protect you. You will at a minimum be vulnerable to trojans
riding in on insecure services.
I have seen unsophisticated users switch Zonealarm off in annoyance.
You would be much better off to get a good standalone
router to put between that and the XP box. Better yet, put a Linux box between
the net and the XP box.
A hearty amen on the latter. :)
3. Shutting down the whole kaboodle and wait for SP2 ?
I wouldn't count on SP2 to protect your system. From my reading, it is not really adding anything close to good security for that OS. -- Bryan Phinney
From my reading it could possibly hose your box.
LX
Kaj; Like others on the list, I suggest that you reformat the drive. However, since some viruses can infect your Master Boot Record, and since I assume that you don't want to do this install over and over, I have another idea as well.
Find out what brand of hard drive you have, go to that company's website and download their diagnostics program. Follow the directions and run the diagnostics. Look for an option to perform a "Low-Level Format" of the drive and run it. This will return the drive to factory condition, eliminating any viruses which may reside on your Master Boot Record with total certainty.
While you're doing that, you can download and burn an Open-Source software CD with any and all anti-virus, spyware, web-browser, email client etc., that you prefer, using Linux to download and burn the CD.
While you're at it, have a look at http://theopencd.org and maybe save some time by downloading the ISO image. You will probably save some time that way.
HTH
Lanman
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When it comes to virus, trojans, worms put in Norton AV and make sure it's updated with the latest defination or you can go here and do a free online scan and let Trend Micro fix the problem( http://housecall.trendmicro.com/ ).
I had read in other reply's to this subject and they all have excellent advice.
Make sure that XP is updated and for right now avoid installing SP2 read that allot of people are having problems from SP2. Just wait about 3 to 5 months and by then M$ should have majority of the bugs fixed by then.
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