AV and firewall recommendations

[Newbie techie]

Eagerly awaiting the arrival of my new laptop with XP Pro... planning ahead, I'm wondering about the best anti-virus and firewall software to use. Currently I use Norton AV and ZoneAlarm on Windows ME. They slow things down very much and often cause the
PC to freeze for minutes at a time-- sometimes even crash. Granted, a large part of the problem is ME itself... can't wait to get rid of it!... but the fact remains that Norton (and seemingly ZoneAlarm as well) is exceedingly FAT and unwieldy software, th
at I hate to use if I don't have to. And it's been playing very poorly with other software. Any recommendations for the best (most stable, least intrusive, frequently updated signatures) AV software for XP? And as for the firewall, is the integral XP fi
rewall adequate, or will I need to use ZoneAlarm again (we have an always-on DSL connection).

[siljaline]

"Newbie techie" > wrote:
> Eagerly awaiting the arrival of my new laptop with XP Pro... planning ahead, I'm
wondering about the best anti-virus and firewall software to use. Currently I use
Norton AV and ZoneAlarm on Windows ME. They slow things down very much and often
cause the PC to freeze for minutes at a time-- sometimes even crash. Granted, a
large part of the problem is ME itself... can't wait to get rid of it!... but the
fact remains that Norton (and seemingly ZoneAlarm as well) is exceedingly FAT and
unwieldy software, that I hate to use if I don't have to. And it's been playing
very poorly with other software. Any recommendations for the best (most stable,
least intrusive, frequently updated signatures) AV software for XP? And as for the
firewall, is the integral XP firewall adequate, or will I need to use ZoneAlarm
again (we have an always-on DSL connection).

Norton anti-virus 200(3) if you can still get a copy.
(Try any US-based online retailer - assuming you're US-based).

If you're running NAV 2004 I would reconsider my options prior to
installing on a "fresh" XP machine. There are mixed opinions...
A fairly good non-biased read:
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,3973,1396473,00.asp

Kerio Personal Firewall version 2.1.5
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/kerio
Download > http://www.kerio.com/dwn/kpf2-en-win.exe
Well supported, great user community and, free :-)
Non-resource hog and ever so configurable.

Enjoy the new machine!

HTH

--
siljaline

MS - MVP Windows IE/OE
______________________

(Reply to group, as return address
is invalid - that we may all benefit)

[Lil' Dave]

Always on? Get a hardware router too. Do this first.

Turn off XP's firewall. Use ZA Pro. Current NAV is okay. The more
built-in real-time protection, the more the system will slow.
Dave
"Newbie techie" > wrote in message
...
> Eagerly awaiting the arrival of my new laptop with XP Pro... planning
ahead, I'm wondering about the best anti-virus and firewall software to use.
Currently I use Norton AV and ZoneAlarm on Windows ME. They slow things
down very much and often cause the PC to freeze for minutes at a time--
sometimes even crash. Granted, a large part of the problem is ME itself...
can't wait to get rid of it!... but the fact remains that Norton (and
seemingly ZoneAlarm as well) is exceedingly FAT and unwieldy software, that
I hate to use if I don't have to. And it's been playing very poorly with
other software. Any recommendations for the best (most stable, least
intrusive, frequently updated signatures) AV software for XP? And as for
the firewall, is the integral XP firewall adequate, or will I need to use
ZoneAlarm again (we have an always-on DSL connection).

[cquirke (MVP Win9x)]

On Sat, 21 Feb 2004 06:17:10 -0500, "Lil' Dave"

>Always on? Get a hardware router too. Do this first.

>Turn off XP's firewall. Use ZA Pro. Current NAV is okay.

Current NAV is riddled with DRM - that's not "OK" by me. The irony;
pay for a program to keep out hostile code, find it stealths its own
hostile DRM code into the system. What was the *other* idea?

I'm using AVG 6.0 (free for non-commercial non-network use) and Kerio
firewall (again, free). These are leaner than commercial bloatware,
and so far they've hit the spot very well.

The reason you may want an add-on firewall is that the built-in one
does not "watch" outgoing traffic. Kerio, Sygate Personal Firewall,
Outpost and Zone Alarm are all free firewalls that do, and of the
three, I've settled on Kerio. Outpost I've not tried; Sygate is a bit
naggy (as in, "don't you want to buy the full version?") and I was
unimpressed with Zone Alarm's ability to co-exist with XP at the time.

As for antivirus; they are all useless on Day Zero, and whichever one
isn't left for weeks between updates is the best one :-)

>The more built-in real-time protection, the more the system will slow.

>"Newbie techie" > wrote in message

>> Eagerly awaiting the arrival of my new laptop with XP Pro... planning
>ahead, I'm wondering about the best anti-virus and firewall software to use.
>Currently I use Norton AV and ZoneAlarm on Windows ME. They slow things
>down very much and often cause the PC to freeze for minutes at a time--
>sometimes even crash. Granted, a large part of the problem is ME itself...

Actually, it's more likely Norton - they never did get too clued how
to work with WinME. Could be under-documentation on WinME's part;
even though this OS introduces several things that have never been
seen before or since - the original SR, a Win9x with
artificially-crippled DOS capabilties, etc. - there's no resource kit.



>---------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - -
Consumer Asks: "What are you?"
Market Research: ' What would you like us to be? '
>---------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - -

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

When my subscription to Symantec's updates for Norton Internet
Security 2002 came up for renewal (at a cost substantially higher than
last year's subscription), I decided to try less expensive solutions.
I downloaded and installed the free version of GriSoft's AVG (
http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php ) and the free version of
Sygate's Personal Firewall ( http://smb.sygate.com/free/default.php ).
Both have proven to be easily installed, easy to use, and quite
effective. Additionally, I was pleasantly surprised to see a small
but very noticeable improvement in my PC's performance, once I'd
replaced the Symantec product.

WinXP's built-in firewall is fine at stopping incoming attacks, and
hiding your ports from probes. It doesn't give you any alarms to tell
you that it is working, though. What WinXP also does not do, is
protect you from any Trojans or spyware that you might download and
install inadvertently. It doesn't monitor out-going traffic at all,
much less block (or at least ask you about) the bad or the
questionable out-going packets.

ZoneAlarm, Kerio, or Sygate are all much better than WinXP's
built-in firewall, and are much more easily configured, and there are
a free versions of each readily available. Even Symantec's Norton
Personal Firewall is superior by far, although it does take a heavier
toll of performance then do ZoneAlarm, Kerio, or Sygate. It's been
several years since I've been tempted to try McAfee products. Their
quality seemed to take a steep nose-dive after they were acquired by
Network Associates.


Bruce Chambers
--
Help us help you:
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

"Newbie techie" > wrote in message
...
> Eagerly awaiting the arrival of my new laptop with XP Pro...
> planning ahead, I'm wondering about the best anti-virus and firewall
> software to use. Currently I use Norton AV and ZoneAlarm on Windows
> ME. They slow things down very much and often cause the PC to
> freeze for minutes at a time-- sometimes even crash. Granted, a
> large part of the problem is ME itself... can't wait to get rid of
> it!... but the fact remains that Norton (and seemingly ZoneAlarm as
> well) is exceedingly FAT and unwieldy software, that I hate to use
> if I don't have to. And it's been playing very poorly with other
> software. Any recommendations for the best (most stable, least
> intrusive, frequently updated signatures) AV software for XP? And
> as for the firewall, is the integral XP firewall adequate, or will I
> need to use ZoneAlarm again (we have an always-on DSL connection).

[John]

In article >,
says...
> Eagerly awaiting the arrival of my new laptop with XP Pro... planning ahead, I'm wondering about the best anti-virus and firewall software to use. Currently I use Norton AV and ZoneAlarm on Windows ME. They slow things down very much and often cause th
e PC to freeze for minutes at a time-- sometimes even crash. Granted, a large part of the problem is ME itself...
can't wait to get rid of it!... but the fact remains that Norton (and seemingly ZoneAlarm as well) is exceedingly FAT and unwieldy software, that I hate to use if I don't have to. And it's been playing very poorly with other software. Any recommendations
for the best (most stable, least intrusive, frequently updated signatures) AV software for XP? And as for the
firewall, is the integral XP firewall adequate, or will I need to use ZoneAlarm again (we have an always-on DSL connection).
>


Here's a page from "Virus Bulletin" (an independent virus publication)
showing the results of tests on all the big names.

http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archives/products.xml?

[Illinois Fritz]

Greetings,

Well, considering I don't know who this site is or if they are even 'legit',
I still go by what I've seen and read.

MaximumPC (March 2004 issue) put Norton Antivirus 2004 against McAfee
Antivirus 2004, and Norton beat out McAfee. However, just for grins, they
tested AVG Antivirus Free Edition (Ver 6) (www.grisoft.com) and it beat out
Norton AND McAfee.

I use AVG and have used it for about 2 years now, and haven't had a virus
problem it hasn't found. I swear by it, and recommend it to any of my
clients.

Fritz216

"John" > wrote in message
news:AuM%b.17199$A12.8319@edtnps84...
>
(<snipped for clarity>)
>
> Here's a page from "Virus Bulletin" (an independent virus publication)
> showing the results of tests on all the big names.
>
> http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archives/products.xml?
>