I might bite bullet on SP2..but!

I've had no problems what-so-ever with SP2 the firewall is much more
controllable and the pop-up stopper actually works (even on sites that my
previous FREE pop-up stopper failed to work on)
What I'm curious about though is does anybody know a good site to TEST the
firewall?

wojo:

http://grc.com/default.htm

Scroll down to the ShieldsUp hotlink

Tom wrote:

Can I back it out easily? or when SP2 becomes official, can I upgrade from
SP2-RC1 to the 'real' SP2? Or do I have to nuke my box reinstall the OS and
then install it.


You have to use the uninstall back to as it was; nuke and reinstall; or
(what I do) have an image backup of the prior state of things to
restore.


--
Alex Nichol MS MVP (Windows Technologies)
Bournemouth, U.K. (remove the D8 bit)

thanks everyone for your input. Sorry I couldn't reply. I forgot about this
post until now. Reason I was interested was merely for the firewall and
testing the popup protection, but I think I can wait.

My XP is running nicely now and I don't think I'm going to break that right
now. My data and stuff is always backed up to DVD.. I could suffer a dual HD
crash and not be too upset(oh wait, that happened last week) but thanks
again.. to the MVP's telling me to post on the SP2 newsgroup, I knew that,
thanks. I didn't think subscribing to a newsgroup to ask 1 question about
SP2 was required, thus my reason for posting here.


Thanks again, everyone.
Tom
"Tom" wrote in message
...
Can I back it out easily? or when SP2 becomes official, can I upgrade from
SP2-RC1 to the 'real' SP2? Or do I have to nuke my box reinstall the OS
and
then install it.

Cheers
Tom

I wasnt going to install the beta.. I was curious about the proposed
release..

S.Heenan wrote:
wrote:
Just curious.. I'm very happy with zone alarm and popup killer and I
understand that sp2 has something similar to these apps. Is it easy
to select what functions I want to add to my system when I install
sp2? Anybody here know?


If you're "very happy" with your current setup, do not install SP2
RC1. It's still very much a beta. The firewall does add outgoing
protection this time around.

thanks... appreciate the info...

CZ wrote:
Just curious.. I'm very happy with zone alarm and popup killer and I
understand that sp2 has something similar to these apps. Is it easy to
select what functions I want to add to my system when I install sp2?
Anybody here know?

Sharkman:

The installation basically installs all items.
I have seen it be somewhat selective the Windows Firewall
settings that it enables.
It is easy to disable most items.

I have run ZA free and BID in SP2 RC1 w/o problems.

Greetings --

Sorry, but that's not correct. SP2 does not add any capability to
monitor or control outbound traffic to WinXP's built-in firewall. It
does slightly increase the configurability of the firewall, but it's
still no match for any 3rd party firewall applications.

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


"S.Heenan" wrote in message
news:swW7c.890936$X%5.267715@pd7tw2no...


If you're "very happy" with your current setup, do not install SP2
RC1. It's
still very much a beta. The firewall does add outgoing protection
this time
around.

Greetings --

You can test your firewall at:

Symantec Security Check
http://security.symantec.com/ssc/vr_...BYNCJEIMXQKCDT

Security Scan - Sygate Online Services
http://www.sygatetech.com/

There is another firewall scanner/tester at
https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2, but it's not as thorough as the
first two; it doesn't even scan one of the ports used by the messenger
service spam.

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


"wojo" wrote in message
...
I've had no problems what-so-ever with SP2 the firewall is much more
controllable and the pop-up stopper actually works (even on sites
that my provious FREE pop-up stopper failed to work on)
What I'm curious about though is does anybody know a good site to
TEST the firewall?

"CZ" wrote in message
...
Just curious.. I'm very happy with zone alarm and popup killer
and I
understand that sp2 has something similar to these apps. Is it easy
to
select what functions I want to add to my system when I install
sp2? Anybody
here know?

Sharkman:

The installation basically installs all items.
I have seen it be somewhat selective the Windows Firewall
settings that
it enables.
It is easy to disable most items.

I have run ZA free and BID in SP2 RC1 w/o problems.

It does a lot more than slightly increase the configurability of the
firewall it greatly increases it. But your right it's still no match for 3rd
party apps. i am using it plus my router firewall just for kicks. I am not
crazy about my router FW because it's configuraton settings are done online.

--

TO Email: Remove "SPAM" without the quotes
If I can help you I will.
If you can help me thanks.

Useful Links

AdAwa
www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

Spybot S & D:
www.safer-networking.org/

Check for Parasites/Worms:
www.gemal.dk/browserspy/parasites.html

Blaster Security Patch:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/incident/blast.asp

TweakUI and other PowerToys:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/p.../powertoys.asp

"Bruce Chambers" wrote in message
...
Greetings --

Sorry, but that's not correct. SP2 does not add any capability to
monitor or control outbound traffic to WinXP's built-in firewall. It does
slightly increase the configurability of the firewall, but it's still no
match for any 3rd party firewall applications.

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


"S.Heenan" wrote in message
news:swW7c.890936$X%5.267715@pd7tw2no...


If you're "very happy" with your current setup, do not install SP2 RC1.
It's
still very much a beta. The firewall does add outgoing protection this
time
around.

CZ wrote:
If you're "very happy" with your current setup, do not install SP2
RC1.
It's
still very much a beta. The firewall does add outgoing protection
this time around.

S:

What have you experienced outgoing protection in SP2 beta?
In have not seen any outgoing protection in either build 2055 or 2096
(RC1).


Launching Windows Messenger created a popup window asking for permission to
access the network. Other MS apps may have prompted. I can't quite recall as
I reinstalled the OS short order.

I had to give permissions two or three times to the XP SP2 Firewall so yes
outgoing is supported.

--
TO Email: Remove "SPAM" without the quotes
If I can help you I will.
If you can help me thanks.

Useful Links

AdAwa
www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

Spybot S & D:
www.safer-networking.org/

Check for Parasites/Worms:
www.gemal.dk/browserspy/parasites.html

Blaster Security Patch:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/incident/blast.asp

TweakUI and other PowerToys:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/p.../powertoys.asp

"S.Heenan" wrote in message
news:jA88c.140557$Up2.132925@pd7tw1no...
CZ wrote:
If you're "very happy" with your current setup, do not install SP2
RC1.
It's
still very much a beta. The firewall does add outgoing protection
this time around.

S:

What have you experienced outgoing protection in SP2 beta?
In have not seen any outgoing protection in either build 2055 or 2096
(RC1).


Launching Windows Messenger created a popup window asking for permission
to
access the network. Other MS apps may have prompted. I can't quite recall
as
I reinstalled the OS short order.

wojo wrote:
I had to give permissions two or three times to the XP SP2 Firewall
so yes outgoing is supported.


I'm glad it wasn't just me who saw that.


Here's a little more about the improved ICF:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/com...uy/cg0204.mspx

Well since it seems most people, for some reason or another, weren't able to
successfully install SP2 RC1 on their boxes I suppose not too many people
have seen the outgoing support of the firewall.

--
TO Email: Remove "SPAM" without the quotes
If I can help you I will.
If you can help me thanks.

Useful Links

AdAwa
www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

Spybot S & D:
www.safer-networking.org/

Check for Parasites/Worms:
www.gemal.dk/browserspy/parasites.html

Blaster Security Patch:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/incident/blast.asp

TweakUI and other PowerToys:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/p.../powertoys.asp

"S.Heenan" wrote in message
news:%V88c.895442$ts4.821862@pd7tw3no...
wojo wrote:
I had to give permissions two or three times to the XP SP2 Firewall
so yes outgoing is supported.


I'm glad it wasn't just me who saw that.


Here's a little more about the improved ICF:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/com...uy/cg0204.mspx

I had to give permissions two or three times to the XP SP2 Firewall so
yes
outgoing is supported.

AdAwa
www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

wojo:

Specifically, do you have to grant permission for AdAware v6 to access the
Internet for updates?
Are there any programs for which you do not have to grant permission?

On my SP2 RC1, the answer is no.

I have seen popups to install ActiveX controls via a web site, but never to
control outbound connections for the following:
MSIE
Outlook Express
AdAware v6
NIS 2003
AVG v6
MS Word
MBSA

TIA

wojo:

Previous post should read:
wojo:

Specifically, do you have to grant permission for AdAware v6 to access the
Internet for updates?
On my SP2 RC1, the answer is no.

Are there any programs for which you do not have to grant permission?
I have seen popups to install ActiveX controls via a web site, but never to
control outbound connections for the following:
MSIE
Outlook Express
AdAware v6
NIS 2003
AVG v6
MS Word
MBSA

TIA

Are you having software problems? Neither of the posts listed in your posts
as coming from me are mine.

--
If I can help you I will.
If you can help me thanks.

TO Email: Remove "SPAM" without the quotes

Useful Links
AdAwa
www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
Spybot S & D:
www.safer-networking.org/
Check for Parasites/Worms:
www.gemal.dk/browserspy/parasites.html
Blaster Security Patch:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/incident/blast.asp
TweakUI and other PowerToys:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/p.../powertoys.asp

"CZ" wrote in message
...
wojo:

Previous post should read:
wojo:

Specifically, do you have to grant permission for AdAware v6 to access the
Internet for updates?
On my SP2 RC1, the answer is no.

Are there any programs for which you do not have to grant permission?
I have seen popups to install ActiveX controls via a web site, but never
to
control outbound connections for the following:
MSIE
Outlook Express
AdAware v6
NIS 2003
AVG v6
MS Word
MBSA

TIA