Re: OT - Firewalls
- From: Howard Neil <hneil@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:26:33 +0100
srawlings@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
In article <6djeglF2pdolU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, news@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ( Jill) wrote:
*From:* " Jill" <news@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>Why dso you need ZA, Jill? You already have a firewall in XP and also in AVG and also protection through your router.
*Date:* Wed, 9 Jul 2008 10:30:14 +0100
Last nights automatic Windows update has caused a conflict with Zone Alarm.
Result is that Zone Alarm prevents online access. I have begun to hear dark mutterings about ZA over the last few months, like Norton used to be, creating problems for people but I had not ever had any issues, until this morning.
What other fire wall software [free] do folks use?
Downloads.com seems to be recommending Comodo but I have never heard of this one.
System is pretty bog standard XP with AVG as antivirus.
Word on the street (well Cix) is that ZA is a pile of poo anyway :) AVG's latest upgrade has also been causing a lot of issues with the safe surfing thing.
I got the following e-mail from PlusNet yesterday:-
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Service: Internet Connectivity
Posted: Wed, Jul 09 2008 at 10:11:22
Subject: Internet Connectivity problems caused by ZoneAlarm
We have received a number of calls from users unable to connect to websites following the installation of the Microsoft Updates released yesterday.
This issue is mainly affecting the internet security software ZoneAlarm, however some users have advised Norton and AVG may also be affected.
You can temporarily gain connectivity by going to the main ZoneAlarm firewall tab and changing Internet Zone Security to Medium. Unfortunately at present we are unaware of any workarounds for Norton and AVG.
ZoneAlarm vendors are working with Microsoft to come up with a permanent fix. Please see the thread on the ZoneAlarm forums for more detail - this can be found at http://forum.zonealarm.com/zonelabs/board/message?board.id=cfg&message.id=52788
Kind Regards,
Matt Taylor
Customer Support
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I should also point out that the firewall in both XP and any router is only for incoming data. I spend yesterday evening with a customer whose computer was riddled with viruses and spyware. The initial attack was with a trojan that calls out to attract other malware and sends out data from your computer to its Russian owners (still feel safe with an incoming firewall only?) It was still trying to "phone home" while I was there.
As for the AVG firewall, as excellent as it is, it is only available in the paid for version of AVG. The free version is anti-virus only.
I use AVG, Jill. It is very good but it still costs money. Zone Alarm is a very good firewall (it only seems to get dismissed by the professionals who think it seems to be too easy to use. They feel patronised. However, it does have a very good track record) and changing horses at this point may find you jumping on another knackered nag. At least there is a workaround for ZA (see message from PlusNet). The real problem is with the Microsoft Update. I am just not installing it until Microsoft corrects the problem. They are usually very swift at doing that.
As for the safe surfing part of AVG8, yes, it does cause one or two problems with slowing the computer down. I use Firefox and have disabled the add-on (it may be possible to do this in IE7 as well). This turns it off without affecting the tray icon (turning it off in AVG places a dirty great exclamation mark over the tray icon).
--
Howard Neil
.
- Follow-Ups:
- Re: OT - Firewalls
- From: Derek Moody
- Re: OT - Firewalls
- References:
- OT - Firewalls
- From: Jill
- Re: OT - Firewalls
- From: srawlings
- OT - Firewalls
- Prev by Date: MRSA - Penicillin in peril
- Next by Date: Re: Hullo Oz!
- Previous by thread: Re: OT - Firewalls
- Next by thread: Re: OT - Firewalls
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
