Re: OT - ask EU: which first, firewall or antivirus?

"Ralph B" <google81@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:7779e252-7e31-4cb3-815d-1437edcf9f56@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On May 8, 1:35 am, "J. P. Gilliver (John)" <G6...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
One of these days, I'll get round to taking my new netbook (Samsung
NC-20, if anyone's interested) out of its box before it depreciates too
much ... anyway, obviously it's easier to download stuff directly than
do it on this dear old thing and then transfer it over via USB stick or
similar.

I'm obviously going to download, transfer via USB, and install some
protection before ever going online with it. What is UMRA's view of what
should be given this treatment - firewall, AV, or both?

(I _think_ firewall alone should suffice, but this new-fangled XP is
something I've not used at home before, so I'm not sure how vulnerable
it is.)

I find a NAT router is more useful at blocking incoming nasties than a
(software) firewall. And sensible browsing habits and an adblocking
plugin on your Firefox or Opera browser, and letting Google Mail
filter my email, works better than getting a virus that then needs an
AV to remove it. I do, however, allow MS's malicious software removal
tool have its way on my HD.

If you've reached the point where AV needs to remove a virus, you've already
lost. Personally, I'd rebuild an infected machine, but then, as an IT guy,
it wouldn't be quite as daunting a task as for some.

Someone pointed out to me the potentially ambiguous interpretation that
could be applied to the "malicious software removal tool." Is it a tool that
removes malicious software, or a tool that removes software in a malicious
way :-) ?


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: spyware is ruining my computer
    ... > I seemed to have picked up a trojan virus. ... > I always refused to download that thing. ... disable your Windows Messenger service. ... by the normal home user and in cooperation with a good firewall, ...
    (microsoft.public.security)
  • Re: Virus removed webpages still restricted. Advice please
    ... This will bring up the initial menu of choices and should be executed in Normal Mode. ... You can choose to go to each menu item and just download the needed files or you can ... You may have to disable your software FireWall or allow WGET.EXE to go through your ...
    (microsoft.public.security.virus)
  • Re: Virus Removal
    ... | the Firewall blocked it. ... | I removed the virus and the messages stopped.. ... FireWall to allow it to download the needed AV vendor related files. ... This will bring up the initial menu of choices and should be executed in Normal Mode. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.security_admin)
  • Re: safe sites for downloads
    ... Thanks Jerry i do have firewall and virus scan installed i thought i would ... > To find a world-wide list of 'safe sites' to download software from will be ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics)
  • Re: Emails being sent out by computer, not me
    ... staying Virus free etc etc, ... You might also download ZoneAlarm free firewall, unless you are using the XP ... I know because Norton is kind enough to check ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain)