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by Tycho
Hmm, considering that I'm getting broadband fairly soon, I guess that I should look into some firewall software.

Windows XP has a Firewall built in, but it looks fairly basic, from what I have played with.

I have heard good things about Black Ice, but I haven't played with it yet.

XP seems to turn most stuff off by default. Can anyone advise?

Gobstopper perchance?

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Always happy to oblige (even if I am on holiday at the moment)

There are a number of Personal Firewalls to choose from. The two major players considered by corporate users are Black Ice Defender and ZoneAlarm Pro.

Both, it would seem, do a good job. However the major difference bewteen the two is that Black Ice only controls inbound traffic to your machine. If someone has already managed to deposit a trojan application (something that can allow them to use your machine without you realising) before you install Black Ice, it will not stop that nasty little application from doing its stuff.

ZoneAlarm on the other hand forces you to make decisions on traffic going in both directions. If you see a program trying to get to the Internet that you think shouldn't be, you can stop it with ZoneAlarm.

Initially, ZoneAlarm takes a little while to set up. As each application tries to get to the Internet, a pop-up message appears asking for permission. You can choose Yes or No, and make that decision permanent meaning that it will not ask you again. You can re-visit these decisions at a later date if you want, so don't think that these decisions are set in stone. But if you install ZoneAlarm and then spend a few minutes using each of your Internet applications (Internet Explorer, mIRC, Outlook etc...) it won't be long before all the questions have been answered. ZoneAlarm identifies each application used (including it's version number), so you'll only be asked the question again, if you install a new version of one of your programs. This has the advantage of blocking an older version of a program (such as mIRC) which is known to have security vunerabilities, whilst allowing the latest version to work as normal.

There is a free version of ZoneAlarm which has all of the same underlying security as ZoneAlarm Pro, just less of the frilly bits.

You can download it from here (approved by Wobag):-

download.com.com/3000-2092-10133851.html?tag=lst-0-1

ZoneAlarm Pro costs (but I can't remember exactly how - much 20-30 quid maybe) but it gives you some extra bits. It will intercept all of your mail and can block attachments of certain files types which are often used from transporting viruses (.exe, .vbs, etc...) The free version does it too, but there are only a couple of available file extensions to chose from whereas the pro version has 30 or so choices, plus the ability to add your own. The latest version of ZoneAlarm Pro also has a feature which will (allegedly) stop the highly annoying pop-up adverts as well.

I really don't have any experience of the XP-based Firewall, but I do find it very difficult to mention "Microsoft" and "Internet Security" in the same sentence...

There you go, I've said my piece

I'll echo the "yay" sentiment for zone-alarm, which I've used for quite a while now and which is serving well enough now I've got a permanent connection at home (512k of internetty goodness from NTL, with the only problems so far being -- the install CD didn't work (tpyo in a batch file on it), the registration server was down when I finally got it installed, DHCP didn't work, and it trashed loads of my existing settings. Grrr...). I'm perfectly happy to leave zone-alarm protecting the computer until I get my router/firewall box working properly.

NTL is great once it's working. And that's 600Kbit of internetty goodness now that they have given us all a free upgrade.

(If you had an external NTL cable modem rather than the integrated TV/Modem box, apparently you already had 600Kbit even though its advertised as 512)

I had similar probs. Didnt bother with the install CD anyhoo, I already had email and webspace from ntlworld dialup, just told my card to pick up a DHCP address.

Registration server was down and took me days to get sorted.

Once registered, its been plain sailing. NTL are a pig to deal with support wise but once it's working, it tends to stay working.

We did have one other prob, and amazingly the guy fixed it on the spot. Signal return path was too strong, he just lopped an attenuator on the the end of the cable, and bingo.

He even showed me how to get all the cool service menus up, but now I forgot the codes

I installed Zone Alarm after reading about it in this thread...however I'm getting mighty annoyed as it connects to the Internet itself...I don't want it to connect to the net as I only want the net running when I use it.

Is there an option or something that I've missed which will stop Zone Alarm from dialling up when the computer starts??

Ta

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by Milky
I installed Zone Alarm after reading about it in this thread...however I'm getting mighty annoyed as it connects to the Internet itself...I don't want it to connect to the net as I only want the net running when I use it.

Is there an option or something that I've missed which will stop Zone Alarm from dialling up when the computer starts??

Ta

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From what I remember, there's a setting which you can toggle forcing ZoneAlarm to check for updates on startup.

I use ZoneAlarm Pro, I have a dial-up connection and I have the setting in question enabled, yet my system won't dial-up until I use something like IE or Outlook.

All ZoneAlarm tech support is handled through their website. I would suggest firing the question in their direction.

Alternatively, it may be worth looking for a ZoneAlarm users newsgroup. They might be able to help.

(Edited by gobstopper 03/10/2002 10:33)

There is a problem in the recent version of ZoneAlarm Pro (3.1.395) where it attempts to connect to lockup.zonelabs.net to verify registration information. This is why it attempts to connect to the Internet by itself.

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by John
There is a problem in the recent version of ZoneAlarm Pro (3.1.395) where it attempts to connect to lockup.zonelabs.net to verify registration information. This is why it attempts to connect to the Internet by itself.

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Ta John...thats probably whats happening with mine..just turn it on when I'm going to connect now.