momoceio Posted July 15, 2007 Posted July 15, 2007 Software firewalls have more overview of your system than a hardware firewall. If a Trojan is reporting home using a common port (piggy-backing) than a hardware firewall is useless. A software F/W can distinguish the actual data as opposed its transport and whilst not in every situation will report this back to you. The only time a hardware F/W kicks a software F/W is if its IP Address oriented. Other than that the 2 go hand in hand: Yin and Yang. I understand...but since I haven't had a virus in years I don't worry about it. Hell, you could run without an A/V and stay virus free as long as you practice safe web browsing and e-mail reading. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
suedenim Posted July 15, 2007 Posted July 15, 2007 Zone alarm aint too bad. There's also Sygate Personal Firewall which I'm currently running. Its old but as I've been using it for at least 4.5 years with no break ins I'd say its effective. check out some security review sites (that's what lead me to Sygate in the first place). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaz Posted July 15, 2007 Posted July 15, 2007 I understand...but since I haven't had a virus in years I don't worry about it. Hell, you could run without an A/V and stay virus free as long as you practice safe web browsing and e-mail reading. I have the pc game AVP2, and when i clicked on it's own update link, it brought me to the update page, then my nod32 firewall gave me a red warning box that said there is a virus at the other end of the connection. And it gives me a "terminate connection?" option. So of coarse i terminated the connection. I've had this happen a few times attempting to download very appropriate looking things, such as that update site. I signed up for limewire so i caould download some music, and almost everytime i tried, i got that warning sign. Bittorent gave me the same results. I have zone alarm pro with antispyware, and found that gamespy sites always dump spyware on my machine, and ZA always finds it and gets rid of it. AnUnknownSource, i called Verizon who provides my dsl connection, and asked them about using a hardware firewall, or if it's built-in with my dsl modem. They said no, and they highly suggested not to use a hardware firewall along with a software firewall, which i find really contradicting, as i know a lot of people use both with no problems. I wonder why they said that. Forgot to mention i love my zonealarm pro firewall. Never had any problems with it, it updates just about everyday now that they rolled out their new version late last year. I could be wrong, as my memory ain't what it should be, but i thought i read somwhere in these forums a stistic that said the majority of members here use ZA. I believe i read that somwhere when i had aol and was trying to access this forum and couldn't. Rgone suggested dumping aol. I went back to using msn and now i have no problem signing in, ever. Anybody here use aol? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pollushon Posted July 16, 2007 Posted July 16, 2007 I understand...but since I haven't had a virus in years I don't worry about it. Hell, you could run without an A/V and stay virus free as long as you practice safe web browsing and e-mail reading. If only there were more people like us. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
momoceio Posted July 16, 2007 Posted July 16, 2007 I have the pc game AVP2, and when i clicked on it's own update link, it brought me to the update page, then my nod32 firewall gave me a red warning box that said there is a virus at the other end of the connection. And it gives me a "terminate connection?" option. So of coarse i terminated the connection. I've had this happen a few times attempting to download very appropriate looking things, such as that update site. I signed up for limewire so i caould download some music, and almost everytime i tried, i got that warning sign. Bittorent gave me the same results. I have zone alarm pro with antispyware, and found that gamespy sites always dump spyware on my machine, and ZA always finds it and gets rid of it. AnUnknownSource, i called Verizon who provides my dsl connection, and asked them about using a hardware firewall, or if it's built-in with my dsl modem. They said no, and they highly suggested not to use a hardware firewall along with a software firewall, which i find really contradicting, as i know a lot of people use both with no problems. I wonder why they said that. Forgot to mention i love my zonealarm pro firewall. Never had any problems with it, it updates just about everyday now that they rolled out their new version late last year. I could be wrong, as my memory ain't what it should be, but i thought i read somwhere in these forums a stistic that said the majority of members here use ZA. I believe i read that somwhere when i had aol and was trying to access this forum and couldn't. Rgone suggested dumping aol. I went back to using msn and now i have no problem signing in, ever. Anybody here use aol? Well, there are such things as false alarms with AV software. Most likely it saw that an .exe file was being downloaded by a program and considered it to be a virus since thats a suspicious thing for a program to be doing. I've never had a game updater download a virus...the company that made the game would be in some BIG trouble. As far a Limewire though, that is a very dangerous (as are all file sharing programs) program when it comes to contracting a virus. So, I wouldn't doubt if what you were downloading with Limewire did contain a virus. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazypoloc Posted July 16, 2007 Posted July 16, 2007 AnUnknownSource, i called Verizon who provides my dsl connection, and asked them about using a hardware firewall, or if it's built-in with my dsl modem. They said no, and they highly suggested not to use a hardware firewall along with a software firewall, which i find really contradicting, as i know a lot of people use both with no problems. Thats because it produces one more loop in the troubleshooting process if they ever have to diagnose connection problems. User error is always the first assumption when tech support gets on the line with you, after they find out you aren't a moron, they go on from there..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazypoloc Posted July 16, 2007 Posted July 16, 2007 Your best option is like kitfit suggested. Get an old box and run a floppy firewall on it. Technically its a software firewall, but its more of a half and half than anything else. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnUnknownSource Posted July 16, 2007 Posted July 16, 2007 AnUnknownSource, i called Verizon who provides my dsl connection, and asked them about using a hardware firewall, or if it's built-in with my dsl modem. They said no, and they highly suggested not to use a hardware firewall along with a software firewall, which i find really contradicting, as i know a lot of people use both with no problems. Verizon's support staff are by far the worst I've ever dealt with, their customer service reps are horrible too, rude, uncooperative and lazy. I wouldn't take their word for it. They say not to 1, because it creates more work for them if you have a problem and call them to get tech support, and 2, because they provide the same type of products (at an unreasonable price to you) in the form of DSL routers, which they charge for and sometimes charge a higher monthly fee... even thogh you get the same service, just with an overpriced cheap DSL router (usually, every once in a while they give you a decent one) stay away from verizon every chance you get! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaz Posted July 16, 2007 Posted July 16, 2007 Sorry to hear you had so much trouble with Veizon, AKS, I think thy're great. Everytime i call them they answer right away, are very polite, and they fix the problem and even help me set up outlook express to work with msn mail before they were officially authorized to do that. I never had a problem with them. and the service (msn and verizon is quite simple and a bit boring), but effective. It's got a good email spam filter. About the only thing i don't like it is it's not very customizable. Just goes to show how two different people can have different experiences with the same thing(s). By the way, watch out for that banana peel! Any good moose should know better than to run with scissors in their hands-paws! :eek2: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazypoloc Posted July 16, 2007 Posted July 16, 2007 MSN and POP3? I thought they did away with that years ago? Is that service still available? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaz Posted July 16, 2007 Posted July 16, 2007 yep. Google it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaz Posted July 16, 2007 Posted July 16, 2007 Oh, well....diifferent strokes for different folks. I'm more than happy and if i ever do have a problem, which is rare, it is taken care of immediatly and politely. The only thing i didn't like is Quest is the only isp that refused to hand over confidential information to the bushit admin. Verizon wimped out. I called and blasted them about violating my civil rights. That's the only time i ever had a problem with them, but that's a big problem. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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