Microsoft Vista Question

[proudofthesouth]

I bought a new laptop computer (Compaq) yesterday. Finally got tired of my Dell crashing and living in Dell Hell.

Anyway, my new system has Vista as the operating system and it comes with a firewall.

My question is do I still need to go out and buy a better firewall (like Panda)?

Thanks in advance for the help!

[MarkL]

Actually, if you've got high speed Internet, you should buy a hardware firewall of some sort. Software firewalls are OK, but frankly, I don't have much experience with them. Long ago, when I was on dial-up, I used Zone Alarm, which I thought was pretty good.

Mark

[TommyDale]

I wouldn't trust the Microsoft Firewall. I find Zone Alarm does fine, and it is also free.

[org.whodat]

chat

[ConservativeMind]

No, you don't need another firewall. The one in Vista is a two-way firewall just like the better firewalls in ZoneAlarm and others.

[RichardW]

What's the deal with the "Dell's crashing?" I've got two of them and they work just fine. It is more likely that you have a software problem than a hardware problem.

[Porterville]

Compaq and HP overheat.... Dell Hell ain't quite as hot as Hewlett Packard Purgatory.

[Lx]

If you are on a cable modem or DSL, get a hardware firewall from Netgear or something similar. In fact, you're better off getting a combo wireless router AND firewall. Unfortunately, you might not be able to purchase a hardware firewall by itself unless you shell out the big bucks for a PIX but wireless is great. If you go wireless make sure you use ALL of the tools available to encrypt and secure your node.

Zone alarm is great but I wouldn't rely on it alone. When I had a cable modem, my firewall was hammered day and night. Now that I have DSL, they don't allow access to the end nodes unless you purchase a static IP address.

[proudofthesouth]

I got my Dell laptop about 18 months ago. It worked fine for the first 4 months or so. After that on a regular basis (every 2 to 3 months) it would crash and I would have to erase and reformat my hard drive.

I absolutely DETEST Dell technical help and have spent countless hours on the phone with them. Never again though! Yippee!!!!!!

[proudofthesouth]

I used Zone Alarm with Windows XP but it isn't compatible yet with Vista.

[Krayzie_Bone]

COMODO is a good/free software firewall if you decide you want one. Just go to download.com and search comodo.

[proudofthesouth]

I found something neat at Staples. It is a notebook cooler made by Antec. It is a pad like thing that you set your laptop on and once you plug it into you system a fan comes on to take heat away from the system.

I've got it running now and its pretty neat.

[streetpreacher]

Bookmark

[raybbr]

ping

[raybbr]

Compaq and HP overheat.... Dell Hell ain't quite as hot as Hewlett Packard Purgatory.

All of them? Or only certain models?

[Poser]

Install a wireless router and turn on the security. To the outside world, your computer will be invisible.

(you don't have to use the wireless function)

I forget what the online site is, but I ran a free security check and it told me I didn't have anything attached to my internet line.

[ExTexasRedhead]

I was told to not buy Vista for at least 6 months to a year. XP is fine for now with it's own set of bugs. I was also told that some software won't run on Vista yet (like Quicken which I don't need). I'm not a PC guru so I don't know who to trust.

[Porterville]

The recent middle tier from about 1-2 years ago. HP Pavilion and its equivalent Compaq burn out. You have to wait for them to cool off again to start them back up... had both of them.

My cheap Dell works out much better.

[ProfoundMan]

Another fan is a great idea. The little HP buggers do get very hot. My laptop fried 2 hard drives before I got smart and got the fan. It's been going for 2 years now with no problem. Fans R good...

[Ainast]

interesting tidbit for HP users:

I've got an HP zv6000 (2.4ghz AMD-Athlon64-3800+, 1gig R) and it used to overheat something fierce. It turned out the power settings were supposed to be set on minimal and once I got rid of norton antivirus my laptop started working perfectly again and I've had it for nearly 2 years.