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!

[MichiganMan]

I should have said in a "physical" store. I'm a bit old fashioned. When it comes to buying something as expensive as a new computer I want to actually touch and look at it first.

You're paying a pretty penny, several thousand of them in fact, for that fashion. Almost without exception, both parts and full systems can be found much cheaper from established online dealers, ie Newegg, Amazon, than from brick and mortar stores. And that is taking shipping into account.

Oh, and I recommend the hardware firewall in a good router. Even if you only have one computer to "route", the NAT and SPI in a decent router is well worth the investment. Heck, I have my mother's PC on one of my venerable Linksys BEFSR41 just for the free NAT protection it provides.

As for the default protection in Vista... who's going to protect the user from the OS itself?

[irv]

1. You made a mistake buying Vista. But now you'll have to live with it, unless you feel like wiping it and installing XP or Linux.
2. Yes, you should get a good firewall. The built in one is better than nothing, but you're better off yet with something that can be upgraded independently of the OS and comes with some tech support.
3. Some people on this list have mentioned getting a good hardware firewall. This is a good idea, but get a software one ALSO. Defense in depth is the way to go.
4. I buy almost exclusively Dells. If you were having crashes that could not be traced to bad ram or some similar hardware problem, then you were probably infected with some kind of malware that screwed up your system. Try to avoid having that happen again.
5. If you have kids, don't let them use your computer. They'll download some music or file sharing crap that will get your system infected in no time. Give them your old system and let them break that!

[machogirl]

no pun intended, but that sounds cool, 2 of my kids have laptops, one a Dell and one a Mac

question, for the Dells, does it come with a fire extinguisher?

[Roland Hand]

I have the 'Zone Alarm Security Suite' and have been clean as a whistle for two years now, but yeah, it costs bucks.

Can my DLINK (DI-624)router provide a 'hardware' firewall, anyone, anyone? I am not a genuius at this stuff but learn pretty good.

[Brasil]

Bookmark

[jim macomber]

Zone Alarm question (I think).

I have Zone Alarm (and AVG) on my Dell PC. With the volume on, I get a frequent "whoop-whoop" sound which I have assumed is an audible signal telling me an intrusion has been stopped or an attempt was made or something along those lines. It happens often more than once a minute and is very annoying to the extent that I now mute the volume unless I need it.

Is this Zone Alarm does anyone know? More importantly, can it be disabled ( the audible whoop, I mean.) I've searched 'properties, etc' but can't find anything. Not life or death, certainly but to be rid of it would be great.

[proudofthesouth]

Well I previously purchased a Dell online and got truly screwed. I'm so sick of having computer problems I could SCREAM! I've been a permanent resident of Dell Hell for almost a year and a half and I'm so happy to finally be set free!

I believe that I got a good buy at Staples on a Compaq.

[mkjessup]

I highly recommend an SMC Barracade Router/Hardware Firewall, I've had one for 2 years now and it is flawless, and NOTHING I repeat NOTHING gets in.

Plus, if you want to really prevent ads, banners and the like without using pop-up stopper programs, you can add the URL address for the advertising banner hosting IPs, and the Barracade will block them 100 percent of the time, and all you'll see is an 'Access Denied' message.

I love it.

[garyhope]

I built my own system about 6 months ago and was quite proud of myself for buying a "full" version of XP Pro so I can take it with me to another computer if I do a rebuild (from the AMD X2 3800 to an Intel Core 2 Duo with a new mobo for instance).

I confess to also liking IE 7 with it's tab feature, and yes, I know, Firefox had it first.

I think there is a conflict with IE 7 and some of my stock and currency trading software, so I'm learning to not open IE 7 first if I'm going to run the trading software. Maybe they'll work it out someday.

[KoRn]

I've never used ZA, but one would think that a setting should exist to disable audible notifications. If there is no such setting, I'm sure it wouldn't take much of a hack to get around it. Does ZA have any kind of support to contact, or forums?

Sorry I couldn't be of more help. Good luck.

[Echo Talon]

I get a frequent "whoop-whoop" sound

Right click the Avast! Icon by your clock choose "Start Avast Anti-Virus" click the "menu" then the "sounds tab" then disable the Avast! sounds... enjoy... ;)

[free_life]

The firewall in Vista is wideopen by default...allows everything in. It has to be set up.

I suggest both a hardware and software firewall.

[FlyVet]

If you double click the ZA icon, you should be able to see "Alerts and Logs". You can turn off the alerts there.

[Roland Hand]

There is an ALERT and LOGS TAB, but I do not recall anyway to add, change, delete, audable alerts. I only get messages and tray 'icon' changes, no sounds.

[Poser]

Here's what I get with the router hardware firewall:

Your Internet port 139 does not appear to exist! One or more ports on this system are operating in FULL STEALTH MODE! Standard Internet behavior requires port connection attempts to be answered with a success or refusal response. Therefore, only an attempt to connect to a nonexistent computer results in no response of either kind. But YOUR computer has DELIBERATELY CHOSEN NOT TO RESPOND (that's very cool!) which represents advanced computer and port stealthing capabilities. A machine configured in this fashion is well hardened to Internet NetBIOS attack and intrusion.

Unable to connect with NetBIOS to your computer. All attempts to get any information from your computer have FAILED. (This is very uncommon for a Windows networking-based PC.) Relative to vulnerabilities from Windows networking, this computer appears to be VERY SECURE since it is NOT exposing ANY of its internal NetBIOS networking protocol over the Internet.

[raybbr]

I was looking at this one and am wondering if it could be one of the models that overheats.

[politicalwit]

I think it's all a manufacturing thing. I'm on my second Compaq now and have never had a heating problem.

[Sprite518]

Yes without a doubt. I have a friend who did the same thing as you did yesterday. However, he said the store (Circuit City) wanted to install Norton. They said installing a firewall on Vista is not easy. I do not know why? So just be careful when you do it.

[Kirkwood]

"You can't buy a new computer with XP anymore. I tried! "

Not true. I've been pricing Dell computers with XP.

[ConservativeMind]

If it is AVG, there is a place you can turn off the sound. I would do that to isolate it.