Fire Walls

[Julie Wright]

I just read something about firewalls and PC security. Where can I get one and do dialups need them?

thanks

[Don Henthorn Smithville, TX]

Yes, Julie, you should have a firewall even with dialup. I suggest you go to www.zonelabs.com and download their free version of Zonealarm. Works great and is all the protection you need. You should also have the free Spybot and Adware programs installed. These things not only protect you but also those to whom you send emails.

[Tom Sweeney]

firewalls are a necessity(sp?) with any broadband connection - certainly not a bad idea with a dial up. You can download a free software based firewall at:
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/catalog/products/sku_list_za.jsp?lid=pdb_za1

Make sure you download the basic zone alarm - that's the free one.
Software base is not as good as a hardware based firewall - but it's really fine- I use it & haven't had any problems.

You might also want to download adaware at:
http://www.lavasoft.de and / or

spybot at: http://www.safer-networking.org/

these detect / remove adware & spyware which can clog up your computer. These are all free downloads.

[Waymon Campbell]

Julie - I also recommend Zone Alarm. One thing I would do is read the documentation so that you fully understand what can / needs to be blocked. Many people I know have become frustrated because the firewall blocked things they wanted. A little reading upfront will save you a lot of frustration later.

[Jeff Cybulski]

Julie - Like the others said Zone Alarm is great. Well worth the money. G o ahead and download the Pro version and pay the yearly subscription ( $39??) I went with the trial and then when I signed up had a lot of problems trying to re-configure.

Godd Luck
Jeff

[Julie Wright]

Hey Guys,
thanks for the info. I downloaded the Zonealert and adware and spybot.. Now I hope the creeps will stay out of my puter.

Julie :)

[Keith Outten]

Aaron just sent me an email concerning people using Zone Alarm and vBulletin. It seems that Zone Alarm causes problems when logging in to vBulletin sites.

We have had a lot of people complaining lately about not being able to log in and other problems staying connected to our site. It seems that we may finally have an answer to the problem we have assumed were related to cookies and Internet Explorer.

Disable Zone Alarm before you visit SawMill Creek.

[Joe Suelter]

Julie, Zonealarm is a pretty good piece of software, however, there are ways to hack inside...don't ask me how, I have no idea. I had it installed and still got zapped by a "bug". Since then, I've installed a Lynksys Firewall/Router...it looks like a cable modem (which I also have). Since I installed this I have had NO problems at all...but they aren't cheap..about $80. Personally, I wouldn't have my computer connected to the internet for 5 minutes without it...just too many sick people out there anting to create havoc. With dialup you're less likely than I am to recieve a virus or bug, but it is still possible. Go with the ZoneAlarm for now, since it will do you well, just remember that down the road if you change ISP's you may want something a little safer.

[David LaRue]

I personally would not be connected to the Internet without a firewall of some sort active. At a minimum get a Router / Firewall combo which has NAT (Network Address Translation) built in and the ability to setup non-rout-able IP addresses. This is only part of the answer, but this would "solve" the ZA bug.

BTW Sygate, and Computer Associates have free quality firewalls too...

my .02

[David LaRue]

Julie, Zonealarm is a pretty good piece of software, however, there are ways to hack inside...don't ask me how, I have no idea. I had it installed and still got zapped by a "bug".

A firewall is quite different from a anti virus program.... They work together, but are not the same.

[Chris Johnson]

You do not have to disable ZA to be on SMC. I use it on all of my machines and SMC works perfectly fine. I would venture a guess that if someone is having problems with vbulletin...they have other issues.



Aaron just sent me an email concerning people using Zone Alarm and vBulletin. It seems that Zone Alarm causes problems when logging in to vBulletin sites.

We have had a lot of people complaining lately about not being able to log in and other problems staying connected to our site. It seems that we may finally have an answer to the problem we have assumed were related to cookies and Internet Explorer.

Disable Zone Alarm before you visit SawMill Creek.

[Jim Becker]

Aaron just sent me an email concerning people using Zone Alarm and vBulletin. It seems that Zone Alarm causes problems when logging in to vBulletin sites.

We have had a lot of people complaining lately about not being able to log in and other problems staying connected to our site. It seems that we may finally have an answer to the problem we have assumed were related to cookies and Internet Explorer.

Disable Zone Alarm before you visit SawMill Creek.

Sorry, Keith, but I've been using ZoneAlarm (Pro version) for years and have no problem with this or any other vBulletin sites. The latest versions do have some "high security" "privacy" settings that wreak havock with many web site and those should be turned off, but a firewall of this type is pretty much essential these days...I would not run a machine without it. It's the extra crap that these software vendors pile on that cause the problems, not the underlying product in most cases. McAfee and Norton have the same issues...the "extras" are trouble.

[Joe Bourbois]

Once you get your firewall up and running, there are two sites you can use to test it.

http://grc.com/x/ne.dll?rh1dkyd2

http://www.dslreports.com/scan

Both of these will probe your computer to see if it can get by your firewall and report back.

[John Wadsworth]

I've been using Zone Alarm for a couple of years now on the XP OS--first the freeware, then the Pro upgrade. No problems at all, either with intruders or SMC

[Joe Suelter]

A firewall is quite different from a anti virus program.... They work together, but are not the same.
I realize that they are different...I didn't mention anti-virus at all, when referring to the "bug", I meant someone trying to enter my machine from a remote source. Sorry for the confusion.

[Robert Goodwin]

A friend of mine at work awhile back had someone get onto his machine while using a dialup. He managed to create a user with root privaliges, and was in the process of tarring up his data when he disconnected. So some protection is needed ragardless of your interface to the network.

I have a broadband connection and use a router for both a firewall and to allow more than one machine to have access. I have used Zonealarm but ran into som software compatibility problems with some VPN software I use for work.

[Bobby Hatfield]

Once you get your firewall up and running, there are two sites you can use to test it.

http://grc.com/x/ne.dll?rh1dkyd2

http://www.dslreports.com/scan

Both of these will probe your computer to see if it can get by your firewall and report back.

Joe, I clicked on these sites, both indicated problems on my computer from the first screen, and with ZoneAlarm installed on this computer. If I lose my Family Tree Maker, I am in big trouble, lots of work there. Any advise for a computer dummy.

[Robert Goodwin]

Joe, I clicked on these sites, both indicated problems on my computer from the first screen, and with ZoneAlarm installed on this computer. If I lose my Family Tree Maker, I am in big trouble, lots of work there. Any advise for a computer dummy.


First of all, I would back up your data often if you don't do so already. Someone may be able to bring your machine down, but you can restore any lost data from a backup. Hard disks are so cheap now that you can buy a couple a use them as backup media by copying the complete disk from your primary disk to a backup. Ideally you would want the disk to be external so you could disconnect it from the machine after each backup.


Rob

[Bart Leetch]

Here is a good anti virus too. I have been using it & Zone Alarm on all my computers & they work well together.

http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_index.php

[Bobby Hatfield]

Here is a good anti virus too. I have been using it & Zone Alarm on all my computers & they work well together.

http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_index.php

Bart, I have some version of Zone Alarm Virus protection also, came with the Zone Alarm firewall, I thought I was bullet proof. I sure wish I knew something about computers. I guess I'll have to send Peacock a bus ticket so he can come up and bring this thang up to date, I could pay him in wood I guess, I got lots of good dry bowl blanks that he hates.

[Joe Bourbois]

Joe, I clicked on these sites, both indicated problems on my computer from the first screen, and with ZoneAlarm installed on this computer. If I lose my Family Tree Maker, I am in big trouble, lots of work there. Any advise for a computer dummy.

What kind of problems did they point out?

[Aaron Koehl]

I should rephrase--
Depending on your configuration, ZoneAlarm can cause problems with vBulletin sites.

We've had users who have had trouble logging in to SMC; the successful solution to the problem was to disable or configure ZoneAlarm for the site.

Not a cure-all, but just one thing to check when isolating problems.

_Aaron_

[David Klug]

Aaron, I'm running Windows ME with Zone Alarm Pro and I haven't had any problems at all.

DK

[Bob Wood]

Aaron, you know that I have had my problems with logging into the site when my ZoneAlarm is enabled. Also, once before, I found that the site was asking for something out of my Protected ID file. Well, today, I enabled ZoneAlarm, checked in only to be kept out. I went into ZA and reset the permissions for the Protected ID file, and when I checked in, ZA told me that the site had asked for MY.YAHOO.COM password. It is the same one used for this site. I went ahead and OK'd it to go when it was for this site only, and it seems to work OK now. Thanks for all your dutiful efforts in the past in trying to get my login to work. I was completely buffaloed as to the problem, but now at least I have a solution. Thanks again, Bob :D