Firewall & Anti-Virus Programs

Xendora

I have a couple questions regarding firewall & anti-virus programs.

How reliable is the Windows firewall that comes with XP? I've never used it, been using Norton but want to drop it when my subscription expires, which is coming up in another week or so.

I've been thinking of getting Bitdefender after reading a good review on it. The one that comes with a firewall & anit-virus. It lets you put it on 3 computers & comes with support for 2 years.

Should I get a "suite" program for both or use the Windows firewall & buy a seperate anti-virus? I've always used Norton so have no idea what else is good or not so good. Thanks. ~Xen

kryyst

I haven't come across an entire suite program yet that didn't leave my computer feeling like it was running on molasses. My recommendation is this.

Get AVG 8 free edition free.avg.com it will do your anti-virus/spy ware checking with great results and a very low speed impact. It also has a few other nice features built in like safe link checking for your google searches. The optional toolbar is also a good added layer of security if you are paranoid, but personally I don't see a need for it and never install it.

For your firewall. The built in windows firewall is pretty decent it'll do all your port shadowing/blocking and has almost no impact on your system and is rather good at letting the programs get out to the internet that need to get out to the internet. If you are sitting behind a router that's all you need.

Further to the point if you are sitting behind a router your router is also a hardware firewall making your computer generally inaccessible from the internet. With the combination of a router and the XP firewall your well protected.

CB

As far as firewalls, creating a hardware firewall with a router is best practice. No software firewall needed for a typical home user.

I would recommend Avast! for your virus protection and AdAware for Spyware detection. Both have free home editions.