Firewall or not

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Hi
I have only just gone on line and have put Ad-ware and AVG on do I need a firewall or are these ok havn't got a clue about firewalls.
I do get a box up that says cant update Dialer could be firewall.
Anyhelp would be good

 

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well for a start id get rid of avg, i never liked them as they seem to make up viruses, like they did when i got one of theyre free scans . i reccomend macafee or panda titanium

 

if your using a single machine connected the the net a firewalls a must
if not, your routers NAT will prevent most stuff, but its still very advisable to use a firewall

you can completly forget about worrying when it comes to virii and adware if you a) know what your clicking and b) have a firewall that you configured urself

 

Popular opinion would say ALWAYS run with a firewall of somekind, even if it is just XP's own (if you are using XP, that is). If you are not, use Zone Labs Zone Alarm (just type exactly that into Google)

That message you quote sounds to me like something nasty may already have got onto your PC, and some of your existing security software has managed to prevent it from altering your setup (by the sounds of it, to install a premium rate dialler - NASTY !!!) I may be totally wrong here, but seen a few cases of this before to make we wary of the clues ...


Good luck

 

I'd tend to agree with Phoenix on this one. If you are directly connected to the Internet with a dial up modem, I'd highly recommend a firewall such as Zone Alarm (they have a freeware version so price is not an issue). It's still a good idea to have one if you hook up through cable or DSL though as Phoenix says, the NAT feature on the router will tend to shield your home computer(s).

I disagree with the poor assessment on AVG. I abandoned Norton sometime ago for AVG on my personal computers and haven't had a complaint. It has caught a couple of nasty critters and protected all my machines flawlessly. If McAfee is anything like Norton, then is will tend to be rather bloated and take up more resources than it's worth.

I'm not clear where you are saying here, Missy. What program is displaying the message? Can you post *exactly* what the message says. The way I read it, it could either be saying that your dial up modem's drivers can't be updated and that a firewall may be preventing this *or* you have dialer software loaded on your computer which usually means that a type of malware has infested your computer and will attempt to use your dial up modem to link to paid (usually) pornographic websites. Please clarify so we can understand. Thanks.

 

Well thanks to all of you for your help,you must understand that when you talk about Nat, McAfee, router etc I dont know what your talking about, but I got The jist of it all.
I have been happy with AVG and I am keeping it,I have friends who use it and are very happy with it, so untill it bits me I will leave it be
I'm on windows98
But about the firewall I will have a look on Google thanks.
I did have one of those rogue dialers and got rid of it before I used it, but it took some moving specially the porn .Just sorted the double dialer I had put the wrong name in the settings which made another dialer idiot!
I am really glad I was told about this site, but you might regret it
I will return.
Thanks Missy

 

Glad to hear you have the dialer issue sorted. Here's a link for the download for the Zone Alarm software firewall. It may take some time over dial up:

http://zdnet.com.com/ZoneAlarm/3000-10435_2-10421033.html?tag=sptlt

Webopedia is an online technical glossary that you can use to help you understand some of the technical terms a lot of us take for granted around here. Here's the link:

http://www.webopedia.com.

I'm also in the process of writing a technical glossary for CertForums but unfortunately, it's slow going. Here are the definitions to some of the terms you mentioned. Hope they help:

NAT stands for Network Address Translation and is the method of translating non-routable internal LAN and Wireless Network IP Addresses into the public, routable IP Address on the WAN port of your Gateway Router. Often, you will use Private IP Address Space to create the pool of IP Addresses used by your internal networks. These addresses cannot be routed on the Internet but can be used widely in private networks. In order for computers with private addresses to be able to connect to the Internet, their private addresses must be converted to a public or routable IP Address as it passes through the Gateway Router. NAT is the process that allows this conversion. A large number of internal computers can have their addresses converted and reach the Internet at the same time so you are not limited in the number of computers that can use NAT at any given moment. This process keeps the internal IP Addressing scheme of your private networks hidden from the Internet, providing a measure of protection against intruders.

A router is a device that allows network traffic to be directed between two or more different networks and determines the path between a source and destination network. Many home users that connect to the Internet using DSL or Cable have a Gateway Router that allows one or more of the computers in their residence to connect to the web.

McAfee is just the name of a company that produces antivirus software. They also produce other types of software designed to increase computer and network security. Here's the link:

http://www.mcafee.com/us/

 

Glossary trip? Excellent!

 

Nothing wrong with AVG IMHO. I have used it for years and it has not let me down once. A friend of mine who is a true McAfee die hard was convinced that because I ran AVG, I must have loads of malware on my PC and not know it. For the hell of it I ran his superdat file, it took an hour and only came up with two things, both were false alarms

Run McAfee or Norton if you like paying out money and you don't mind all your available system resources being eaten up

Pete