Windows XP Firewall

Which Netgear model are you using?

Jim

Hi Jim,

Its the DG834 V2 - NON wireless.

good thing is that model does have a firewall. strange your firewall service seems to be either disabled or set to manual.

go to start-> control panels -> administrative tools->services. double click.

now scroll down to
windows firewall.
double click on it.
does it say automatic in the drop down menu?

Jim

Generally broadband routers do something called NAT, it means your PC isn't directly exposed to the Internet so no, a firewall isn't needed to check incoming connections.

You might want to look at something like Zonealarm to keep an eye on what programs are trying to talk to the outside world though.

Paul

Jim,

I did the above as you suggested and it does say 'automatic' and 'started', but if i go to network connections it does not say 'firewalled' next to 'connected'. I have to go to properties and manually select it to on.

Should i assume that it is running but just not showing on network connections for some reason?

Am i worring for no reason?

Many Thanks again for you help.

Regards
Jason.

This raises an interesting question:

How do programs decide which is going to act as the firewall and which is going to act as the anti-virus amongst competing programs on the same computer? My firewall company recommended closing down the XP firewall to avoid conflicts.

But many firewalls are offering antivirus services, spam filters and adware killers. My ISP has its own antivirus and spam filters. Yet if one runs antivirus programs and adware killers they can still find the odd nasty little bug lurking within.

quote:

Originally posted by niceguy235uk:
Jim,

I did the above as you suggested and it does say 'automatic' and 'started', but if i go to network connections it does not say 'firewalled' next to 'connected'. I have to go to properties and manually select it to on.

Jason,

right-click on your Network connection then go to Advanced / Firewall Settings / Advanced. You should see a list of connections. Does your connection have a tick against it?

cheers, Martin

Firewalls are of little use in a modern computing environment. They will stop most unauthorised connections initiated from the Internet true, but most problems on PCs are caused by viruses and other malicious programs. I'm not advocating turning your firewall off - you definitely need it - but on its own it'll do little to protect your PC.

The problem is the software that the Internet uses, TCP/IP, uses service numbers (often called ports) to identify an application - and malicious programs run the wrong service numbers and so the firewall thinks they are non-malicious. A very clever firewall can detect this (CyberGuard's products come to mind), but most can't. Real Audio for example pretends to be Web Traffic to get through most corporate firewalls - Real Audio is not in any way malicious.

Ideally you need an Intrusion Prevention System (I use SNORT or my Apple Mac). If you are using a PC then ZoneAlarm is pretty good as it'll detect any attempts to access the Internet and warn you - if you are not trying to connect to the Internet yourself with that program then you know something is up. In effect, you act as your own Intrusion Protection System.

If your broadband router does NAT (Network Address Translation) then that is good - as no device on the Internet can see your PC unless you connect to it. So you are safe in that direction, but NAT can't stop spyware and so on.

Linux and Mac OS X are much safer than Windows in this respect. Mac OS X has a really good firewall called IPFW and Linux uses the more complex IP Tables. Microsoft has tried to copy IPFW and has done an OK job - though the user interface is pretty dire; I'd simply turn off Microsoft firewall and install ZoneAlarm.

To test your firewall Gibson's Shields Up is very useful. It will see if can exploit problems with your set up.

A good virus scanner such as McAfee and some good anti-spyware software is vital. I'd also use Netscape or Opera rather than Internet Explorer as a browser. On a Mac, Safari is the default browser and is fine.

Hope this helps - Rotf

Hi Martin,

Yes the box is checked.

ROTF,

Thanks for your input, it is much appreciated. I do understand exactley what you are saying but im just a little concerened taht my windows firewall keeps 'switching off' whenever i shut down my pc, which im sure is not supposed to happen.

Kind regards
Jason.

Many firewalls for Windows control communications from your PC to the web - ZoneAlarm, Norton, McAfee, Kerio, etc., etc.

If you turn the Windows FW on, and it keeps getting turned off, something is wrong. Have you scanned for spyware? If not - I'd satrt with Spybot Search & Destroy and Hijackthis.

Best of luck.

Phil

quote:

Originally posted by ROTF:
I'd simply turn off Microsoft firewall and install ZoneAlarm.

I hope you mean that you'd install ZA, and then turn the MS FW off?

Sorry to be pedantic, but it's useful not to give the wrong idea to someone else doing this.

cheers, Martin