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Posted by VanShania on January 21, 2006, 10:53 am
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I have just been relying on my router firewall and XPs firewall, and my
computer has always seemed sluggish. I did a fresh install of the OS and
drivers and before hooking up to the net, installed ZoneAlarm firewall free
version which blocks unwanted incoming and outgoing "bugs". Now my computer
scims along like it never has before. Though I did install updated vidcard
drivers which boosted my benchmark 1500 points( 10906 to 12412), it still
never operated like it is when I had these drivers installed previously.
ZoneAlarm has blocked 19 intrusions from the same ip address in 2 hours,
meaning that when I was just using the mentioned firewalls, these attacks
were actually getting through( I still have my router attached). Again, I
must admit I did install my ATI drivers differently this time( loaded Direct
X 9c then vid drivers, then DX9c again, uninstalled vidcard drivers and
reinstalled them overtop of dx9) so maybe this was the problem too. But at
any rate, the performance of my computer is like it never was before.ATI
recommends installing Vidcard drivers overtop Direct X).
> VanShania wrote:
>
> > I just started using these free apps as I have never used any type of
> > security other than XP firewall and the firewall on my router. Any users
had
> > long term use out of these free apps and what is your evaluation of
them?
>
> Robert,
>
> Here is my 0.02 on the AV subject. AFAIAC, polls and the reviews of
> sites that accept advertising from AV vendors is pretty much
> worthless. Stick to tests and comparatives. Some AV info for your perusal:
>
> AV-Test (Andreas Marx - Germany)
> (http://www.av-test.org/)
> AV-Comparatives (Andreas Clementi - Austria)
> (http://www.av-comparatives.org/)
> Food for thought (Eugene Kaspersky)
> (http://www.viruslist.com/en/analysis?pubid=174405517)
>
> Here are the preferences that I have gleaned from the various
> security/paranoia NGs in which I hang out:
>
> Free: AVG, Avast!, AntiVir
> Paid: KAV, NOD32
> Bottom of the List: Norton, McAfee
>
> The knock against NAV and McAfee is due to bias (they're the big guys)
> and issues not related to detection rates. Note that these assessments
> are for AV apps for home/SOHO/personal use. The same may or may not be
> said about the enterprise or corporate editions. I have personally
> used McAfee, Norton, AVG and KAV.
>
> I use KAV (Kaspersky Labs):
> (http://www.kaspersky.com/us/products)
> NOD32 (Eset):
> (http://www.nod32-av.com/products/products.htm)
>
> For one with no AV protection, an option is to download one of the
> free AV apps while investigating all other options:
>
> AVG - Grisoft
> (http://www.grisoft.com/doc/Programs/lng/us/tpl/tpl01)
> Avast! - ALWIL Software
> (http://www.avast.com/eng/programs.html)
> AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic
> (http://www.free-av.com/)
>
> All of the above AV apps may be upgraded to a
> Professional/Full-Featured AV app for a fee.
>
> Some General Anti-Virus info:
> (http://home.neo.rr.com/manna4u/virusprevention.html)
> (http://www.claymania.com/safe-hex.html)
>
> A word to wise. Unlike Anti-Spyware applications, where the
> multi-layered approach is preferable, Anti-Virus (resident)
> applications absolutely do NOT like each other, and one should be
> uninstalled completely before installing another. In many cases, eg.,
> with Symantec products, this is easier said than done. In order to
> switch or even evaluate another AV, you MUST completely remove NAV.
> Some info about removing AV apps (particularly NAV):
> (http://forum.kaspersky.com/index.php?showtopic=5233)
> And so, before you install ANY AV application, make sure that you
> acquire all information/tools/utilities that are necessary for its
> COMPLETE removal. You have been warned.
>
> At any rate, those are my thoughts on the AV subject.
>
> Here is my 0.02 (at this time) on the PFW issue. AFAIC, polls,
> opinions and reviews don't mean squat. This is old, but it is the only
> comparative test that I have seen on PFWs:
>
> (http://www.firewallleaktester.com/tests.htm)
>
> This is from the camp that subscribes to the belief that a software
> solution (a PFW) is important. Things like stealth, outbound
> protection, port blocking. etc. are important considerations. Many of
> these people find it unlikely that the best AV vendor would also make
> the best PFW.
>
> This is indicative of the sentiments of the other camp:
>
> (http://www.samspade.org/d/firewalls.html)
>
> This camp subscribes to the philosophy that things like stealth,
> outbound protection, port blocking. etc. are all marketing BS. Many of
> these people would say to use the Windows XP firewall and forget the
> rest this nonsense.
>
> I must admit that having studied this issue for the past 8 months, I
> am leaning toward the second camp.
>
> Ron :)
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