windows firewall

[bob123]

is it essential to have windows firewall running to have your computer adequately protected? I have 2 PC's, one connected to the other wirelessly. The only way i could get the two networked was to turn off windows firewall. i do have zone alarm running and my netgear router apparently has a firewall built in, but was wondering whether this was enough?

[Super Stu]

I'm only running the aforementioned netgear router. Never been owned by a kiddeh or stupidity yet, touch wood.

[demon9k]

Same as Stu

[charlaph]

Interesting. I've tried MacAfee, ZoneAlarm and Kerio and all have caused me problems. I'm sure it could all be overcome if I knew what I was doing and what settings to use within the programs, but it'd be a lot easier just to uninstall my software firewall altogether and rely solely on the Netgear firewall.

Internet forum paranoia has be firmly in the belief that I need that software firewall though - is that a load of bollocks?

[Super Stu]

If you have a look at your router's wall, odds are that it's set to permit all outbound traffic. I suppose if you were being a bit more mission critical about it, you'd set it to block all traffic both ways (all inbound connections are blocked by default, that's why you need to open them for online games etc) and then only open the ports you need.

I suppose this is, in effect, what you get with running hardware and software - the hardware blocks inbound, the software blocks in and out, usually on a per application basis.

I guess you have to decide whether you need that extra layer of protection. I'll be honest - just through sensible use of the computer, I've not had a virus or silly spyware installed, so the hardware wall is more than sufficient. Your mileage will vary though, depending on who uses the PC.

[Dirty Sanchez]

I prefer the software firewall. The configuration is more adaptable and can have multiple profiles for different users/uses.

The log and stats on a software firewall are more comprehensive, more of a confidence booter that you can see what's going on.

With the software firewall (I use Norton) the ability to withhold personal inforamtion/sensitive information is yet another confidence measure.

I still run weekly spyware scans and a full virus scan just to be sure. If i've got the tools I can see no reason why not to use them.

[Super Stu]

In fairness, I just couldn't be bothered with the extra layer of red tape, especially when it came to lan games and so forth. The point is probably reasonably moot on top end machines too, but I try to keep mine as lean as possible, as to assist gaming etc.

Of course, I run ad-aware on occasion (less so now that I have firefox, as ad-aware was only finding mining cookies anyway), and keep an eye on the processes loaded. I have a program that I can fire up to monitor outgoing ports, if I think something is up (which you can get a feel for).

If you're careful, there's no need for that extra monitoring, it just depends on how savvy you are.

[Willei]

You should be perfectly safe with the router. Unless you have some kind of funky default NAT rule set up, all requests to potentialy dodgy ports on your computer will be safely blocked. Hardware firewalls are always much better than software ones, so there's really nothing to worry about in most cases.

Of course, having to deal with idiots who have firewalls on their machines inside a LAN and then complain that "networky stuff doesn't work anymore" makes me much more predisposed to hating software firewalls, especially since the SP2 fiasco.

[Ian(not Ian)]

Up until a couple of weeks ago I was using only Zone Alarm as a firewall. Every 10 minutes or so it'd pop up and announce it had blocked an incoming 'attack'.
So, a couple of weeks ago a bought a Netgear wireless router (which set itself up a treat). Zone Alarm is still installed but has not once informed me of any incoming blocks.

This leads me to believe the Netgear router is now doing all the blocking.
Still, I'm keeping Zone Alarm for its progam control functions. Eg I will stop ALL pop-ups and will inform me if a program on my PC is trying to access the internet, at which point I can allow or deny it.
Perfect for stopping Billy's Media Player from snooping into my personal music preferences which is none of his business.

Keep both hardware and software if you ask me.

[Spatial]

Hardware and software here too.

My software was registering a fair few hits every day or so before I got a router. Haven't had any since