Firewall help needed

[EvilManagedCare]

I am a complete firewall novice, so be warned. Anyway, I have an nForce 3 250 Gb chipset motherboard, and I'm using the onboard nVidia/Forceware firewall. Under this firewall my antivirus program doesn't want to update by contacting the manufacturer's website. The recommendation by the antivirus company is to set a few different files in the firewall settings as always safe to allow access to the internet.

How in the hell would I go about doing this? I have tried adjusting the 3 different basic config settings (High, medium and low security) to no avail. Using the Windows XP firewall it works properly, but when I turn on the Forceware firewall (after turning the Windows one off) the problem arises. Thus, the problem seems Forceware firewall related. The help file has little information in setting programs as safe, rather just adjusting IP settings.

Can anybody explain how to do this, or refer me to a manual of sorts for this firewall? I appreciate the help and can find no documentation whatsoever in spite of searching.

Brandt

 

[EatSpam]

Disable nVidia firewall...buy a hardware firewall. Solved.

 

[JackMDS]

The nVidia Native Firewall is "Quirky".

May be this can Help.

Link to: Basic Protection for Broadband Internet Installation.

Link to: Freeware Security suit for Internet Connection Protection.

:sun:

 

[EvilManagedCare]

I am loathe to disable to nVidia firewall because that was one reason I bought this motherboard, and didn't want to buy additional hardware. However, current circumstances are looking like this may need to happen. So, I have two additional questions:

1. How effective is the Windows XP firewall?

2. What are some good choices for routers with built in firewalls that won't break the bank? There was a good Linksys one for a low price way back when I built the PC (like in 11/04), but I don't remember the model.

For the record, it astounds me how there is such a lack of information on this damned nVidia firewall. Very frustrating. There's even a popular website that essentially has a guide for a ,yriad of firewalls and routers, but Forceware is nowhere to be found.

Thanks for the help.

 

[cmetz]

EvilManagedCare, both the NVidia firewall and the XP firewall are junk. ZoneAlarm used to be good, but has been going downhill, fast, since they were acquired. There are other software firewalls out there, some Google searching will help you find them. Pay attention to user reviews. Look for recent reviews, too.

An outboard firewall is a very good idea in addition to a software firewall. They do slightly different things. My personal favorite is the Linksys WRT54G/GS because there's some excellent hacked firmware available for them that gives them a lot of features and a product longevity that wasn't intended by Linksys. Good for you. The G is about $50 and the GS is about $70 and you can just disable the wireless part if you don't need it. If you're looking for cheap, Best Buy (you know, the retail chain that hates their customers, but that's a rant for another forum 😉 has the D-Link DI-604 on sale this week for $5 after $35 MIR. Having recently played with one of these boxes that someone else provided, I can say that it's a surprisingly decent low-end firewall and definitely a good value at the $5AR to $0AR you can typically find it on a deal for.