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views of WIndows SP2 firewall...?

W

Wigwam

Senior member
gonna reinstall and upgrade to SP2 - heard good things about the firewall but wonder if it is as good or better than ZA4.5 [which i am happy with - to avoid flaming on that score please!]

it would be nice [if the SP2 firewall is all it is rumoured to be] to install as little 3rd party stuff as possible
 
The firewall only works for incoming stuff, not outgoing. On the good side, that means in the first few days/weeks of use, you won't have to make nearly as many exceptions as with ZoneAlarm. But if some evil spyware/adware on your PC was sending out a lot of bad outgoing packets, I guess the firewall couldn't stop it. But I'm keepng the Windows Firewall once I go to college (in a week) since I'll no longer have the protection of my NAT router and because despite all the enhancements such as the firewall, SP2 doesn't seem any slower than SP1.
 
Originally posted by: Ionizer86
The firewall only works for incoming stuff, not outgoing. On the good side, that means in the first few days/weeks of use, you won't have to make nearly as many exceptions as with ZoneAlarm. But if some evil spyware/adware on your PC was sending out a lot of bad outgoing packets, I guess the firewall couldn't stop it. But I'm keepng the Windows Firewall once I go to college (in a week) since I'll no longer have the protection of my NAT router and because despite all the enhancements such as the firewall, SP2 doesn't seem any slower than SP1.
Click to expand...

I thought the original XP firewall only blocked incoming, the updated version in SP2 blocks incoming/outgoing..

:Q ?
 
I thought the original XP firewall only blocked incoming, the updated version in SP2 blocks incoming/outgoing..
Click to expand...

No, that's actually not correct. SP2 firewall only blocks incoming.

And yes, I know it will pop up boxes asking if you want to allow a program through the firewall. But those programs that pop up create connections into your machine, and that is what the firewall is asking if you want to allow.
 
I'm ditching my 3rd party firewall for SP2.

It was always a hassle to configure the old firewall but it has all the functionality I really care about now.
 
Originally posted by: Smilin
I'm ditching my 3rd party firewall for SP2.

It was always a hassle to configure the old firewall but it has all the functionality I really care about now.
Click to expand...



Except, now you can't see what programs are outbound... I have a hardware firewall coming in the mail. I'm thinking of getting a software firewall that is just good enough to alert me as to what programs are attempting to access the internet.

Any suggestions on a stripped down free firewall that will do this?
 
I currently have RC2 so I don't know if this is the same way in the official, final release, but 80% of the time I notice that when I use Zone Alarm Pro, somehow my XP firewall gets disabled. I noticed this when I exited ZA and I got a security message saying that my computer is not protected by a firewall anymore and that I should enable the XP firewall. This happened multiple times when I tried closing ZA, even tho I had enabled the XP firewall as well.
 
I turned mine off. I got a message warning me that I had two firewalls running (also had Norton Internet Security) and that running two might be bad, and to only run one.

The popups when you run certain programs isn't a firewall feature, from what I understand its to keep malicous code from running.
 
Originally posted by: STaSh
I thought the original XP firewall only blocked incoming, the updated version in SP2 blocks incoming/outgoing..
Click to expand...

No, that's actually not correct. SP2 firewall only blocks incoming.

And yes, I know it will pop up boxes asking if you want to allow a program through the firewall. But those programs that pop up create connections into your machine, and that is what the firewall is asking if you want to allow.
Click to expand...

Well thanks for clearing that up..

🙂
 
Is there any way to disable Firewall in SP2 at all, I use Sygate FirewallPro, can iI disable o Uninstall Windows Firewall, also How much performance is lost when Using DEP on a P4 3.065 HT & P4 2.4B GHz
 
Originally posted by: gxsaurav
Is there any way to disable Firewall in SP2 at all, I use Sygate FirewallPro, can iI disable o Uninstall Windows Firewall, also How much performance is lost when Using DEP on a P4 3.065 HT & P4 2.4B GHz
Click to expand...

Go to your control panel and then Windows Firewall. Just set it to off.
 
Check out this article on ZDNET. To make it short, it sounds like Zone Alarm works best with SP2 and is much more robust than the Windows Firewall. And it is correct that Windows firewall does not block outbound traffic.
 
Originally posted by: gxsaurav
Is there any way to disable Firewall in SP2 at all, I use Sygate FirewallPro, can iI disable o Uninstall Windows Firewall, also How much performance is lost when Using DEP on a P4 3.065 HT & P4 2.4B GHz
Click to expand...

yes you can disable sp2 firewall.
 
Originally posted by: bluehorizon
Originally posted by: Smilin
I'm ditching my 3rd party firewall for SP2.

It was always a hassle to configure the old firewall but it has all the functionality I really care about now.
Click to expand...



Except, now you can't see what programs are outbound... I have a hardware firewall coming in the mail. I'm thinking of getting a software firewall that is just good enough to alert me as to what programs are attempting to access the internet.

Any suggestions on a stripped down free firewall that will do this?
Click to expand...

Never really had a need to check outbound programs. I had that functionality disabled in my previous 3rd party firewall anyway. I suppose the trick is just to not let that crap on your computer in the first place 😛
 
Originally posted by: Brazen
Check out this article on ZDNET. To make it short, it sounds like Zone Alarm works best with SP2 and is much more robust than the Windows Firewall. And it is correct that Windows firewall does not block outbound traffic.
Click to expand...

that article seemed far too much like a plug for ZA to me [and i like and use it!]
a more balanced report might have been more useful...
 
I remember I installed Zone Alarm on my system and one of its processes was using about 35-45% CPU time when downloading a file at 100k/sec. I got rid of it shortly after. I've been using the Windows XP firewall since the OS was released and its worked fine for me. I'd say its more then adequate for 95% of users out here.

If you already have ZoneAlarm, and dont mind the extra resource usage, and need the extra configuration options, then theres no problem really.
 
Originally posted by: Wigwam
Originally posted by: Brazen
Check out this article on ZDNET. To make it short, it sounds like Zone Alarm works best with SP2 and is much more robust than the Windows Firewall. And it is correct that Windows firewall does not block outbound traffic.
Click to expand...

that article seemed far too much like a plug for ZA to me [and i like and use it!]
a more balanced report might have been more useful...
Click to expand...

Hehe awww come on man, don't you think phrases like, "Microsoft jerry-rigged a connection between the Security Center and most of the popular third party security products " are completely objective? This author obviously was there or has seen the code! I bet some MS programmers were like, "hey paw, luts jerry rig us sumfin". It couldn't have actually had planning, design and design and testing could it??!!??
 
I use the built in firewall, (did before actually). No outbound--well, I try to make sure nothing evil gets in anyway.

:beer: 🙂
 
I tried out zone alarm on SP2.... didn't much like it. Seems much more annoying and intrusive to me than Windows Firewall. I'm kinda under the philosophy of just not getting that stuff on my computer anyway. I have Norton Antivirus, a hardware firewall, and now Windows Firewall and automatic updates... I think that is enough. I don't need a "more robust" (to quote myself) firewall to get in my way.
 
Try running GRC's Shields Up and compare the built-in sp2 firewall and ZA for yourself. Come out from behind the router/hardware firewall first.

I get a perfect "Passed True Stealth" rating with Zone Alarm Pro v5.1, it passed both solicited TCP packets, unsolicited packets tests and the ping reply test...it doesn't "exist" on the internet.

I get a "Failed True Stealth Analysis" with the sp2 firewall, it passed the solicited TCP packets test, but failed the unsolicited packets and ping reply tests.

I'm sticking with ZA, having to check "yes" to let a half dozen or so programs access the internet one time is not a big deal and when I forget to turn off auto update on something ZA lets me know so that I can. I want the outbound peace of mind that I'm in control of the machine and the assurance that I'm adequately protected inbound.

The Windows firewall is convenient for the novice that might not buy a software firewall and therefore, better than his not having one, for everybody.
 
i tend to agree - enough software is constantly tryiing to get online nowadays that i like to know [and block] ones which i dont want to...
 
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