Router? Firewall?

[zachtheterrible]

A friend of mine wants me to do a complete overhaul of their computer because its loaded with viruses and spyware and what not. I told them that I'd do it, but it's just going to happen again because they have high-speed and they're just sittin' there soaking it up whenever the computer is on.

Is there a way to not let in viruses and what not by using a physical piece of hardware like a router or firewall or something? I'm quite inexperienced in the world of broadband internet and I need a little help here so that I can appear smart to my friend :lol:

 

[instruite]

Hi,
Firewall is not a hardware its software which controls the access to the various internet site and it has to be configured as per the requirement.
But I have friends who inspite of having firewalls have viruses on their computers
I use Norton antivirus system and keep it updated and have configured it to check all the files before downloading
And Ocassionally I also get my computer checked with some online virus check facility just to make sure Norton is not lagging behind in terms of viruses definitions and my computer is not having a virus which norton doesnt know
And till date I have not got any virus on my personal Laptop

 

[Someone Electro]

If the ruouter has a firewall(Wich most probobly has)Then i will help if you thurn it on.What the hardware firewall wil do is make your PC invisible in the internet.All of the ports will apear closed.You can laso set it not to respond to a ping wich will look like that IP dosent even exsist.It will only let trough what you reqested from the internet.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

A friend of mine wants me to do a complete overhaul of their computer because its loaded with viruses and spyware and what not. I told them that I'd do it, but it's just going to happen again because they have high-speed and they're just sittin' there soaking it up whenever the computer is on.

Is there a way to not let in viruses and what not by using a physical piece of hardware like a router or firewall or something? I'm quite inexperienced in the world of broadband internet and I need a little help here so that I can appear smart to my friend :lol:

If they are running Windows XP, try downloading the free Anti-Spyware beta from MicroSoft, I've found that's by far the best at both removing spyware and preventing it.

The free anti-virus AVG seems to work well, I've recently recovered a laptop full of virus's and spyware by installing those two programs.

I would recommend a decent router anyway, it's Firewall will help to prevent attacks to some extent, personally I like the Belkin ones, and they also allow you to block specific websites, even just for specific computers.

 

[samcheetah]

in my experience, the best firewall that i have found is Outpost Pro. i personally use Outpost Pro with NOD32 antivirus and i usually dont have much problems with viruses.

but i also recommend that you use a router with built-in firewall. that would be much effective than using a firewall software installed on windows. i cant comment on Anti-Spyware beta from Microsoft because i havent tried it yet. but i have tried ad-aware and spyware doctor and both of them are great. i highly recommend ad-aware.

i hope that helps

 

[dipal_z]

The purpose of firewall is to isolate your computer from the internet. It prevents hackers to take control of your pc and restrict access to sites based on your needs. Thus it’s not really a virus guard.
So even if you have firewall software you will need anti-virus software as well. Any anti-virus software should be kept up-to-date as well by installed new virus definition files. According to me for a single computer only anti-virus software is sufficient to take care of virus attack.

 

[madmikejt12]

it is not advisable to run two firewalls at once as they can interfere with each other.
I use McAfee personal firewall plus, Lavasoft Ad-Aware SE and AVG anti-virus, i find that these all work very wel

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

i cant comment on Anti-Spyware beta from Microsoft because i havent tried it yet. but i have tried ad-aware and spyware doctor and both of them are great. i highly recommend ad-aware.

I've found the Microsoft one far better than Ad-Aware, Spyware Doctor, or Spybot - the Microsoft one clears infections that they don't find. It's a pity it's XP only :cry:

 

[zachtheterrible]

Cool, so I'll get a router with a built-in firewall.

You can laso set it not to respond to a ping wich will look like that IP dosent even exsist.It will only let trough what you reqested from the internet.

Yes, that's what I was hoping a firewall would do electro.

I'm not that worried about viruses. The way that one gets them is through e-mail or going to specific websites, or if another computer finds you (which a router w/ firewall will protect against). I will install those antivirus programs that you recommended though Nigel.

Thanks for the help everybody. Now I can appear smart :lol:

 

[Someone Electro]

My fremd tryed it out with an port scaner and it looked like my mini "LAN" (2 PCs,1 Router and 1 ADSL modem)dosent exsist.

 

[madmikejt12]

I'm not that worried about viruses. The way that one gets them is through e-mail or going to specific websites, or if another computer finds you (which a router w/ firewall will protect against). I will install those antivirus programs that you recommended though Nigel.

im not too bothered about viruses, its spyware thats a pain in the a*!@?, i will try the microsoft anti-spyware Nigel

 

[Phasor]

Also make sure that your friend is using Firefox, and not IE. Since moving to Firefox, my spyware problems have reduced by 99.9%.

 

[Someone Electro]

One of the many resosns im using Firefox.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Talking of Firefox, I've just installed it at home - solely because IE6 won't download files any more?. If you click on a download link, a PDF file, or an attachment on this forum, you get a message 'unable to connect to file'.

It worked fine until the other day, does anyone know how to cure it? - I'm quite happy using Firefox, but it's just annoying!.

 

[Jay.slovak]

Talking of Firefox, I've just installed it at home - solely because IE6 won't download files any more?. If you click on a download link, a PDF file, or an attachment on this forum, you get a message 'unable to connect to file'.

It worked fine until the other day, does anyone know how to cure it? - I'm quite happy using Firefox, but it's just annoying!.

Wow, wasn't that you who told us not to use "exotic" browsers? LOL I just like to see you switched to FireFox too.
I don't know how to use your "problem" because I don't use IE6 anymore.
8)

 

[Agent 009]

Talking of Firefox, I've just installed it at home - solely because IE6 won't download files any more?. If you click on a download link, a PDF file, or an attachment on this forum, you get a message 'unable to connect to file'.

It worked fine until the other day, does anyone know how to cure it? - I'm quite happy using Firefox, but it's just annoying!.

I NEVER use IE... It's full of bugs, slow, insecure, and to make things worst, it's the most spy-targetted browser on the net... Y is it annoying? I find IE MOST annoying... But Firefox? Anyway, I think you're having a connection problem with IE: u could have a low bandwith capacity, and IE, naturally, is packet-hungry, and ur connection is not able to feed it entirely...

 

[Joel Rainville]

Nigel,

Since IE is such an easy target to evildoing software, some spyware fixes can break parts of it. Reinstalling IE would surely fix the problem. Even if you decide to keep using Firefox (and you should!), fixing IE is still worth it, since so much software depends on some IE functionality.

 

[samcheetah]

wow, ive just seen an article that states that firefox is more vulnerable to attacks than IE6

**broken link removed**

interesting, isnt it ?????????

 

[Joel Rainville]

wow, ive just seen an article that states that firefox is more vulnerable to attacks than IE6

**broken link removed**

interesting, isnt it ?????????

Not really.

ZDNet is not a reliable independant news source. They are and have been in bed with Microsoft for a very long while.

Look at the bogus arguments regarding the way they kept count of "published vulnerabilities". This is a pathetic attempt to drag Firefox in the mud.

I like to look at hard facts and real world results. Since switching to Firefox a little over a year ago, I barely get any spyware installed on my computer. Yes, Microsoft has come up with a pretty good Spyware Removal tool, so IE6 users might get less spyware too.

But spyware vulnerability isn't what defines a browser. In my opinion, Firefox is still a superior browser in that it offers an overall better browsing experience. Tabbed browsing just makes sense, and is pretty well implemented in Firefox.

IE6 is not a bad browser, I just happen to like using non-Microsoft software for a change, especially if it has some added value not found in Microsoft products.

---

All Windows users regardless of browser preferences should install a spyware removal tool. Microsoft's solution seems to work pretty well, but there are others, like AdAware and Spybot for example.

Firewalls will protect your computer from some virus and worm attacks. But it's pretty useless when it comes to spyware though, which install themselves mostly through browser exploits, which enter your computer through the front door and go unnoticed because it is part of valid HTTP content/traffic. Some viruses enter by the same door.

So a good antivirus is also needed. I've been using AVG Free Edition, and it seems to be working fine. It's either working great or not working at all, because it hasn't reported any viruses for well over a year now :lol: It did catch a malicious email attachment during its first few weeks on my computer, so I have faith.

To sum it up, whatever you do, protect yourself! :lol:

 

[Jay.slovak]

But spyware vulnerability isn't what defines a browser. In my opinion, Firefox is still a superior browser in that it offers an overall better browsing experience. Tabbed browsing just makes sense, and is pretty well implemented in Firefox.

I absolutely agree with you, I love FireFox...