I need a good free firewall to replace the somewhat poor ZoneAlarm I currently have. When visiting *ahem* pictionary sites, I get all sorts of desktop and favourites links installed, is there a firewall which will prevent this???? Or do I need to configure IE???? (Dont start on open source browsers Smilo......)
It's the security settings within IE that need tweaking.
A firewall, while important for broadband users, isn't going to be the answer. You're suffering from naughty active content. Try increasing the security settings in IE. In Internet options select the security tab. In the 'Internet Zone' set a custom level set to 'medium-high level' with 'Installation of desktop items' set to disable.
If this mucks up general browsing then select 'medium level'with 'Installation of desktop items' set to disabled? It's less secure but should stop most crap.
Oh and swap your browser to Mozilla too :D
QuoteI need a good free firewall to replace the somewhat poor ZoneAlarm I currently have. When visiting *ahem* pictionary sites, I get all sorts of desktop and favourites links installed, is there a firewall which will prevent this???? Or do I need to configure IE???? (Dont start on open source browsers Smilo......)
This is NOTHING to do with your firewall and NOTHING to do with ZoneAlarm.
ZA has its detracters, but I have been using ZA Pro (yeah I liked it so much I chose to pay a registration fee) for about 5 years now and have only ever had one problem with it - the problem was caused by a nasty interaction with an undocumented section of Windows - and it took about a week for an updated version to be released to get around the Redmond nasties.
I'd say that their record is a pretty darn good one. If you want a free firewall then ZA was, is and remains one of the best you can possibly use.
TL. 8)
Sage words from the Leafy One.
ZA is indeed a goliath amongst firewalls. Mainly because it secures your PC more or less 'out of the box'.
The other gret free firewall is Kerio, This is a rules based firewall and requires a written rule for every type of connection. My fairly typical install required me to manually create over 50 rules.
Stick with ZA, it's about the best you'll get for free (and is better than most/all paid for firewalls).
Ok, and decent free virus scannerI'm sure we've had this topic before but I couldn't find it. Any suggestions?
QuoteOk, and decent free virus scannerI'm sure we've had this topic before but I couldn't find it. Any suggestions?
OMG are you living on the street? You can get McAffee for like twenty quid.. Auto updates and Auto upgrades for a year..
NF: Yes
Now, any helpful suggestions for a poor hobo????
AVG from //www.grisoft.com
Not the best but free.
Or there's Avast Anti-Virus (http://www.avast.com/i_idt_153.html)
Also free