Internet Protection

Do you mean protection as in protection against hackers, programs accessing the internet without your knowledge/permission, etc? I recommend ZoneAlarm ( http://www.zonelabs.com ). They have a FREE version that is great, I would not use my cable modem without it.

Another great freebie tool for stopping/removing spyware (programs that secretly trace/report information about you to third-parties via the internet) is Lavasoft's "Ad-aware" ( http://www.lavasoftusa.com/ ). Super yummy.

Virus protection? Another great freebie: Grisoft's "AVG" ( http://www.grisoft.com/ ). Advanced virus protection for free - gotta like that.

I use all three of the above tools, and recommend each of them if you spend any serious time on the internet.

 

I like Zone Alarm as well but beware, we loaded it, (okay I loaded it ) onto my father-in-laws machine which runs on Windows ME and it caused a conflict with the dial-up connection that we could not rectify! It turned out we could not disable the firewall and still get internet connection. No easy way to get it out of the machine either. It just sits there like a parasite!

[ July 14, 2002, 12:29 AM: Message edited by: Clint Kritzer ]

 

Eeek, that sounds a bit nasty. I've never tried ZoneAlarm on a dial-up machine, it was recommended to me when I switched to cable modem because with cable, you're "always online".

 

It IS a good firewall, no doubt and it definitely does its job. We've been very pleased with it on our own machines that run on Windows 98SE. It catches stuff when you have no idea your being hit.

We had a discussion about firewalls some months ago down in the polls forum. You can find it here: http://www.baptistboard.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=39&t=000046&p=

 

Both the firewall and an anonomyzer are available here. http://www.inetprivacy.com/welcome.htm
If you choose to just use the proxy and use a different firewall, make sure you allow the anon. access to the internet! I made that mistake, wasn't thinking.
Also, setting up the anon. isn't for the faint of heart, and if you don't get it right you're going to mess up your computer. You're going to need to make sure you know what you're doing and be able to know how and why you set it up like you did, or you might have a lot of trouble later trying to set up programs and using them, as you'll have to know about dumb things like LAN settings and port #'s and junk.
Anyhow, it's a good thing to have if you for some (hopefully good) reason want to surf the net anonymously.
IHM

 

Beware of of the word free...
but for anti virus this is what I use... AVG from www.grisoft.com It is a free software that you can schedule to scan your computer and emails. If your connection is like mine - 512kbs CABEL MODEM no dialup constant connection - then try his one.

I have scheduled mine to scan at 8.00 am in the morning.. takes about half an hour because of the amount of files to scan. It also updates automatically.

Tony Ford
interface designer
www.rutherglenbaptistchurch.org

[ July 16, 2002, 02:51 AM: Message edited by: Tony Ford ]

 

Were you referring to ZoneAlarm or WinME with this comment?

 

Hey James! New screen name?

I am not very fond of that ME system at all. We once had a conversation about THAT in the polls forum as well: http://www.baptistboard.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=39&t=000045&p=

 

Indeed, we run the free version on my father-in-law's machine. That may very well be the difference.

How's it going, rsr? Hadn't seen you on in a few days!