Firewall in Windows XP

From MIcrosoft:

If you have an America Online broadband Internet connection, you can turn on Internet Connection Firewall following the steps on the Use an Internet Firewall page.

If you have an AOL dial-up Internet connection, it cannot be protected by the Internet Connection Firewall in Windows XP. The firewall does not interfere with the AOL connection. But you cannot configure AOL dial-up connection software in the Network Connections folder on your Windows XP computer, therefore you cannot turn on Internet Connection Firewall for such connections. For help in securing an AOL dial-up Internet connection, you should contact AOL.

Sygate offers an excellent free firewall:

http://smb.sygate.com/

Just another example of the program running the user. C'mon, take 2-3 days off work and uninstall AOL.

if you want to use aol, just use a different firewall with it since win xp's "internet connnection firewall" in not compatible with aol.. i use AOL and the kerio 2.15 firewall.. i have the kerio 2.15 firewall saved on floppy disks so that i can install it before connecting to the internet, after a clean install of win xp..

if you want to use the kerio 2.15 firewall, here is the download:

http://download.kerio.com/dwn/kpf/kerio-pf-2.1.5-en-win.exe

i use "gsplit" to split the file onto two floppy disks..

http://www.gdgsoft.com/download/gsplit.aspx

you need to have a firewall running before reconnecting to the internet after doing a clean reinstall of win xp..

 

Message Edited by redwolfe_98 on 07-15-2004 05:22 PM

redwolfe_98 wrote:

you need to have a firewall running before reconnecting to the internet after doing a clean reinstall of win xp..

There really isn't any reason for the poster to re-install the OS; they just need to grab a firewall. Although your suggestion is a good one.

i did not mean to suggest that they needed to do a clean reistall of win xp, but that they should save a firewall to disks so that it can be instralled before reconnecting to the internet after doing a clean reinstall of win xp, if it ever becomes necessary to do a clean install of xp, especially with AOL since the "internet connection firewall" in not compatible with aol.. (i should have worded my post better)..

Message Edited by redwolfe_98 on 07-15-2004 05:17 PM

Having learned this lesson the hard way(!), I now carry current copies of Sygate Personal Firewall, Grisoft's AVG 6.0, Ad-Aware & Spybot along with other useful utilities on a memory stick which I can load into new or re installations before connecting to the net. I also carry a copy of Microsoft's Windows Security Update CD available FREE in most locations from here. This contains pretty recent updates and service packs for most MS operating systems (along with a firewall - but I've not used this offering) - the user can then update online with the latest security updates.

And with broadband, you really need the security of a NAT router - and they are so cheap now.