BleepingComputer.com: what is a good firewall for windows xp?

Always, always, always use Windows XP firewall. Even the basic settings puts you in a far better position than nothing. You can also use Zone Alarm's free version and that's a solid wall without cost. As has been posted, you also need malware and virus protection. I suggest AVG 8.5, includes a link scanner and email scanner, along with Spywareblaster. You should also have Spybot S&D, which has a resident protector that will act as a firewall of sorts to protect system settings and registry changes, etc. and it also scans your PC for known infections and malware, etc. Finally, add to that Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and keep all of these programs updated and you will have yourself a slew of free protection that should keep you pretty safe indeed.

Will AVG install in a windows XP computer? I remember trying to install that program into my computer a very long time ago, but it said it wasn't compatible with Windows XP...

AVG 8.5 supports all editions of Windows XP (including x64). AVG FREE includes link scanner, email scanner and anti-spyware.

http://free.avg.com/

Personally, I found AVG slows down system more compared to other antivirus solutions. But it is a good antivirus

Ohhh! Okay... I see... Which is better to have though? AVG, avast!, or the comodo antivirus? I cant decide which I would prefer to have as my antivirus...

I think AVG 8.5 is the better choice. I have had great success in using their product since version 7 came out. They update definitions frequently and I have actually had it help to successfully clean up my wife's laptop once, which was quite a feat! Their extras (link & email scanner) are great tools to have in a free product also. I haven't had any trouble with it at all.

(You may notice a bias, but it is well founded.)

Hi MoMo27,

I think it's best to stick with Avast right now and get used to using it. People will jump in to topics like this and tell you what they think is best or what they like--but that does not mean you should switch. The most important thing is that you have one antivirus that protects you and one firewall. You can also have one or more anti-spyware/anti-malware--in my opinion those should be used for scanning and removing only, very few of the free anti-spyware/anti-malwares have protection against infection, and the ones that do aren't nearly as good as the protection you get already with your Anti-Virus. This is why I also don't recommend Spybot's TeaTimer.

Just to be clear about this, an anti-virus serves two main purposes.
1. To protect you against infections by running an On Access scanner, also known as Real Time scanner and some other terms.
2. An On Demand scanner that will look for and remove infections that already exist on your computer. It's called on Demand because it scans when you tell it to--at your command.

An On Access scanner protects you by intercepting a file that you or a script is trying to open. It denies access to the file, which means you can't run it. You can have all kinds of bad files on your hard drive but they won't affect you if they aren't running. So with On Access scanners running there really is no need for an anti-virus to have special email scanners. The On Access scanner will intercept bad files from opening and it doesn't matter if it is an email attachment or not.

SuperAntiSpyware and MBAM are all you need as far as anti-spyware/malware. The free versions are good on demand scanners. They may pick up and remove malware that your Antivirus doesn't. But a recent trend is for Anti-virus to include detections for spyware and other malware that they formerly wouldn't include because it didn't fit the strict definition of a virus or trojan. Most of the worst threats out there now can't be pigeon-holed like that now, so your Antivirus will now find the majority of infections, making using multiple anti-spyware/malware apps less important than what they were a few years ago (this is also why you can get by with just your anti-virus On Access scanners--and AVG now finds more than it used to because it integrated the excellent ewido anti-malware scanner).

But some people don't update their advice. I have to say I agree with most of what Quietman says--stick with his recommendations and you can't go wrong. Don't worry about which is best or better for now--there is very little difference in the quality of the three major free AV's with On Access scanners:

1. Avast
2. AntiVir
3. AVG

When you get comfortable using your AV of choice and want to try something else, uninstall it and try the other out--again one AV at a time--and I hope you've uninstalled the Comodo AV now. Personally, I like AntiVir best but wouldn't recommend it for you as it can sometimes have too many false positives.

As far as firewalls, again you should only use one. The windows firewall is better than nothing and there is a good argument to be made that it is under-rated. I personally think Zone Alarm is over-rated. If you do decide to switch firewalls, turn the windows firewall on between times if you are going to be on the net at all.

And one last note. SpywareBlaster is neither an On Access scanner or an On Demand scanner. It doesn't run in the background at all. It simply writes to the registry in such a way that some bad downloads are blocked along with access to some websites and is an excellent addition to your security tools.
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There have been some usage problems with the upgrade to AVG 8.x--it may have been resolved now, but I would still hold off recommending it to a newcomer for the time being. Avast is a good AV.

This post has been edited by Papakid: 17 April 2009 - 12:31 PM

Papakid, thanks for your thoughts and opinion.

MoMo, go with Quietman and Papakid's suggestions here.

I hope I didn't sound authoritative in my suggestions for extra security products, I'm simply giving my thoughts based on what I've had success with for my home computers and for the dozens of clients that I service.

I agree with you though, Windows FW is underrated. I also agree that it's up to each person which AV program they should go with, based on their preference. That's why I just give my biased opinion.

Thanks for your help!!

Wow! Thank you so much for that advice!! That really helps me understand it better. Ill stick with avast then and take off the comodo AV. One more thing to ask... it might be a really stupid question to since Im just a newbie at this, but how do i uninstall the AV without uninstalling the firewall with it? Or do I have to uninstall both... I looked, but cant find how to uninstall just the AV.

Not stupid at all--this site is designed to be here to give newbies answers to just such questions.

I'm in a rush--don't use Comodo so someone else may have some better specific instructions for you, but I believe I read--maybe earlier in this thread, that you have to uninstall all of Comodo and then reinstall and choose not to install the AV during setup.

Ohhh okay!! Thanks for the advice again! Really really appreciate it! I always come here for all my computer troubles! =)

Comodo Internet Security setup allows you to :

- Install the Firewall as a standalone
- Install the AntiVirus as a standalone
- Install both Firewall and AntiVirus

http://personalfirewall.comodo.com/firewall.html

So just uninstall Comodo IS, reboot computer and then reinstall with only Firewall option.

Hi MOmo, see posts 229 and 230

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic3616-225.html

Hey! Thanks for the link! I got the AV uninstalled off of Comodo and now have only avast as my antivirus program.. Thanks for all of your advices everyone! It really helps me understand a bit more about computers now! ^_^

I personally use the Windows native firewall on a Dell gx260 @ 2.4ghz p4 1Gig ram pc3200 win xp pro sp3 Bellsouth dsl with AVG antivirus, Spyware Blaster, Hijack This, Advanced System Care, and Winpatrol.
Never have any problems. At all.