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Which Internet Security Software is good and fast?
Thread poster: MikeTrans
Rolf Keller
Rolf Keller
Germany
Local time: 15:40
English to German
Windows Advanced Firewall Jul 15, 2012

Samuel Murray wrote:

How can I get Windows Advanced Firewall to *ask* me for each new program whether I want to allow it or not?


Unfortunately, you can't do that. But do you need this possibility anyway? Some third-party firewalls offer this possibility, but ...

You could set all actions to "blocked" and then allow - bit by bit - only those actions that you want to happen. That's what I did. Of course this is not a convenient strategy if you want to install/delete several programs per week.

Did you see the advanced settings at "System Control/Management/Windows Firewall with advanced security"? These settings are very fine adjustable.


 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 15:40
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Interactive rule creation in a firewall is crucial Jul 15, 2012

Rolf Keller wrote:
Samuel Murray wrote:
How can I get Windows Advanced Firewall to *ask* me for each new program whether I want to allow it or not?

Unfortunately, you can't do that. But do you need this possibility anyway? ... You could set all actions to "blocked" and then allow - bit by bit - only those actions that you want to happen.


I had thought that that would be a standard feature of any firewall aimed at non-geeks.

If I start my browser for the first time, I expect that it will try to access the internet, so it is easy to identify. The firewall asks me "yes" or "no", and then creates a rule automatically based on my answer. No need for me to fill in the program name, protocol, ports, etc.

However, some other programs may also need access to the internet that I don't know of. An example is the plugin managers that some browsers now run as separate processes. I might give my browser access to the internet, but unless I also give the plugin manager access to the internet, none of my plugins will work (e.g. Youtube, Gmail, etc), and I would have no idea why.

Also, some programs have multiple components running. For example, for my scanner's wireless capability to work, a certain program from the scanner suite needs to access the network. That program is not the scanner program itself, but a separate utility that I would never have guessed otherwise would need network access. I would have spent hours troubleshooting my scanner, trying to figure out why it doesn't work, not realising that I had to give that small, hidden utility access to the network to make it work. Had the firewall been interactive, I would have known about that utility immediately, since it would have tried to access the network, and the firewall would have told me about it, and I would have taken that into account in my troubleshooting.

Some programs automatically update themselves, but you don't always know it. If such a program tries to access the internet, an interactive firewall would tell me, and I would have the ability to decide there and then whether I want that program to update itself or not. It would teach me something about that program that I may not have been aware of. Not all program updates are bad, so I would prefer that I be in control of deciding it, when it becomes an issue.

==

Added: The Windows 7 Firewall Control looks like a nice option for people who want to use the Windows firewall but wants interactivity: http://www.sphinx-soft.com/Vista/index.html


[Edited at 2012-07-15 18:54 GMT]


 
Peter Linton (X)
Peter Linton (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 14:40
Swedish to English
+ ...
Good or fast, not good and fast Jul 15, 2012

MikeTrans wrote:
It's fast, but is it a good security tool ?

Probably not. Security software can be good or fast, but cannot be both good and fast.
An example: Suppose you are very busy translating, and you hire someone to clean your car or your house. You want that person to work quickly, but not so quickly that they do an incomplete job and don't get into all the dark and dirty corners. In short, fast but not at the expense of good.

Which Security Software would you recommend me as for performance and for a non-invasive working mode? I'm looking for a solution which doesn't slowdown my system considerably.

For the record, I use Norton 360, and it certainly meets, even surpasses, your criteria.


 
MikeTrans
MikeTrans
Germany
Local time: 15:40
Italian to German
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TOPIC STARTER
@Peter Linton Jul 15, 2012

Hello Peter,

thank you for responding. I like your funny little example of fast vs. good.

I haven't given more details about it, but with "fast" I mean that the security solution should not interfer too much with normal operations like navigating in the explorer, copying files, handling large databases (important for translators!), unzipping archives etc.

So, I don't care if a good solution takes longer to scan my entire HD, I will anyway tell him to shut
... See more
Hello Peter,

thank you for responding. I like your funny little example of fast vs. good.

I haven't given more details about it, but with "fast" I mean that the security solution should not interfer too much with normal operations like navigating in the explorer, copying files, handling large databases (important for translators!), unzipping archives etc.

So, I don't care if a good solution takes longer to scan my entire HD, I will anyway tell him to shut down the computer once finished, so the scanning speed is not the most important, at least for me.
That's what I mean by saying I want a non-invasive security program.
Norton is also what my computer expert is suggesting me to install (I've just upgraded to 8GB RAM, so of course I also asked him this question).

Thanks,
Mike
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Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 15:40
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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Don't use Windows 7 Firewall Control Jul 23, 2012

Samuel Murray wrote:
Added: The Windows 7 Firewall Control looks like a nice option for people who want to use the Windows firewall but wants interactivity: http://www.sphinx-soft.com/Vista/index.html


For a week or so I used Windows 7 Firewall Control with Windows's built-in firewall, without uninstalling my old firewall. It seemed to work fine, so today I uninstalled my old firewall... and suddenly all my applications were blocked my Windows' firewall. Upon examination it turns out that the only way to get my applications unblocked again is to open up Windows's firewall's outbound service again. Windows 7 Firewall Control seems to think that the apps that should not be blocked (i.e. for which it created rules for me in the Windows firewall) are not blocked, but they are (and those rules are not visible in Windows' firewall settings).

So... it's back to using a REAL firewall for me (probably Comodo or ZoneAlarm).

==

Edited: Actually, don't install ZoneAlaram either. I just installed it, and after rebooting, all my icons on my desktop as well as my taskbar were gone, and I had no way to access anything except for the task manager (alt-ctrl-del), which showed that none of my usual programs were running (unless I asked it to show programs for all users). Two safe mode reboots later got me rid of ZoneAlarm.



[Edited at 2012-07-23 15:20 GMT]


 
Rolf Keller
Rolf Keller
Germany
Local time: 15:40
English to German
Do not install more than one firewall Jul 23, 2012

Samuel Murray wrote:

without uninstalling my old firewall. It seemed to work fine, so today I uninstalled my old firewall


When you de-install a firewall, this firewall has to modify the actual firewall settings. This might fail if this firewall doesn't know anything about other installed firewalls which had done some settings before.

So, never install more than one firewall, anti-virus software, network monitor etc. As you now know, they might interfere.


 
Alexander Somin
Alexander Somin
Local time: 17:40
English to Russian
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SITE LOCALIZER
Avira is bad Oct 10, 2020

My Avira Antivir Pro was useless. Deleted. Microsoft Windows Defender was enough to solve the problems.

 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:40
Member (2008)
Italian to English
None Oct 11, 2020

You don't need it if you run the MacOS, which is inherently secure and doesn't allow anything damaging to run unless you're foolish enough to give it permission. Basically the MacOS checks everything and blocks anything that doesn't comply with its protocols.

Some people install security software on their Macs and then wonder why their computer is running slow. They're usually people who have switched from Windows, and who don't understand.

I bought my first Mac in abou
... See more
You don't need it if you run the MacOS, which is inherently secure and doesn't allow anything damaging to run unless you're foolish enough to give it permission. Basically the MacOS checks everything and blocks anything that doesn't comply with its protocols.

Some people install security software on their Macs and then wonder why their computer is running slow. They're usually people who have switched from Windows, and who don't understand.

I bought my first Mac in about 1994. I have never had a virus of any kind.

I hate Apple now, because of the path it has taken post-Steve Jobs, but before he died he made some fundamental changes to the OS that made it the best, most stable operating system on planet Earth.

Since his death, Apple has become a revenue-generating operation that just tries to rip people off, but no matter how much they tinker with the OS by adding pointless bells and whistles that disable earlier versions (to force you to buy a new computer), they still haven't managed to wreck it (although they will, if they keep doing what they're doing).

BTW isn't it interesting that the antivirus software entrepreneur John McAfee has been indicted for tax evasion? A bit of schadenfreude is always enjoyable....



[Edited at 2020-10-11 15:50 GMT]
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Which Internet Security Software is good and fast?






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