Essential security/utility software

My LinkSys cable/DSL router + PC Cillin 2002 works fine for my home network.
HH


"Edward J. Neth" wrote in message
m...

"Steve" wrote in message
...
Hi,

My new system will be arriving shortly and although this question is a
little
on the generic side I'm sure some will have suggestions that I hadn't
thought
of. Basically, I'm polling to see which softwares people use to secure
the
ship and keep it running smoothly. So far, it seems that the following
are
necessaries:

Anti-Virus - seems like Norton's Corporate Edition does the job without
bloating things up

I'd go for Norton or Trend's PC Cillin.


Firewall - not sure which is best here (I'll be subscribing to a cable
modem
service through Adelphia) although I would rather take time to learn how
to
set up a complex yet effective firewall than a simple one that leaves
you
overly vunerable or overly restricted.

It depends on what you want to spend. Don't rely on the low-cost routers
to
have much of an effective firewall - though there are good hardware
firewalls, they cost quite a bit more than a SOHO router - I'm referring
to
the Symantec SOHO Raptors, SonicWalls, WatchGuard, etc.
appliances.

Zone Alarm is as effective a software firewall as you'll find - you don't
need it with one of the true hardware firewalls, but you do with a simple
router-firewall.



Norton Utilities - people seem to say it is good for tuning a system,
especially the defrager, but all the added thingies negate the good it
does.

VCom/Ontrack's System Suite is less intrusive than Norton and its
utilities
just as useful.



Pop-up Stopper and Ad-killer - lots of varieties. I guess the trick is
to
find
the ones that do the job yet don't plant their own scripts/bots.

AdSubtract works well; so does the new Google Toolbar (which is free and
has search features).

I would agree if you're using the firewall feature of PC Cillin 2002/3/4,
but not if you're relying on the Linksys firewall - these are just not
sufficiently secure. They'll block casual attacks, but they're not a
serious level of protection.


"HH" wrote in message
.. .
My LinkSys cable/DSL router + PC Cillin 2002 works fine for my home
network.
HH

In article ,
says...
Kill the Norton utilities it's more trouble than it's worth

Adkiller/AdAware --- Yes

NAV ---- yes

Firewall -- Yes get a router with a firewall built in , much safer and
uses next to no resources

POP-up stopper , don't go on the hacker/pirate or porno sites and
save some money



On Thu, 4 Sep 2003 08:14:08 -0700, Steve wrote:

Hi,

My new system will be arriving shortly and although this question is a little
on the generic side I'm sure some will have suggestions that I hadn't thought
of. Basically, I'm polling to see which softwares people use to secure the
ship and keep it running smoothly. So far, it seems that the following are
necessaries:

Anti-Virus - seems like Norton's Corporate Edition does the job without
bloating things up

Firewall - not sure which is best here (I'll be subscribing to a cable modem
service through Adelphia) although I would rather take time to learn how to
set up a complex yet effective firewall than a simple one that leaves you
overly vunerable or overly restricted.

Norton Utilities - people seem to say it is good for tuning a system,
especially the defrager, but all the added thingies negate the good it does.

Pop-up Stopper and Ad-killer - lots of varieties. I guess the trick is to find
the ones that do the job yet don't plant their own scripts/bots.

If you can add/subtract from this list please feel free and if you have a
favorite hunting ground (online or offline - I'm in southern California) for
this type of software I'd be glad to hear about it.

Thanks very much.


I have had wonderful experiences with Norton Utilities for
many years. Install it and then set ALL the options that
run automatically to off.

Then, when you want to defrag, just use the defrag.

If windows starts acting wierd, as it inevitably does, go
to Win Doctor and run it and let Norton fix everything, or
at least anything you don't understand.

Use Norton to scan your hard drive from time to time.

But NEVER leave any of these processes running - use them
only when you need them and you will be glad to have them.

BTW, I use a Linksys router with NAT and I run Norton
Internet Security - have a cable modem connection. It is
extremely rare that anything pops up on NIS and you
probably can do without a software firewall if you have a
good router.

Louise

Haven't used the firewall in PC Cillin at all. Router only. No problems in 4
years since I got the router.
HH

"Edward J. Neth" wrote in message
m...
I would agree if you're using the firewall feature of PC Cillin 2002/3/4,
but not if you're relying on the Linksys firewall - these are just not
sufficiently secure. They'll block casual attacks, but they're not a
serious level of protection.


"HH" wrote in message
.. .
My LinkSys cable/DSL router + PC Cillin 2002 works fine for my home
network.
HH

Steve wrote in
:

Firewall - not sure which is best here (I'll be subscribing to a cable
modem service through Adelphia) although I would rather take time to
learn how to set up a complex yet effective firewall than a simple one
that leaves you overly vunerable or overly restricted.

ZoneAlarm is free and is very good.

Zone Alarm is exactly the opposite of what he says he wants.

Kerio is the one for you.

Responses in-line

--
Regards,
Hank Arnold

"Steve" wrote in message
...
Hi,

My new system will be arriving shortly and although this question is a
little
on the generic side I'm sure some will have suggestions that I hadn't
thought
of. Basically, I'm polling to see which softwares people use to secure the
ship and keep it running smoothly. So far, it seems that the following are
necessaries:

Anti-Virus - seems like Norton's Corporate Edition does the job without
bloating things up

Not sure why you want Corporate Edition. NAV 2003 or 2004 is fine. I've been
using NAV 2002 and 2003 with no problems that I can detect.


Firewall - not sure which is best here (I'll be subscribing to a cable
modem
service through Adelphia) although I would rather take time to learn how
to
set up a complex yet effective firewall than a simple one that leaves you
overly vunerable or overly restricted.

If you have broadband (cable or DSL), you really want to have a hardware
router. They all provide some kind of hardware firewall. However, many of us
also install a software firewall for added protection. One nice thing is I
get prompted when a program tries to access (or send from) my system. *I*
decide whether it should or not. I found the Sygate firewall to be easy to
install and use and doesn't seem to have a large footprint. They have a free
one for personal use.

Norton Utilities - people seem to say it is good for tuning a system,
especially the defrager, but all the added thingies negate the good it
does.

From what I've seen, I'd stay away from that program. Many people swear by
it, but the frequency of major problems that I've seen is just too high.

Pop-up Stopper and Ad-killer - lots of varieties. I guess the trick is to
find
the ones that do the job yet don't plant their own scripts/bots.

Absolutely. Spy and ad ware are major problems these days. I personally like
Ad Aware, but I have no problems with the others being marketed. I've been
using Popup Stopper from PanicWare and it seems to be very good.

"donut" wrote in message
...
"HH" wrote in
:

Spybots Serarch and Destroy easily betters AdAware.

Wrong. You need both of them. Spyware and ad ware are 2 different things.

donut,

Please explain the differences between Spyware and ad ware you mentioned. I
am interested in them and would like to know the differences before I choose
one of them to download.

Thank you in advance,

Leer

From: Steve
Path:
spln!rex!extra.newsguy.com!lotsanews.com!news-hog.berkeley.edu!ucberkeley!te
thys.csu.net!news.fullerton.edu!not-for-mail
Date: Thu, 4 Sep 2003 08:14:08 -0700
Organization: California State University, Fullerton
///////////
Well, here's my list of recommendations and comments:
The newsgroup (abbreviated as ng) alt.comp.freeware (referred to as acf or
a.c.f.) has several knowledgeable people with excellent suggestions for many
freeware programs. They have recently opened a website with the programs
listed there. Sometimes it may be difficult to get through, but just keep
trying to get to www://pricelessware.org here's the site as google allows:
http://members.dodo.net.au/~frewt/freeware.htm You may want to subscribe to
that ng. The programs at pricelessware.org is free of ads, pop ups (get Pop
Up Stopper) and other nags. My suggestions: AVG (anti-virus program);
Outpost firewall or Kerri; Star Downloader (for faster downloading of
programs and it has resume option if a download should get interrupted); and
a proxy for surfing. An excellent one is Proxomitron. For a browser you
may want to check out Mozilla. For an office suite in lieu of Microsoft's
Office you could check Open Office - These are all excellent free programs
without spyware, nag screens or other junk/trash. Oh yes, to that list add
Ad-Aware and Spy-Bot, and Easy-Cleaner. I would download Ad-Aware and run it
immediately. It is a program that identifies sypware on your computer and
lets you delete it. Spy-Bot is excellent too. I found that Spy-Bot finds
some things that Ad-Adare missed, so I use them both. But go to the
priceless site and you will find an excellent description of the programs
along with a site for downloading them. This url www.pricelessware.org
should get you to the site. HTH.

Helen