I understand Windows 2000 XP Home comes with a firewall. How do you check to see if it's enabled? Thank you, Anne Neighbors ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sven" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Monday, August 18, 2003 6:15 AM Subject: Re: [PCSOFT] The Blaster Virus (Linda Crawford) > Hello Linda, > > Yes, you do "need a personal firewall". It's a common misconception > that firewalls are only for/effective if you have a broadband "always > on" connection. Not so. When you're connected to the Internet, > you're vulnerable. Dial-up connections can, and do, come under hack > attacks. In the blink of an eye, a hacker can access your computer or > spyware (that you may not be aware of) on your computer can > "phone home". > > MailWasher, Ad-aware, Anti-Virus, and similar programs, are > designed for a specific purpose and most perform well, but they ARE > NOT firewalls. I urge you (and everyone) to visit Fred Langa's web > site http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/feb-14-00.htm and read > Don't Fall For The Four Myths Of Online Security. Then go to Steve > Gibson's web site at https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2 and take > advantage of his ShieldsUP!! Services. That should be the only > convincing you need. > > I've used ZoneAlarm (free and Pro version), for years and highly > recommend it http://www.zonealarm.com/. I'm not sure about the > current version, but some previous versions conflicted with AOL and > CompuServe (AOL), which is a story in itself, and for those > unfortunate folks I recommend Sygate Personal Firewall Standard (Free) > http://smb.sygate.com/products/spf_standard.htm. > > Good luck and happy computing... > > Sven Swanson, Sr. > > At 08:18 PM 8/13/2003 -0500, you wrote: > I am not yet on DSL so do I need a personal firewall for my personal > computer? I do hope to be on DSL in a few months and I know I will > need it then. I hear lots of different opinions, so what does this group > say? I immediately downloaded updates for Windows and my anti- > virus software. You are always so helpful. Linda Crawford > > PCSOFT maintains many useful files for download > visit our download web page at: > http://freepctech.com/downloads.shtml > PCSOFT maintains many useful files for download visit our download web page at: http://freepctech.com/downloads.shtml