Windows FW and MSE

16 years ago

Hi,

My first attempt to post this apparently failed. (The title came through, but there's no message attached !) Here it is again:

I'm asking this question for a relative who has an HP laptop with XP Pro. At present she uses Avast with Online Armor firewall and Malwarebytes for spyware. I run the actual scans for her and I find that I sometime encounter conflicts between the FW and the AV. Nothing major. Just annoyances. I'm wondering if I should switch her over to MSE. But if I do, since she has XP Pro and not Vista or W7, and, therefore, her computer has the 'old' windows FW, I'm wondering if it will be adequate protection. Does anyone know if XP Pro's FW works well (enough) with MSE to justify my making the change-over for her ?

I also note that MSE 2.0 has been released in beta. It mentions integrating "directly with Windows firewall" and allowing the user to turn it off. What exactly does this mean ? Why would someone want to turn off the Windows FW ?? Can't that be done already in version 1.0 when someone uses MSE with a non-MS firewall ?

Thanks for any comments ! :-)

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Comments (3)

owbist
16 years ago
If you are reasonably happy with Online Armour why do you want to change? It will work alongside MSE. Windows firewalls for XP and before are only one way firewalls, in other words they only protect against incoming threat. They do nothing to prevent any phone home spies or botnets from sending signals out from a computer if it has been compromised already.

As you act as caretaker of the computer you might want to wait for the final version rather than use the beta version. From all I have read it is solid enough. Your concern about the firewall is real but it only asks during the setup if you wish to integrate the firewall with MSE. For most XP users I suspect they would opt out of that part so they can continue using the third party firewall of their choosing.
grandms
16 years ago
I have XP Media Edition and use Avast and Online Armor and have never had any sort of conflict. I have the Avast screensaver set, so that runs my scans automatically. What specific conflicts have you noticed?

I would suggest that she also have SpywareBlaster to help keep malware away in the first place. It just has to be kept updated----no scans to run.
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not2bright
Original Author
16 years ago
Hi,

Thanks for the responses ! :-)

First, my apologies. I'm very neuro-flatulent today. ;-) I need to make two corrections. She uses Avira not Avast. (She had been using Avast and that was causing some trouble, as other users of those two programs noted.) Avira has been working quite well so far.

I think my main issue (and my second correction) is the 'nag factor' associated with Online Armor. (I'm afraid my word "conflict" was a case of me accidentally typing the word that was in the back of my mind thinking about the issues mentioned above between Avast (her former AV) and OA. Sorry for the confusion.... :-( )

Anyway, OA constantly asks me to allow/block things when I'm doing updates, scans, etc. Even when I tick the "trust this program" box I still get asked repeatedly to give my permission for things. It's just the inconvenience of it all. And I assume that 'nag factor' would still be there if I replaced Avira with MSE, so I'd gain nothing. (And as far as third-party firewalls go, I do like OA for her XP computer because it seems to pass leak tests better, in my limited experience. So, until MSE comes out with a FW as part of the software (the two-way kind) -- or until my aunt upgrades to something like Windows 7 that has a better FW -- I guess she may as well stay put with Avira and OA.)

Also, my aunt does have Spywarblaster, so she's covered there. :-)

Windows FW and MSE

Comments (3)

owbist

grandms

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not2bright
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Windows FW and MSE

Comments (3)

owbist

grandms

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not2brightOriginal Author

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not2bright
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