I do not think Windows Defender includes anti virus protection, the blurb on the download site could be written a little clearer so we would all know for sure. As an anti malware program I think it is great. HOWEVER, as it is fully automatic I feel too many people just let it run and never check to see if it is actually running and scanning, it only takes seconds and once a week or so is not difficult to accomplish.

XP firewall is only a one way firewall, stopping incoming but allowing anything already on your computer to 'phone home' at it's discretion. There are many good 2 way firewalls out there that are totally free and do a great job

I would definitely add one of the good free antivirus programs, I personally use and love AVAST, very easy to configure and use, it is a constant scanner so doing full scans is not really necessary but it does have a great option to have scanning done when the screen saver is active which is what I do.

for the firewall question in general I say add a firewall however if you are behind a router that has a built in hardware firewall the added software firewall is just that added protection definitely a good idea but not nearly as essential as in the cases of those that do not have a router firewall. In those cases with out a doubt you need a good 2 way firewall installed on xp, the windows firewall is not good enough then.

good choices for those would be the free zone alarm making sure not to accept any prechecked toolbars etc and only the free version firewall.

outpost firewall, and Online armor, pc tools

Will AVAST download in a reasonable amount of time with dialup at about 40 kbp?

ravencajun,
I can't figure out the last phrase in your post.

RB

those are the names of some of the free firewalls that are available along with the zone alarm free.

I know of many dial up users that use AVAST and are quite happy with it so I would assume it is able to update fine. I am on high speed so all I can say is it updates very quickly on mine.

I was reading with interest the advise about XP firewall...I used Zone Alarm on my last laptop with XP...I purchased a new one a week ago and now have Vista Prem. What about the Vista firewall..would I be wise to go back to Zone alarm?
Thanks

Fiddledeedee the Vista firewall is a 2 way firewall and totally adequate.

You also have Windows Defender on your computer which is fully automatic. As I noted above an owner should just check every so often to ensure it is still working and doing the daily scans. You might want to adjust the scan start time to an hour when it is likely you will have the computer switched on

Bob, I used Avast when I was still on dialup and it worked just fine.

Thanks owbist... I am glad I don't have to d/l a firewall...Trying to get used to my new laptop so want to keep it simple.."grin"

From Wilders Security Forum:

Quote:
Windows Defender will be discontinued by the end of summer 2009. Current users will continue to get the latest Malware definition files until the end of the summer.
and

Quote:
However: both Windows Defender and Windows LiveOneCare are going to be replaced by "Morro". Maybe better known as Microsoft Security Essentials, this new product (which is going to be freeware!) is going to be a full "free antivirus software created by Microsoft that provides protection against viruses, spyware, rootkits, and trojans for Windows XP, Vista, and 7". Basically it's going to be capable of full system protection, when talking about malware, in the same way other AV supplies do.

Yes I understood a long time ago that Windows Defender and Live One Care were to be replaced with a single program. Being smart MS will certainly advise all of those who update the programs being phased out and point them to the new program download site.

Post should have been in a new thread like an FYI thread I was not directing this at you...

I realised that Zep, I merely responded because MS had spoken about this back in 2008. Certainly not intended as any kind of rebuttal. If the new combined program is anywhere near as good as Windows Defender itself then we should have a serious contender to consider. Any software to help thwart the bad guys has to be welcomed.

I am currently running Microsoft Security Essentials, on my Vista 64X machine and so far all is good. Is anyone else running it ??? I was able to down load the program awhile back.

I actually disabled my windows defender. I manually scan once or twice a week, although the program is set up for auto scan now. I also get regular updates for it from MS ( Those are on auto also ).

Big Al

Just a quick warning: I recently had issues with Avast being on the same computer as Online Armor firewall. This combination didn't give me trouble on another computer, but on one recently reformatted with a brand new XP SP3 OS, they weren't playing nice together. (I found out others have had issues with this combo as well.)

So, I opted to keep Online Armor (as firewalls go, it nags a bit, but I like it ratings for effectiveness) and now use Avira for the anti-virus instead. So far, so good. :-)

Scott

Interesting, Scott. I have Online Armor firewall and Avast on both my computers and have had no problems. Hope I won't because I like both very much.