is windows firewall in xp pro with sp2 good enough?

[triiifashions]

I live in the middle of nowhere so wireless invasion is a never and the other firewalls i have tried are causing problems so i was wondering if windows firewall is good enough or do i need somthing better?

 

[Rik]

Well i use it alongside etrust antivirus, etrust pest patrol, and avg antispyware with no problems!!!!

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Have u tried using ZoneAlarm's free firewall? It's pretty good and way better at stopping things than Windows' Firewall. But if it doesn't work properly then Windows Firewall is an only free alternative.

 

[Blakhart]

I would use the built in fw over any other software fw. There are many reasons to use it; stability, speed, resource use, came with the os, and so on.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

The built-in firewall is rubbish. It seldom seems to stop anything. Also, the ZoneAlarm firewall is much more stable, does not slow down the internet connection, uses very few resources and is better than the Windows Firewall in more ways than one. And what do u mean "came with the OS"? Just because something comes with an OS, doesn't mean it's great. Windows Media Player comes with the OS, but most people use other programs to play movies or songs. Internet Explorer also comes with the OS but it's one of the worst browsers ever made.

 

[Blakhart]

I stand by my previous post.

 

[tipstir]

For $39 bucks or less you can make your own hardware firewall NAT/SFI using those cheap belkin wireless router/access point connect, but use it as HW Firewall and disable DHCP and WAP stuff then connect it to a switch. Forget software ones, but (freeware) Peerguardian 2 can be installed on all PCs and if you want to block out bad IPs and ads plus spyware an etc. Use a good Anti Virus program then you'll be okay.

Programs also good are Ad Muncher (not for free though, popup cop)

XP Pro SP2 firewall is crap, that should be disabled completely through services.msc

 

[Peddant]

Myself and Jobeard like COMODO FIREWALL

 

[triiifashions]

right on thanks for all the feedback

i have went with sygate firewall and it seems to do the job

all of my stuff(ics and file sharing) is working

i went with that and the avg spyware and the avast virus and all seems well

talk to u all soon