So what's your opinion on Firewall's?

[garetjax]

When it comes to network security and protecting myself from virus and hack attacks, some people would label me as being paranoid. If one firewall is good, two is better in my opinion. I have been using Norton Antivirus and Norton Firewall coupled with my routers built in firewall for years now. I have never had one instance where my computer's security has been breached or its integrity compromised. Most likely due to the fact that I use Spybot and Ad Aware faithfully at least once a week.

[polobunny]

Originally Posted by gvblake22

That is very true. I've run without a firewall or antivirus of any kind for a long time before and never had a virus. I think I've only had two or three viruses during my entire time learning about and using computers. If you know what you are clicking on, downloading, openening, or running, then 99% of malicious code can be avoided.

Shoo, you cut out my smiley. =P
Really, the only "infections" I get are "infected" tracking cookies. I don't have very religious surfing habits either *cough* but i'm still able to keep my system crap free.

[Jokerswild]

I use SP2 firewall and AVG antivirus. I have a router but I have no idea how the firewall works on one.

[DeanOlicious]

Originally Posted by Jokerswild

I use SP2 firewall and AVG antivirus. I have a router but I have no idea how the firewall works on one.

What type of router do you have Joker? You can look up it's guide on teh googles and activate your firewall, it's really simple, and worth it in my opinion.

I get to work on a lot of the average computer consumers systems, installing cable modems. I can tell you that 95 percent of the problem is user oriented, smart surfers can avoid trouble with or without a router, and dumb surfers don't set up anything beyond Windows Firewall, though if it's turned off they never turn it back on. I hate working on a machine thats loaded with every peice of malware under the sun

[wtcnbrwndo4u]

I've got avast Pro 4.7 and WinXP firewall. I haven't even enabled my router's firewall.

[Mithosphere]

well at first I used the built in software PCcillin, horrible program, then moved to Norton, that slowed my computer way down and didnt really protect against jack, then switched to Windows Antivirus when it was in its beta stage, that worked well for a long time. Finally i switched over to AVG Server Edition 7.1 or some version build like that for half a year and up until my Vaio crashed like 2 times, then wouldnt start at all. So now im back to standard windows firewall and Defender. I think at one point i had three virus programs running and like 3 firewalls too . . .

[One4yu2c]

Originally Posted by Mithosphere

I think at one point i had three virus programs running and like 3 firewalls too . . .

Just as an FYI, it's generally recommended not to run more than one AV program, as they have a tendency to conflict with each other.

[Hitman]

Originally Posted by Jokerswild

I use SP2 firewall and AVG antivirus. I have a router but I have no idea how the firewall works on one.

It just blocks ports. Its effective, but not full (fool) proof. You should use a software firewall in conjunction with your router/firewall.

[Quakindude]

Originally Posted by Panda Man

Also, why didn't you just boot in safe mode and delete the keylogger yourself? You might also want to check my guide in the user reviews section for other suggestions :)

I've read your guide and it's pretty good. You did nice work there.

Once I get any type of infection, I re-image my drive. I lose little, if any thing, from doing so due to regular backups.

It's been a habit of mine ever since the first days of broadband. By doing so, I *know* it's gone and to be quite honest, I can't trust a system that has been infected. I know you can repair it, delete the bad crap, so on and so forth, but I prefer a fresh image of my drive contents. It's a habit I got into back when viruses were coming out so often that the limited A/V software we had at the time couldn't detect "virus-like" activity.

[Hitman]

Originally Posted by Quakindude

I can't trust a system that has been infected.

I agree, a system is never the same after an infection. You never know what you didn't catch.