Does anyone know the best hardware firewall program for a personal computer?

Question

I have been checking the internet and it can be really confusing. Should I get both soft and hardware? Some sites say stay away from Norton Symantic.

Okay I'm quite new with the internet so I have to ask: What is bloatware?

Answer 1

Hardware firewalls are best and as most people say industrial strength. Software firewalls have come along way since they were introduced. Giving one the ability to grant programs access or not. It's a personal preference really, but beware that hardware firewalls tend to be alot more pricey than the software versions.

Answer 2

Norton is bloatware. Plus, I once had a virus and norton could not delete it. I tried AVG Free Anti Virus and it deleted the virus and the system requirements to run it is so low, I dont know why anyone would use norton, let alone pay for it. Why are u usung ubuntu? It is complete rubbish. Besides, it has a fatal flaw. No cgi-bin directory. Use something that has been tried and tested, like windows. You dont find any faults in it. Why do u think windows is the no.1 software company? If windows was programmed like ubuntu, microsoft would also be a 4th grade software company, instead of no.1

Answer 3

A hardware firewall will remove much of the process-hungry problems and Norton and McAfee.

Some options for personal use:

1. SonicWall
2. SoHo
3. Do you have an old computer with 2 NIC cards? Build your own by installing SmoothWall. It is a free Linux based download.

Answer 4

yeah,what jtb said. but here's a big tip. BEWARE,i repeat,BEWARE of a fake download for viruses called SPYCRUSH or by another name called SPYLOCK. These are NOT anti-virus or spyware removal software. they will give your computer a bad virus. It can be removed,but it takes a long time. just download safely

Answer 5

Free or not?

Norton Internet Security is a good protection program.
I use Norton Internet Security on my desktop running XP Home SP2.
On my laptop i have Ubuntu 7.04. No security needed in Linux, but i have antivirus and firewall.
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Try a online antivirus scanner and a online anti-adware/malware/spyware scanner in safe mode with network to clean up your computer BEFORE you download anything.

To get in safe mode tap F8 when booting you computer.
Choose "Safe mode with network".
Go to Start – Run - type iexplore http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html Enter(ok).
Do a full system scan. If something is found, delete it, reboot and do the same again in safe mode with network.
When that scan does not find anything you reboot again in safe mode with network.
Go to Start – Run – type iexplore http://www.ewido.net/en/ Enter(ok).
Do a full scan. If you find something, delete it, reboot and do the same again in safe mode with network.

**NOTE: Do NOT do anything else with your computer when scanning. This because you can start virus/adware/spyware/malware manually.

When no one of these scanners are showing anything you can reboot back to normal mode.
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Now you need to get a antivirus program, a firewall and some spyware/adware/malware removers if you don't have it.

Here are some free programs.
Antivirus Protection.
BitDefender Anti-Virus Free. http://www.bitdefender.com/PRODUCT-14-en--BitDefender-8-Free-Edition.html
Avast Anti-Virus Free. http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html
AVG Anti-Virus Free. http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/lng/us/tpl/v5
Avast Virus Cleaner - free virus removal tool. http://www.avast.com/eng/avast-virus-cleaner.html

Firewall Protection.
ZoneAlarm Firewall Free. http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/catalog/products/sku_list_za.jsp?dc=34std&ctry=&lang=nb&lid=trial_zaFamily
Easy-to-use firewall blocks hackers and other unknown threats.
* Systematically identifies hackers and blocks access attempts.
Automatically makes your computer invisible to anyone on the Internet.
Use ZoneAlarm if you normally use Windows Firewall.
Disable Windows Firewall after downloading ZoneAlarm if it's not done automatically.

Ad-Aware 2007 Free. http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_aware_free.php
Ad-Aware 2007 Free remains the most popular anti-spyware product for computer users around the world, with nearly one million downloads every week. Our free anti-spyware version provides you with advanced protection against spyware that secretly attaches and takes control of your computer, resulting in aggressive advertising pop-ups, sluggish computer activity, even identity theft through stolen bank details, passwords, and credit card account numbers. If you want real-time scanning capabilities, consider upgrading to Ad-Aware 2007 Plus for real-time protection against spyware, all the time.

SUPERAntiSpyware Free. http://www.superantispyware.com/

AVG Anti-spyware Free. http://free.grisoft.com/doc/20/lng/us/tpl/v5

Spybot-S&D Free. http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirrors/index.html
Spybot - Search & Destroy detects and removes spyware, a relatively new kind of threat not yet covered by common anti-virus applications. spyware silently tracks your surfing behaviour to create a marketing profile for you that is transmitted without your knowledge to the compilers and sold to advertising companies. If you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer that you haven't intentionally installed, if your browser crashes inexplicably, or if your home page has been "hijacked" (or changed without your knowledge), your computer is most probably infected with spyware. Even if you don't see the symptoms, your computer may be infected, because more and more spyware is emerging. Spybot-S&D is free, so there's no harm giving it a try to see if something has invaded your computer.

AVG Anti-Rootkit Free. http://free.grisoft.com/doc/39798/lng/us/tpl/v5
AVG Anti-Rootkit is a powerful tool with state-of-the-art technology for detection and removal of rootkits. rootkits are used to hide the presence of a malicious object like Trojans or keyloggers on your computer. If a threat uses rootkit technology to hide itself it is very hard to find the malware on your PC. AVG Anti-Rootkit gives you the power to find and delete the rootkit and to uncover the threat the rootkit is hiding.

CCleaner free.
CCleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. But the best part is that it's fast and contains NO spyware or adware. http://www.ccleaner.com/

ClearAllHistory - clears browser history, cache, cookies, clipboard and remove other computer activity tracks. http://www.clearallhistory.com/delete-passwords.html

*NOTE: Only have one antivirus program and one firewall installed on your computer.
Anti-adware/malware/spyware are ok to have more of.
Also scan with online scanners sometimes.

Hope this was helpful.
Good luck.
JTB