Windows Defender

[HTM~ZenEye]

This is a good free program from Microsoft. <is that an oxymoron i wonder?></wonder>

Anyway, it has some neat features to it and would complement any protection scheme nicely. Its a pretty good tool for free.

It does however eat up a sizable chunk of system resources at times, more that I'd like for sure. Thats the trade off for all programs of this type though.

and its from Microsoft.... for free.... That IS an oxymoron!

[Freak]

Defender is the upgraded version of the old ms anti-spyware.Works fine if you run a legal copy of windows.About half the people in my little town are running off the same copy xp-pro.lol I like Spybot(anti-spy) and Avast (anti-virus)which are both also free.

[HTM~Par]

AVG, spybot teatimer (for allow/disallow registry changes), ad-aware (for scanning), and good ol xp firewall

[HTM|Minion]

I put clothes-pins on my ethernet cable...so far so good!

[HTM|Lunch_Meat]

AVG, spybot teatimer (for allow/disallow registry changes), ad-aware (for scanning), and good ol xp firewall

Same here

[HTM~Spas]

I put clothes-pins on my ethernet cable...so far so good!

I'm a little more paranoid than Min, as I use clothes-pins on the ethernet cable, and on the cable where it enters the house.

BTW: Maybe somone here could help me install a firewall. I'm not sure how to do it without burning down the whole house.

[HTM~olde_tymer]

I have a modem condom.Works great!

[HTM~ZenEye]

Windows XP comes with a firewall installed after SP2. If you want something a little more robust, try Zone Alarm pro by Zone Labs, or Black Ice Defender. Those two are good but you'll have to $buy$ one of them. Assraker or EyE can help you with installing/configuring a firewall. Minion or Meat might be able to help as well, eh guys? Whats your network security knowledge?

XP's default firewall serves its purpose well, as long as you keep an EyE on it. Poke thru the options in the firewall and make sure you don't have any rogue programs in your exceptions list, and that you are indeed blocking wan side ICMP packets(ping). There is also packet filtering options on your NIC itself, you'll have to know what protocols and/or port #'s you need to allow in/out tho, like TCP port 80(http), and TCP port 110(pop) and so on. Packet filtering combined with windows firewall is quite powerful. Also check the firewall features on your router, you never know, your router might be a gem with all sorts of security features, look for SPI, or statefull packet inspection features. If not get a linksys and check out this post. http://h-townmadness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1038

Any real firewall will have way more features to it but also way more headache to administer. You'll have to know every program, port, and service that has to go out to the internet and set up rules for them. It can get annoying at times, especially if programs use multiple ports or you install a new program. However it does help in tracking down rogue processes on your PC. If ya do want a real one I recommend Zone Alarm pro, its powerful and user friendly. Good luck Skywalker