good enough? XP sp2 'wall & D-Link 'wall router

Basically, I have been reading for hours at forums like this excellent one and reading reviews to determine which firewall to install on my desktop. It is running Windows XP pro SP2. It is a fast computer. I have a cable internet connection.

I have the D-Link DI-604 internet firewall router. It does NAT translation and and can be programmed with various rules. According to reviews, it is pretty good for the home user. I am using the native windows firewall as well. I am pretty safe and shrewd when I surf. I use Opera or Firefox when I surf with Windows, but I try to surf with PCLinoxOS, a live Linux CD, to be safe.

I am wondering if I really need to go any further for the Windows surfing (I do some surfing with windows)? Do I need a 3rd party firewall?

Second question: Is there a guide or tutorial for hardening the windows XP SP2 firewall. If you guys do not think that I need to add a 3rd party 'wall then I would like to make the native one as tough as possible.

I am verbose, sorry, but there are 2 questions in there for which I would really value your opinions and experience.

 

I guess you can best install a free firewall like Netveda. In that way you can control what goes in and out of your system software wise. The router will do the rest but it doesn't do that

 

Hi brjoon1021

... and welcome to Wilders

An often asked question which will always result in varied responses.

Your router will provide good protection against unsolicited inbound connections. It will basically limit communication to that initiated by systems behind it. Software firewalls on systems behind the router are optional, but do allow you to filter what applications on these systems are permitted network access and also for applying other restrictions for users. Many users prefer to use this additional layer of security. You need to assess your requirements keeping in mind all users/systems behind the router. User education, practicing safe hex and following best practices go a long way in reducing risk and keeping your systems secure and healthy.

Windows Firewall Overview & Tips can be found in the Other Firewalls Sticky Posts and if you have any further questions, feel free to ask.

Regards,

CrazyM

 

also u may want to consider a nice front end or gui for it. u can choose either Innovative Firewall Manager or FirePanel XP i dont know how much better they are over the standard sp2 firewall gui but its worth a try. also since teh router would already provide inbound protection consider using lns for application filtering only or SensitiveGuard which someone suggested and someone else reported BSOD.