newbie looking for good firewall protection

Hello

I am new to these forums, and have had a look around and everyone seems to be well informed, so i thought i would ask a few questions. I am running xp and have a cable connection, which is connected to a router which has a firewall. I also have been using zonealarm but yesterday i found that i had got the java /byte verify virus. I use firefox and AVG yet i still managed to get this virus. I have read a few of the threads from people who have also contracted this virus and whilst i have got rid of it now, im not sure whether i was infected or it was just sitting in my cache. Basically this has scared me, and i am doing a rehaul of my security and would like to hear some opinions on good firewalls to use. If i have to pay for one, i dont mind, but i would like some feedback on some recommended software firewalls. Any opinions are appreciated. thanks

 

Try KPF 2.1.5..Its good and light.
Are you looking for freeware or paid products?

 

Without giving you an advise (that will be one out of thousand) it is maybe a good idea to look around at this site:

http://temerc.com/index.html

 

Thanks for the replies. I am looking for software that is not too complicated to use, but that offers good protection and has an easy to understand manual. I am open to either paying or free products. Any info that you guys can give me would be greatly appreciated. I will have a look at that site, but would also like some first hand advice from products that have been tested. thanks

 

As abhi suggested, Kerio 2.15 is very good, light and free, Netveda, Sygate free, Zone Alarm free are other good ones you can consider.

 

java /byte verify "virus" is just a java class containing an exploit flagged by AVs. Only an unpatched MS Java VM is vulnerable to it; if you are running Sun Java, or if you have the latest patched build 3810 of MS Java, you are not vulnerable to the exploit. A firewall has nothing to do with this exploit, it is downloaded into your Sun Java or MS Java cache. By looking at the location of the file, you can tell where it is being downloaded and just clear that cache {Sun or MS} and you're rid of it. Again, I repeat, this is the job of your AntiVirus, not your firewall, to flag for you. Firewall has nothing to do with downloading malicious java class/exploit into your java cache. Hope that helps.

 

Well said. Couldn't have said it better.