Some advice please

This is my first post and its looong . Im looking to create 3 setups and after reading countless threads and testing various software, this is what ive decided on so far. All systems backed up using Drive Snapshot and are behind a Router:

On a Vista SP1 Desktop that is used for careless browsing, schoolwork and occasional gaming, i have Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 installed. IE7 is used for browsing (SpywareBlaster and IE7 Pro addon also installed). Both UAC and Windows Defender have been disabled. Runs light, no popup hassles and provides excellent protection.

On a Vista SP1 Laptop used for general day-to-day use, work, banking, gaming and occasional dangerous surfing and p2p, i have Norton Antivirus 2009, Outpost Firewall Pro 2009 (Web Browsing and Antispyware Module removed) and SandboxIE 3.33.12 Beta (Paid). Firefox 3.05 is used for browsing (SpywareBlaster, Adblock Plus and NoScript addon also installed.) UAC and Windows Defender also disabled. Runs very light, no issues so far and provides pretty much bulletproof protection IMO.

Im fairly happy with the above 2 setups and dont really feel i need add to them apart from possibly adding an on-demand scanner like Superantispyware or GMER or something? Any recommendations?

My third setup is the one im undecided on. On a XP SP3 Desktop used for general use, heavy p2p and dangerous surfing, software testing etc, i am currently running Avira Antivir Premium 8.2, FD-ISR 3.31.233 and Defensewall 2.45. This setup also runs very light, has no conflicts and provides excellent protection.

However, im looking to add a firewall to this system and have no idea what to use. Outpost Pro 2009 would be the ideal option as it automatically creates rules and has no impact on browsing or p2p. However, it is conflicting with something on my system at the moment so id prefer to use something else in the meantime.

Ive tried Online Armour 3 Free but wasnt impressed by the constant welcome screen lag. Also tried the latest Comodo but it just disabled internet access completely for some reason. Found Jetico too confusing. Im now looking to try the old Sygate, PCTools Firewall 5 and LooknStop 2.06. Does anyone have any other recommendations? I want something thats light and fairly easy to use. Dont really care for leaktest scores or HIPS features as Defensewall does the job brilliantly. Just want a firewall providing good inbound and outbound protection. Any opinions on my setups and recommendations for a firewall would be greatly appreciated. Cheers

 

Your first 2 setups look to be very solid. Only thing id suggest would be to add something like Returnil to your Vista Desktop just to ensure the users doing schoolwork dont mess anything up . I dont think you need anything on-demand tbh. But for your own peace of mind, just run MBAM or SAS once a week. Regading your firewall problem, why dont use just use the XP firewall and wait for the next defensewall 2.50 release which is supposed to provide the outbound protection you're looking for.

 

System backup - check. Probably the most neglected important step.

If you don't install/uninstall a lot of software, keep UAC installed. Aside from that, you're done.

Same comment as above - it really depends on how intrusive you find UAC once your done configuring the system. My personal take - fewer security apps with Limited User/UAC enabled is a more powerful generic solution.

You're done....., no real need to add anything.

LooknStop is the lightest/most innocuous that I've seen of the currently supported applications, but many folks swear by the old Sygate firewall....

Blue

 

Thanks for the quick replies.

@ TVH Ive played around with Returnil before but it causes more problems and hassles that it would potentially solve in my experience. Decided against anything on-demand, really dont see the need.

@BlueZannetti I personally hate the UAC prompts and find them extremely irritating and so it stays disabled on my laptop. However, i have decided to enable it on the desktop just as an extra safety measure.

And i must agree LooknStop is brilliant. However im having problems with it. I loaded up the enhanced ruleset and added some rules for msn messenger, file sharing, utorrent etc but when i enabled the actual internet filtering module, i lost internet access. Internet access does return when i disable internet filtering, so i believe theres probably a problem with one of the preset rules. Can anyone please help? Otherwise, ill be forced to sadly ditch this and move on to sygate

 

Your setups are to the point and just fine for what you are doing with your computers. If you want to add some on-demand scanners the general consensus on these forums is that SUPERAntiSpyware and MBAM are top notch. As for your last setup, if you are unhappy with OA and Comodo then I would suggest PCTools Firewall 5 which you had been looking at. It offers good protection without much hassle and negligibleperformance impact.

 

I finally managed to fix the blocked internet access issue. Everything is now running perfectly with LooknStop and i reckon my search for a firewall on XP is over . Now i just need some help regarding rules creation. So far, ive added a rule for limewire and msn messenger and both work fine. Now trying to add utorrent rules but although my download speeds are excellent, i am unable to upload and port forwarding isnt working. Can anyone help please?

EDIT: Managed to fix the issue myself.

 

My final setup (for now )

Vista SP1 Laptop (UAC and Windows Defender Disabled)

Norton Antivirus 2009
Outpost Firewall Pro 2009
SandboxIE 3.33 Beta (Paid)
Firefox 3.0.5 (AdblockPlus, NoScript, SpywareBlaster installed)

Vista SP1 Desktop (Windows Defender Disabled)

KIS 2009
Norton UAC Tool
IE 7 (IE7Pro, Spyware Blaster installed)

XP SP3 Desktop

Avira Premium 8.2
LooknStop 2.06p3
Defensewall 2.45
FD-ISR 3.31.233
Firefox 3.0.5 (AdblockPlus, NoScript, SpywareBlaster installed)

Everything backed up with Drive Snapshot (with the free Drive Snap Frontend). Very Light and pretty much bulletproof protection on all sysems with regards to their uses.

Still fairly undecided about the on-demand scanners. Are there any recommended ones that dont require installation apart from gmer or drweb CureIt?

 

I'm using OSS 2009 on a Desktop XP SP2 with no conflict. However, in your case you could also try Rising Firewall and see how it goes for you. Good luck.


Peace.

 

Just a thought. If you are going to do some dangerous surfing I think what you have to worry about is drive-by downloads. In that case why not NIS 2009; and according to cascadia labs NIS 2009 is the security apparatus to protect you from these evolving threats.

Please refer to: http://www.cascadialabs.com/reports/WebThreats09_Full.pdf


Peace.

 

Defensewall provides complete protection against any drive-by downloads, keyloggers, rootkits etc so NIS 2009 is completely unnecessary for me. And thanks for the rising recommendation, but ive decided to stick with looknstop. Its fantastic . Also decided against running anything on-demand.

Thanks for your opinions everyone. Looks like my choices are pretty solid .