discovered 'counter.rambler.ru' was somehow attached to MetaQuotes I use to collect fx data in MetaStock, no idea how it got there, un-re-installing MQ got rid of it that got me reviewing firewalls, my free Sygate isn't supported and is anyway years old http://www.matousec.com/projects/windows-personal-firewall-analysis/leak-tests-results.php lists 'Jetico Personal Firewall' as the best, but, with a 71 page manual, I realized I'd left the protection to the software without taking responsibility for optimizing its operation â curses ! will I now, finally, have to read an owner's manual http://www.smokey-services.eu/forum/index.php hosts the Jetico forums at MajorGeeks I found 2 free ' Process Management' tools: KillProcess 2.42 Date: 2007-06-27 http://www.majorgeeks.com/KillProcess_d5140.html Winsonar 2007 XP 7.01.03 2007-02-10 http://www.majorgeeks.com/Winsonar_2007_XP_d1075.html I'm going to load KillProcess first and try it (developed since 2001 although the download quantity is less than Winsonar) â it had better be idiot-proof 'The new and improved jv16 PowerTools is an easy-to-use Windows optimization suite and registry cleaning toolkit containing 21 different tools which allow you to keep your computer running smoothly and error-free.' nice, but 21 tools . . . free firewall test: http://www.majorgeeks.com/Leaktest_d2847.html or from the developer's site: http://www.grc.com/freepopular.htm and: http://www.spywarewarrior.com click: Rogue/Suspect Anti-Spyware
For free firewall, I would suggest using Komodo. It's one of the best supported free firewalls. For paid firewall and overall antivirus/scanner/adware, I would suggest the Outpost Firewall Pro. This is the one I use, and it is really good. Stops just about everything. These are the 2 most highly rated firewalls by independent study of many of the top firewall softwares available.
Stop hacking! Seriously, what people have to realize is that Windows was flawed from the very outset. Programs are protected by security levels, passwords, etc. in Apple machines they are protected by where they are in the ram/hdd... Windows is so seriously flawed that all the protective software is not enough. I had a Windows machine working behind a whitelisted firewall that only allowed connections to what needed for trading, 3 url's, entire rest of the spectrum blocked and with SPI hardware firewalling no way somebody can get in with a spoofed URL... I looked at it and I realized that was the only possible way a Windows machine can be on the internet, it was an epiphany moment. Since then I noticed that IB has a thing, if you have a static ip address, where you can tell their servers to only honor connections from your ip, I'll take that extra step too at some point, then my windows machine will be properly secured... otherwise, forget it. I had Panda firewall running once and was connected to two notorious hacker sites.... I had a rootkit finder software and I discovered that rootkits upon being found would disappear!! The program was just a finder, not a remover, and they would not be there the next scan!! Forget it, it's an illusion that a Windows machine can be secured really.... pure illusion..
meanwhile the rest of the world runs Windows well I'm still with Sygate but learning a bit more HIPS, Sandboxie and virtualization one problem that appears to exist and not just fw sw is Vista; stm programmers would be better off separating sw into two versions, w2k:xp, then a separate Vista version who knows what and why but there seems to be loads of bugs in upgrades reported on the various dedicated forums a minor debate is whether or not to use an av which is where the HIPS and Sandboxie etc come in, since their methods block behaviour rather than identifying a virus/trojan etc from a data- base loaded in the av program avs such as AVG and Avira maybe Avast are defeated by some v/ts and don't prevent the consequences of the v/ts which ends up on the computer http://wiki.castlecops.com/HIPS_FAQ