I understand that xp has a firewall feature. I have used zone alarm for a while with no problems. Which is better, any reason to use one versus the other, etc?
Zonealarm will let you know if a program is trying to get out to the net from your computer - helps to find trojans and such.
I've used the xp; but for a couple of years I've used the zoneAlarm (& now pro); pretty easy to use & solid with the firewall.
Have to agree with Jeremy, I use ZoneAlarm Pro with my new Toshiba Satellite w/ XP and it has worked wonderfully for me as well. Hope that helps! rttrader -
Have to agree with the above. The most important being what TGregg said. That it can alert you to what programs that want to access the internet. Very important IMO, I have it on all of my computers.
I have used ZA for a couple of years without problems. Am currently trading using Esignal and IB's TWS and no problems with ZA. Have used Cyber trader's pro platform in the past also no problems (running Win XP). Also use RT anti virus from E trust (CA sub I think). I like both because they stay current with the latest viruses and attacks and the software auto updates often.
I know of two people that work for MSFT in Redmond, and they advised me to always go with a 3rd party firewall. The MSFT firewalls and A/V software are the easiets one's to crack. Another one you may want to look at is BlackIce, I have had no intruders whatsoever.
I think, I think that the XP firewall has to be enabled prior to use, with that in mind I recently set up a lap top on xp and within 20 seconds of my logging on to the net I got a pop-up instant message. I am guessing this was generated via microsoft instant messenger which was not turned on. Was working on anther computer over the holiday and the same thing happened. I disabled web access of IM with McAfee on one computer and Norton on the other, but the whole experience made me a little leery of Microsoft's security.
Check out Steve Gibson's site to check your firewall is working, also interesting if you want to really go a little bit deeper in to the subject of security but within the lay man's reach.