# Norton's Firewall - somewhat useless?



## compilerxp (Feb 24, 2002)

I've been recommending firewalls to everyone... period.

I use Norton's Firewall (NPF) on my main machine, Zone Alarm on my other and I recommend Zone Alarm to those who want a free one. (I don't see much point in ZA Pro - but you can still donate for ZA - its up to you)

Anyways - while going through some media files and trying to throw out the SPAM versions, NPF *DID* not do its job for the settings I told it to do.

I told NPF to *NOT* allow Internet Explorer ACCESS the internet. And guess what.... IE was talking to the net downloading pages from places I don't know!

The rules for NPF state that *NO IN and OUT is ALLOWED for IE*. It's check, it says it WON'T do it...

Also, recently - I've noticed some other programs THAT are not supposed to be talking to the NET! I don't allow AUTO updates of anything. I've gotten messages that says "An update is available for ...." things like : Acrobat, Quick Time, Media Player, etc. Which I have NOT given them permission (with NPF) to do so.

So, I launched ZA (Zone Alarm) - I tested its trusty STOP button which KILLS ALL TCP/IP traffic. IE = DEAD.

Then I told ZA that IE has NO access to the net. And when I launched IE - blank page. That is HOW its SUPPOSED to WORK!

Anyone wlse with Norton's Firewall - can you try this out yourself, go to the "internet Access control" and see if it does the same thing to you.

Looks like ZA will be my main Firewall on my machine... One main reason I don't use it, is that its a bit picky about my online gaming.


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## Davey7549 (Feb 28, 2001)

compilerxp
Moving this to the review section so others will benefit by your find and can test it.
Dave


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## michaelb. (Jun 17, 2002)

not surprised at problems with zonealarm had it for 2 years then all of sudden same problem u described. so ive swtiched to 
SYGATE firewall its awesome uses very little resources and nooo screw ups and its freeeeeeee!


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## keyes (Jul 4, 2002)

Right..
Many mags and sites review Sygate as the best.
It also the only one that can effectively resist hacker attempts to disable it with code. 
Nothing is 100%. I'm sure some *** can figure a way, but it
is very resistant.

Did you find the firewall Sygate's easy to configure?

Please reply.


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## joe2cool (Feb 7, 2002)

Hi !! MichaelB seems the problem was Norton not Zonealarm.  

I have used Norton PF but didn't have your problem, I do use Zonealarm now of which I am v happy.


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## Gram123 (Mar 15, 2001)

Just for any of you wishing to try out any of these firewalls:

Zone Alarm: http://www.zonelabs.com/

TPF (Tiny Personal Firewall): http://www.tinysoftware.com/pwall.php

Sygate: http://soho.sygate.com/products/shield_ov.htm

And here's a link page for a variety of firewalls. It seems to be updated relatively frequently...:
http://www.webattack.com/freeware/security/fwfirewall.shtml

Gram


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## pvc9 (Jul 7, 2002)

Thx for the link Gram123.

Was thinking about Sygate and got the link...


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## TonyKlein (Aug 26, 2001)

If you configure NPF/NIS properly you can tweak it so that IE only connects to what you really want to through any particular port you choose, and block everything else.

It may be worth while removing IE from the applications list and starting from scratch.

Also disable Automatic Internet Access.

BTW, I use Look 'n Stop myself, and it's a very capable firewall.

For those considering Sygate, which is fine as well, here's a great site: The Unofficial Sygate Firewall Website


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