I need a decent firewall suggestion

I be he said:

Most A/V's are there to tell you when you get infected.

You are absolutely right! Antivirus programs can do no more than to alert you that your computer is infected and then try to remove the Malware if they can.

The next step is the evolution towards prevention rather than simple detection and removal only as AV software performs. Very simply what Sandboxie does is to isolate programs like browsers in a separate space on the HDD and does not allow them to make changes to the computer Registry or file system and any malicious code that the sandboxed browser might be infected with will have no access to the computer either and will be destroyed when the sandbox is deleted or overwritten...



As long as everything that is transferred from the Sandbox to the computer is first scanned with Virus Total or any of many available on-demand virus scanners such as Malwarebytes before it is transferred to the computer then the computer will remain clean without the use of a resident Antivirus program.

~Maxx~

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Most A/V's are there to tell you when you get infected

I don't know where you got this from. My AV programs block the malware - and I have seen that many times. Sandboxie is a nice concept, but for daily fluent operation it is a pain in the neck. I for my part am not prepared to jump thru all these hops for the minuscule chance to prevent an infection.

[QUOTE=whs;1288998]

Most A/V's are there to tell you when you get infected

[QUOTE=whs;1288998]

Sandboxie is a nice concept, but for daily fluent operation it is a pain in the neck. I for my part am not prepared to jump thru all these hops for the minuscule chance to prevent an infection.

If you read carefully you will know that I said...

Maxxwire said:

You are absolutely right! Antivirus programs can do no more than to alert you that your computer is infected and then try to remove the Malware if they can.

Taking the time to learn how to use Sandboxie and set it up to use my browsers in its virtual space was well worth the result of having 2 completely clean computers for the last 2 years and was well worth the effort I put into it for me. I simply can not bring myself to use Antivirus software that cleans up after an infection that it could not prevent. I'm sorry if you do not agree, but I was infected 3 times in less than a year while using Norton 2009 and I have since sworn off using any black list Antivirus program which bases its effectiveness on frequent definitions updates since then.

Sandboxie has kept both of my computers completely clean ever since then and I am willing to take your criticism for wanting to prevent yet another Malware infection and keep my computers totally clean from Malware even though it took a few hours of my time 2 years ago on the friendly Sandboxie forums where the creator of the software Tzuk took some of his own time to help me to learn how to use Sandboxie in order to make this level of total prevention possible on my computers.

~Maxx~

I like the word " kurfuffle " - although I can only guess what it means. And you are right, everybody should do what suits him/her best.

whs said:

And you are right, everybody should do what suits him/her best.

Yes, until they happen to find their computer repeatedly victimized by an inept AV Suite and seek a better and more effective solution.

~Maxx~
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Maxxwire said:

I have since sworn off using any black list Antivirus program which bases its effectiveness on frequent definitions updates since then.

Norton (and others) is more than that these days.

Ok,, some of the information in this thread is just absolutely ridiculous and over paranoia.

1.) Applications like CCLeaner are not phoning home to track your usage. Therefore it IS NOT Spyware.
Prove it otherwise.

2.) No, not everything that does do a phone home for the purpose of checking for an update is considered Spyware. You are trying to change the definition, it's not going to work.

Spyware is software that phones home your usage habits of many things. Which is the sole purpose of Spyware.

Spyware - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

While the term spyware suggests software that secretly monitors the user's computing, the functions of spyware extend well beyond simple monitoring. Spyware programs can collect various types of personal information, such as Internet surfing habits and sites that have been visited, but can also interfere with user control of the computer in other ways, such as installing additional software and redirecting Web browser activity. Spyware is known to change computer settings, resulting in slow connection speeds, different home pages, and/or loss of Internet connection or functionality of other programs. In an attempt to increase the understanding of spyware, a more formal classification of its included software types is provided by the term privacy-invasive software.

No, not everything is a threat. No matter how much someone wants to try and say so, it just plain isn't.

Anti-Virus software primary function is not there to tell you WHEN you get infected.
It's primary purpose is to prevent infection.
Telling you, you are infected is a Secondary function.

There is no software AV or Firewall suite that is going to protect you 100%, not even Sandboxie.

If you are having to use all that just to stay clean for any length of time, you need to change your surfing habits.