I am running Windows 7 Home Premium on a HP all-in-one.
At this time, I have installed MSE, and I think I have Windows firewall enabled.
So, am I good for go, or not?
And while I am here, how can I see that the firewall is on, and that I have anti-virus protection, etc.?
Excellent choice! You're covered and good to go but I would also advice you to have an on-demand scanner just in case. I recommend installing Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware. Run it like a normal program, update it and do a full scan weekly or monthly.
See the flag icon in the system tray? That's the Action Center icon. Click on it. It notifies you if the firewall is off and if anti-virus software is not installed. The equivalent is a flag icon with a red "x" on it. If there are no notifications about firewall, AV or if there is no red "x" on the Action Center tray icon then you have maximum protection.
MSE's tray icon looks like a castle (house) with a flag. If its green with a checkmark then MSE's real-time protection is on and is protecting your PC against viruses and malware. If its red or yellow then it requires user attention.
For Windows Firewall, clickand type "Firewall" without the quotation marks. Under Control Panel, click "Windows Firewall". Now you can check if Windows Firewall is enabled on Public/Private networks.
And, don't forget your common sense as this is crucial. Be alert always when browsing websites.
Keep safe!
You're good as long as you dont make it a point to visit shady sites, click on ads/popups, open suspect email attachments etc. Antiviruses and firewalls can protect us from malware but not from ourselves, so adopt safe surfing habits. On a side note, many of us keep a copy of the free malwarebytes antimalware program, you can download it and run the on-demand scanner from time to time, make sure to update it regularly because the free version does not auto-update.
You can check firewall and antivirus status in the Action Center (previously Security center). Unless you have tweaked the system, you should see a white, wavy flag in the notification area (system tray). Double clicking on ot will reveal all. In any case, if the firewall is off or an AV cannot be found or is outdated, the Action center will throw up a popup to warn you. You can read more about the action center here.
Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows: Windows 7 Feature Focus: Action Center
WHAT ? You mean I can't visit no shady sites?
Just kidding... Thanks for the replies and good info.
I am making copious notes from this web site. A lot of good information here.
Again, many thanks.
You can check your firewall from the outside HERE .Obviously what you'll find there will be the sum of all your Firewalls (software and router)
(haven't found anything good to check from the inside yet)
I use the Windows 7 Firewall and for maintaining "da Rulez" Windows 7 Firewall control
For almost 3 years now so far without any problems before that I had ZA, then Comodo but apparently Windows built in firewall is good enough for me.
-DG
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