[hollywood007]

Just learning to navigate computers

I have Avast and Adware
I have IE 6.0
and the Google tool bar

Is this pretty much all the protection I need?
Does this provide a firewall?
Exactly what is a firewall?
Thanks in advance for you replies

[Gtrplyraj]

I'm assuming you mean Avast and Ad-Aware. Spybot Search & Destroy also wouldn't be a bad program to pick up.

A firewall is your computer's gatekeeper to the internet, its rules decided what packets of information come in and go out of your computer.

If you have Windows XP or Vista then you have a built in software firewall that does an ok job. If you connect to a router than connects to your modem then your router also acts as a hardware firewall. Now why would you need a 3rd party firewall program? Well they allow you to see what programs are trying to sneak information out of your computer which can alert you to spyware, adware, trojans, and other problems. 3rd party software firewalls (and more expensive hardware firewalls) also log any connections they've rejected which also helps you track down security threats.

I suggest ZoneAlarm free edition for a software firewall.

I also suggest you switch to the Firefox browser and install the NoScript and Ad-Block Plus add-ons. This will block the majority of sites that try to install spyware or adware via scripts and ads on webpages.

[hollywood007]

Thanks for the feedback.
It is greatly appreciated.
Can I install these things that you have recommended and keep the avast and Ad-Aware?
Are the installation processes self explanatory?

[Gtrplyraj]

Spybot and Firefox with it's extensions are easy to install. Zone Alarm is a little more complex as it'll pop up a warning message for every program that tries to access the internet. Allow programs that make sense like iTunes, your browser, programs like your antivirus that check for updates etc. If you see any programs you aren't sure about you can always deny them once or deny them all the time.

[sup2a]

yea ZA (ZoneAlarm) is a bit difficult to use at times and if you dont know what your doing you could still get yourself into trouble, if ZA isnt for you COMODO is another good free firewall basically the same thing but some pple prefer one to the other and if i remember correctly ZA interferes with Avast! and the trial....isnt the best...
you should certainly get firefox, its a great little browser with many interesting addons and you can tweak it when you have a bit more experience

oh and as for the ZA popups some system things may come up and they look suspicious sometimes but are really ok

[hollywood007]

Thanks I have already downloaded spybot and ZA.
Can I just uninstall ZA?
I want to keep Avast.
I am going to download firefox next.
Thanks for the feedback

[sup2a]

yea you can, but it SHOULD be fine...well it was with me so just use what you have for now, if it causes YOU a problem, yea u can just remove ZA

[cybertech]

I will close this thread as poster has a new thread here: http://forums.techguy.org/malware-re...ml#post5625377