Firewall for Win98/Me/2000 that filters incoming only?

It is more important that your sister does not use Outlook Express or Internet Explorer. Use alternatives. If she insists on using the likes of msn messenger/icq/yahoo then make sure the latest version is used. Install a virus scanner, even though it won't know about the virus until after it hits, if at all.

Windows 98 + direct broadband connection + inexperienced user = PC full of viruses, trojans and other malware after a short time. An external firewall in the average home user budget range will make no difference but is better than nothing.

Jason

Tim S wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Incoming is not what you need to filter. It's outgoing.

too advanced. just something similar to XP firewall. must be something i can put on there for a bit of protection instead of wide open... hmm...

If you just want to filter incoming traffic, you might try CHX-I. It's a great packet filter. No app control, so no prompts etc. Will do what the XP firewall does but better. Register for a serial, it's free.

Read the online docs for a basic understanding of it, and download the sample rule set, then modify if necessary for your needs. Pretty straight forward.

in message , wrote Tim S ...

Did you try "Tiny Personal firewall"? The last free version i knew was 2.x; i think newer versions are availble for purchase.

- parv

Tim S wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

I still use BlackIce on my laptop for mobile situations away from my network. One can disable Application Control no pop-ups, turn off the Visible Event Notification the BI Shield won't flash, set the protection level to MAX - stop all unsolicited inbound traffic, and enable logging so one can use VisualIce (free) to view inbound traffic.

I do use IPsec to supplement BI to control outbound but I have not used it to do so.

You're in a tough situation as no matter what you have on the machine, they will find way to be compromised and badly too. :)

You could take IE out of the equation by using Firefox (free) as the default browser so when they click on unknown links they won't be too exposed and only use IE when a Website needs it. You can also use something else other than OE to close that whole too.

Duane :)

parv wrote in news:slrndd704o.tbl.parv snipped-for-privacy@localhost.holy.cow:

You're about three years out of date. ;)

Also, Tiny aka Kerio version 2 would be the last thing I'd recommend for a clueless user. It's powerful, but one needs to know how to write the rules to use it properly.

Sygate Free would be OK from a "clueless user" standpoint, but they'd freak out the first time they saw the "port scan logged" popup. And ticking the "don't show this again" box does not work. Must be a bug.