Small firewall

There probably is no such thing.. Any firewall requires some intelligent interaction with the user. Kerio 2.1.5 is very light and would probably work fine on Win98, but it's not so easy to learn.

Kerio used to be real easy to learn until they went bloatware. Probably the simplest to use now is Zonealarm. Actually, the easiest, enable and forget would be the XP SP2 Firewall.

Kerodo wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@40tude.net:

Not really. Especially if you don't use the "deny all" rule and allow Kerio to query you like ZA and Sygate do.

And really, writing rules for Kerio is not hard. Let's see, I installed Eudora and need to tell Kerio to allow it. I open up Administration, pick a spot among the allowed apps, click "insert" and write the rule in the box. Eudora, allow TCP outgoing only, from this program only (C:\\Eudora \\Eudora.exe) all ports, allow. Apply. Done. What's hard about that?

Now try explaining that to someone who can barely navigate around a Windows system and who doesn't know what TCP or a path to a program, or even what a firewall is. Or who is only JUST familiar to doing File > Save As in Word. I'm dealing with real newbies here. It's easy to say "Oh, just explain it to them", but it's not that easy IRL.

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated!

Cheers, Dave

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I dont know any like XPs for 98 with minimal user intervention.However lots of brand new commercial computers now come preloaded with firewall and antivirus suites , and they are sold to real newbies too.You could try an early version of zonealarm like 2.1.44 (do a google search) which isnt that heavy on resources and is as simple as can be to use.You could probably configure most of it yourself before you sell it.Additionally you could also place some internet shortcuts on the desktop to security sites explaining the function etc of a firewall.Im sure a newbie would appreciate it in the long run. me

Dump Win98 and bundle Knoppix!

Great. Nice to see you bothered reading the rest of the posts on the thread.

I am dealing with newbies here! The only thing these people understand is "Windows", "Word" and "Office". How on earth do you propose I explain to them that they can't have Microsoft Word on their PC because it's not running Windows? Or that the photo software that came with their new scanner won't install, again because it's not running Windows? And don't tell me to use Crossover Office / Wine to run their Windows apps. That's hardly a viable solution.

Dave

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Consider yourself lucky, you have educated users. ;) Most of the users that I end up dealing with think that Windows, Word, and Office are interchangeable names for the same program. :)

I read the posts and understood them. You will never get ever get security with a cheap Windows 98 system run by newbies. You will get plenty of tech support calls when their cheap firewall asks them question after question about what to allow or when their system is full of trojans and viruses let in by IE and OE. As for the rest could someone who buys an obsolete computer and OS really afford legal copies of Office and a new scanner? If they could would a reputable dealer sell them old junk?

Have you ever wondered why you are dealing with newbies?

I don't need 100% secure systems, tho that would be nice. As I said in my original post, something along the lines of the XP firewall would be more than adequate for keeping the worst of the internet out.

Which is why I want something with the ease of use of the XP firewall. And I install Firefox and Thunderbird on these machines. Not had any complaints yet. I also supply anti-virus software, which again, I haven't had any complaints or queries about yet.

Have you taken a look on eBay for Office 97 Pro? It's hardly an expensive piece of software. Anyway, I supply Ability Office on my machines as it's even cheaper and for newbie purposes, just as good. And because I deal in old hardware, I often get hold of old scanners for next to nothing which I can sell on for £5 or £10. And even if they decide to buy new, a scanner is hardly an expensive item. In fact, a few of my customers have gone out and bought brand new multi-function devices.

I hardly sell them "old junk". It might not be cutting edge technology, but for a bit of word processing, email and internet use, the systems I sell do just fine. And that's how I advertise them.

And just what are you implying?

Dave

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