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The third choice, "Run a personal firewall..." is the closest to what I do, but is not quite right. Between my wife and myself, we have two Win2k workstations, a Win2k laptop, a FreeBSD laptop, and a FreeBSD file server/Internet router.
All of the system (except the laptops) have Netgear FX311 network cards, and the server has two; One connected to the Netgear FS108 switch, and one connected to the cable modem.
My firewall ruleset is actually very open, but I do not run any services on the firewall system that can be externally accessed. So, if anyone tries to connect to a port on the external network interface, it will look like the computer isn't even there. From the inside, however, we can do anything we want to.
I find personal firewalls to be a waste of system resources. Most of the IIS-specific virii will blindly attempt to attack any system that is running a web server, in the hope that it's an IIS server. The FreeBSD router simply drops the packets on the floor, instead of filling up a web server log with hack attempts.
Plus, the price was right: My old P-90 computer with 64MB of memory, and a 20GB hard drive make a wonderful mini-server 
--
Paul
"I drank... WHAT?"
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That's similar to what I do at home. I have a P-60 running Linux Router Project from a floppy, that has 2 Ethernet cards - one goes to the DSL modem, the other to my local network. It was a little cumbersome to install, but now it works great.
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I was using a Celeron 433 (256mb RAM) system running Slackware as a gateway/firewall, and not running any servers. With the exception of power outages, I never once re-booted the system after bringing it online. It ran for almost two years straight until I replaced it with a Linksys router/switch (I got tired of listening to it run).
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I reckon the polls should be freeform with user specifiable options relevant to their exact ethnicity, location, job and the colour of the users underwear (there must be a .NET web service in the pipe-line related to Users_Underwear_Colour surely?).
Options can be added and edited at will depending on which side of the bed we got out of that morning.
Also a nice DirextX 3D rotatable chart of the results would be most appreciated, naturally force feedback to the mouse would indicate results of high contetion.
Last but not least an online vegemite despenser can reward pollsters who vote for the right option.
That way we can please all of the people all of the time, well everyone except the poll data gatherers because the statistical side of this idea could be a nightmare.
So you reckon you got some time there huh Chris? Maybe run a poll on my idea *dot, dot, dot*
 
*disclaimer: i just got annoyed seeing that with EVERY poll there were people who wondered why "their" option was not on the list.
regards,
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South Africa
"We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible."
- Chretien Malesherbes
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But I don't wear underwear. 
Michael Martin
Pegasystems Pty Ltd
Australia
martm@pegasystems.com
+61 413-004-018
"Don't belong. Never join. Think for yourself. Peace"
- Victor Stone
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... more info from the book; Things You Did Not Want To Know
Might be a good poll idea actually
"Do you, A: wear underwear, b: wear two day old underwear, c: dont wear underwear, d: wear your girlfriends underwear or e: dont need underwear"
regards,
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South Africa
"We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible."
- Chretien Malesherbes
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Since I thought of the poll question, I'll throw in my 2 cents (or $3 Canadian  ) and say that if you have a separate box in your home acting as a firewall, that's equivalent to using a personal firewall for the purposes of this poll.
I also meant the question to apply to your computers at home, not your work setup where the security is out of your immediate control.
--Mike--
http://home.inreach.com/mdunn/
Trillian: What are you supposed to do with a manically depressed robot?
Marvin: You think you've got problems. What are you supposed to do if you are a manically depressed robot?
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I have no security programs running, but I keep the computers up to date with the latest patches. The company (I DO NOT have a PC at home) firewall blocks all incoming traffic, except the ones that are to the specific IPs and ports for the service that we provide and from firewall authenticated users.
I use Outlook Express and have my security at "Restricted". I think this takes care of most security scenarios. Obviously this is not 100% safe.
But, I was bugged by the Personal Firewall, which kept blocking me out within my network. I develop client-server apps that rely on socket communications.
modified 29-Aug-18 21:01pm.
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There should have been one more choice between
"I run a personal firewall and/or an anti-virus scanner, which protect me from most security threats."
and
"I'm totally obsessed. I run multiple layers of protection and check Microsoft's site every day for new patches."
I hate personal firewalls, they keep bugging me about everything, but i'm not totally obsessed...
I have a ADSL connection and my workstation at home is *never* turned off. But between my LAN and my ADSL is a GnatBox Lite firewall, running on an old pentium 100 with 32MB Ram, and it works perfectly
Me and a friend is doing some development together in the evenings, where we have a VPN between our GnatBox'es, this is really great. I could not get all the same features from a personal firewall
- Anders
Money talks, but all mine ever says is "Goodbye!"
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... and also eat a lot. This is the best protection against all sorts of viruses
I vote pro drink ![Beer | [beer]](https://codeproject.global.ssl.fastly.net/script/Forums/Images/beer.gif)
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my dad, bless his soul, does the same and catches a mild cold maybe once every three years. The doctors tell him "slim down, don't eat so much, be careful, do some exercise". He also enjoys his life and gets to eat things which actually taste good, like burgers, steaks, pasta etc.
my uncle, bless his soul, is a fitness nut. He runs marathons, plays sport every weekend, runs every day. He eats only health food, hating every mouthful, never drinks and makes sure everything revolves around stayin fit.
He gets sick about four times a year and not just a tame cold either. He had a heart attack last year. The doctors all say "great man, real example of what to do".
Now, to all fitness nuts, wtf are you guys on about? The next time someone says I should replace my juicy burger with a tofu-yogi-juiced-wheat-grassed egg nog surprise is going to be shown a picture of my uncles chest with those massive staples down the middle from the heart attack surgery.
I say eat what you want, drink what you want, exercise how you want and enjoy life
*I use the term nut or nutters because it does apply. "fitness advocate" just does not quite do it. Plus most fitness nuts I know swear by all sorts of herbal recipes filled with strange nuts from outer mongolia and timbuktu
but of course, I digress from the topic...
regards,
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South Africa
"We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible."
- Chretien Malesherbes
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... he must be a smart man. Anyway, doctors know nothing. 10 years ago honey was considered the healthiest food in the world. Now, they forbid pregnant women to even taste it. 
Anyway, I still think beer is better than the firewalls.
I vote pro drink
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"I say eat what you want, drink what you want, exercise how you want and enjoy life "
... if you can.;P
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Well, if I had a choice I would have choosen.
I watch for news reports and only check my security when a new virus is made and check Microsoft's site every day for new patches.
I am already behind a firewall (never asked what software/hardware) that does it work and protects the corporate network.
Farhan Noor Qureshi
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I use ZoneAlarm Pro and Norton Anti-Virus. Both seem to do the job very well.
Michael
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I use Norton Anti-Virus too...
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So am I - Norton... May be it has sense to add new poll - the most popular personal defending software ?
Regards,
Gennady
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Every anti-virus program I've used has made my system unstable. I don't do warez and I don't open attachements, and the only virus I've had on my system is RealPlayer (don't get me started), and that's my own stupid fault for installing it.
Christian
As I learn the innermost secrets of the around me, they reward me in many ways to keep quiet.
Men with pierced ears are better prepared for marriage. They've experienced pain and bought Jewellery.
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>the only virus I've had on my system is RealPlayer (don't get me started),
>and that's my own stupid fault for installing
Glad to know that I'm not the only one with a bad experience with RealPlayer. It took me weeks to get it fully out of my system.
Michael
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I love the way the install program tries to trick you and then the program itself tries to 'warn' you, that RP is not your default player for mp3/wav/etc. Or the struggle you have to even FIND the free player on their site. I hate RP, I hate everyone who wrote RP, and I especially hate their web monkey and the guy who wrote the installer.
Christian
As I learn the innermost secrets of the around me, they reward me in many ways to keep quiet.
Men with pierced ears are better prepared for marriage. They've experienced pain and bought Jewellery.
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What I hate most if when I goto sites and find that to play their video/audio they only offer RealPlayer. Hopefully Microsoft will kill off RealPlayer just as they have done with Netscape.
Michael
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RealPlayer blows, the video codec sucks, the player is slow, the installation of so much filth is downright annoying.
Of course, WiMP also blows. Most professionals use QuickTime.
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I'm just curious whether you've tried the free one from www.Grisoft.com. It's the only anti-virus program I've used which hasn't made my system unstable.
John
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Well I thought RealPlayer was bad until I installed Go!Zilla. Man not only is that programme a pain to uninstall but holly crap does it come with fifty mini programmes that all sit there tracking your movements, displaying adverts, updating Go!Zilla's announcements.. and on and on and on.
Also the whole interface is shocking, I wish it would take a hint from the dinosaurs and die.
Otherwise Norton is not too bad, as long as you keep it on a short leash and don't put all the options on then your system stays fine.
As for people who get viruses all the time... wake up and listen to Christian. All those Warez sites filled with porn will give you infections and email attachments are as bad as the red light district in Amsterdam.
Play it safe, get protection!
*no, no affiliation with any condom manufactures, promise
regards,
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South Africa
"We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible."
- Chretien Malesherbes
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I've not had Go!Zilla ( I use mIrc for my growing media collection ) but the WORST ever pseudo virus is Bonzai Buddy. Someone here at work is STILL trying to get rid of the last remnants of this thing. It's a blue monkey that wanders your desktop freely, telling bad jokes and generally being more annoying than the @#()$#@() paper clip. He also offers to help you find the best deal on things, in other words he is a self installed spammer that redirects you to his website at random intervals.
Christian
As I learn the innermost secrets of the around me, they reward me in many ways to keep quiet.
Men with pierced ears are better prepared for marriage. They've experienced pain and bought Jewellery.
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