Slow loading with Norton Firewall

just found this interesting relationship
with Norton firewall running on my PC and loading CPF pages……..seems like when my PC is low on resources [ and I'm running 98SE so heck its way too late when i find out I'm low on resources ] …..where was I....oh ya, CPF is slow to load, pages hang, so the other day I got this "……CPF….blocked due to low resources……"

so I figure what the heck can't hurt…….so I switched off my Norton Firewall utility software .....and I found WOW, HOLY SMOKE--- CPF loaded with no sweat and so much faster.....tried different configurations but it came down to that the best results were with Norton firewall turned OFF. [ regardless of resource level ]

SO, thought I would pass this along...wondering when many of us are having problems loading CPF say, try temporary turning off any S/W firewall utility [ if ya got them ] and see if that makes any difference...don't know if this has been discussed but it sure made a difference on this one system I use...as i have 3 other systems configured similar [ although this PC is set up as network server for the other 3 ]

anyhow just thought I'd pass this along…. rob

Software Firewalls are TERRIBLE!

I troubleshoot internet connections from a living. At least 4 times a week I spend an hour trying to get somebody browsing, and it's finally fixed by having them remove Norton or McAfee internet firewall.

If you're on a dialup just keep up to date on windows update, anti-virus (AVG is good and free).

If you're on broadband get a NAT Router/Firewall for heavens sake.

sabby is corect i use a nat type firewall thru my router

I had some success with resource problems - memory - using this with Win98. I still run it with Win2K although I probably don't need it. Not the best out there for sure but it's free and I found that the ability to monitor free RAM and either manually or automatically free up RAM helped immensely with Win98. Nice little icon in the tray....

I can't stand software firewalls. They just get in the way, and all the time. I am using a router, which is a firewall, but is there any other precautions somebody like me should take?

well aaron keep ya router firmware updated and for sure (Ive seen popelle do this)dont run it in dmz zone or forward ports that dont need to be forwarded. dont open atachemnets

i have zone alarm, as well as NAV, AVG, Spybot and Adaware.

how would i change from zone alarm to a "NAT router/firewall"? my system is not terribly slow, but i feel it could run a lot faster if configured differrently.

is it easy to do?
expensive?

what would be a good combo (firewall, antivirus, etc) that would minimize slowdowns (on windows xp)? im really considering a change!

sorry--im a near-computer illiterate!

Bob

Norton programs have always seemed a bit resource-hungry to me, especially if you are using the whole SystemWorks suite. I've never noticed any problems with ZoneAlarm, however.

Antivirus software can also be a drag on speed. My experience is that AVG is faster than either Norton or McAfee. (Don't get me started on how bad McAfee is on Windows 98: slowdowns, glitches, crashes...Grrr.)

Bob- Are you using dial-up or broadband? If you're using broadband, go out and buy a router. You can find a linksys router for less than $40.00 and that will go a long way toward security. It will use NAT (Network Address Translation) to give your PC a private IP address and intercept most of the bad stuff out there. It won't stop outgoing stuff, so if you already have spyware, etc. on tour computer it wont stop that, but if you're clean it should keep it that way. Of course you should also download and install Mozilla Firefox to use as a browser and ditch IE ASAP. Still a good idea to run an antivirus, so keep AVG and make sure to update it at least weekly. You could get rid of Norton though. That might speed things up. As always, common sense goes a long way keeping nasties off your computer.

thanks for the info--i will be looking into the suggestions shortly!

hmm. i "dial up" each time, but the connection is very fast, and i can talk on the phone/send fax while online--with only a single phone line. im on Ameritech's DSL. is that broadband?

Bob

Yep, that's broadband. you will have to do a little extra configuation within the router for DSL, but it's just filling in a little information about your configuration. It spells it out in the instruction booklet. If you have more than one computer, or think you might be getting one, look at a wireless router so you can share the connection through the router without running cables.

Arrggghhh! Telling a novice to get a wireless router.../ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

pedalinbob, be aware that there is a whole different set of security issues with wireless. You can set it up but making the provided security with most wireless routers even halfway secure requires learning some configuration and technical details like MAC addresses for each machine you want to put on the network.

I'm sure people here will be willing to help...and helpful if that's the way you want to go, but be prepared for some work and probably a little frustration too.

The free v. of AVG has an outdated scanning engine that hasn't been updated for awhile. AVG will soon quit offering support and updates for their free version... They now have AVG 7 which isn't free. If you want UP TO DATE av... then Avast! or Antivir are the ones you wanna look at. Multiple weekly updates... And the scanning engine gets updated.... You get quite a few false positives with Antivir because of it's heuristics...so I'd go with Avast!

Wish i could be more helpful. I bought Nortonworks2004..actually the entire suite for $100US dollar and got the $100 dollar rebate and by surprise another $40 dollar rebate on top of that ( go figure - wasn't expecting - not complaining but makes up for all the other unpaid/lost frys' rebates ) ...but i do like the Norton's antivirus and Ghost feature plus all the updates and the firewall on a couple of occasions stopped intruders as i am on a DSL....and that's what I wanted…

am also using an SMC router....and using these does take time setting them up….but what i found curious is not all web sites load slow or does Norton firewall interfere with file downloading all the time…

I'm also using a Linksys dual wireless further down my line and they are a lot easier to set up and are robust for consumer usage....best with a directional external antenna...i run 3 different spam cleaning s/w every 2 months or so .....[ think i have some sort of spam block with the Norton suite that runs in the background…but I seldom get popups ]

every now and then you could download Norton from the UK web site for a 30 day trial period. been a while since i checked....i had good luck using with zone alarm in the past but Norton's rebate deal seemed ok, just took 6 months...!