• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
Where premium quality meets exceptional value. ZEISS Conquest HDX.

A couple "firewall" questions e.g. what is one ?? (1 Viewer)

David Smith

Warrington Lancs
My new laptop came with a free anti-virus trial which I chose not to renew with the paid version.
After(BF) advice I downloaded the free AVAST.
Now...........every time I switch on I get a warning telling me that my "Firewall is switched off".
So.................
1) Does the free AVAST have this Firewall ?
2) If not should I download one & if so how ?
3) On my old laptop I had free version of AVG which automatically did a scan
each time I switched on whereas with the AVAST I seem to have to "tell it"
to do a scan..................is this correct or am I missing something ?
Thanks again
 
The free Avast doesn't have a firewall , it wants you to buy their " not free " version of Avast instead .
If you are still on Windows 10 it has a built in firewall ( basic , but ok )

I actually removed Avast from my Windows 10 machine as it was causing problems and am now running Windows security essentials .

An " on demand " scan where you tell it to look is in my eyes much better than something doing it every boot , that's too intrusive . Get a good free malware remover ( like Malwarebytes free for example ) and run it once every few days , that will stand you in better stead .

Ashley
 
The free Avast doesn't have a firewall , it wants you to buy their " not free " version of Avast instead .
If you are still on Windows 10 it has a built in firewall ( basic , but ok )

I actually removed Avast from my Windows 10 machine as it was causing problems and am now running Windows security essentials .

An " on demand " scan where you tell it to look is in my eyes much better than something doing it every boot , that's too intrusive . Get a good free malware remover ( like Malwarebytes free for example ) and run it once every few days , that will stand you in better stead .
Ashley
Thank you for that.
Is a "Malware remover" the same as a firewall or do I need one of those as well ?
BTW.......I just opened AVAST (very brave of me :) ) and it does indeed tell me that I do not have a firewall and it has a button to download one..........which I assume they will want paying for.
 
No, David it's not.

Now... I'm no good with the technology but a firewall sits there quietly and pops up a warning if you try to change an existing programme (like downloading a latest version of your browser, or Adobe etc).

A virus checker checks out things in case you've clicked on something nasty.

Malwarebytes will check your computer looking for things the virus checker has missed, and will also allow you to delete some bits and pieces you don't really need and might be slowing your computer down.

Now, that's as I understand it;). Hopefully someone will put us both straight.
 
Hi David, not familiar with W10 yet but try this...

To turn on Windows Firewall

1.Open Windows Firewall by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking Security, and then clicking Windows Firewall.

2. Click Turn Windows Firewall on or off. ...

3. Click On (recommended), and then click OK.

Dave
 
No, David it's not.

Now... I'm no good with the technology but a firewall sits there quietly and pops up a warning if you try to change an existing programme (like downloading a latest version of your browser, or Adobe etc).

A virus checker checks out things in case you've clicked on something nasty.

Malwarebytes will check your computer looking for things the virus checker has missed, and will also allow you to delete some bits and pieces you don't really need and might be slowing your computer down.

Now, that's as I understand it;). Hopefully someone will put us both straight.
Many thanks............are you busy tonight ? Can you just nip round and give me some help ? :) :) :)
 
Hi David, not familiar with W10 yet but try this...

To turn on Windows Firewall

1.Open Windows Firewall by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking Security, and then clicking Windows Firewall.

2. Click Turn Windows Firewall on or off. ...

3. Click On (recommended), and then click OK.

Dave
Will have a look at that.......many thanks.
One of the "orrible" things about windows 10 is that I don't seem to have a start button and I can't figure out how to get into "programs". It must be there but I am one of those technophobes who is frightened of clicking on things in case it blows up on me :)............but I will try.
 
Will have a look at that.......many thanks.
One of the "orrible" things about windows 10 is that I don't seem to have a start button and I can't figure out how to get into "programs". It must be there but I am one of those technophobes who is frightened of clicking on things in case it blows up on me :)............but I will try.

I haven't dared upload W10 on my laptop yet. But I thought one of the main things on it was that the Start Button had been replaced?
 
Will have a look at that.......many thanks.
One of the "orrible" things about windows 10 is that I don't seem to have a start button and I can't figure out how to get into "programs". It must be there but I am one of those technophobes who is frightened of clicking on things in case it blows up on me :)............but I will try.

another reason why I am still not installing 10.
 
As far as I know the Start button is in the usual place, bottom left corner of screen and is a blue rectangle with 4 white rectangles within it (like the Windows flag). If you RIGHT click on it you should get an option to then click on Control Panel

Dave
 
As far as I know the Start button is in the usual place, bottom left corner of screen and is a blue rectangle with 4 white rectangles within it (like the Windows flag). If you RIGHT click on it you should get an option to then click on Control Panel

Dave
I don't appear to have that................I have a "sort of" box shaped which is divided into 4 smaller ones----this is all white.........no blue on it. If I right click on that I do get lots of what appear to be options such as 'run' 'search' 'file explorer'. Is that it?
 
... try left click then David. Wondering if Dave actually meant that.

That should bring up the sort of options you were used to in W7.
 
Hello again Dave , click on the long box next to the 4 white squares ( it should be saying " ask me anything " ) and type in " control panel " and press enter . Select the top answer that is a desktop app .. This will open the control panel page , at the bottom locate Windows Firewall , from there you can see if it is turned on or not , if necessary turn it on ....

Ashley
 
Of course if you're using your new laptop at home over broadband your router should have a firewall and block any unsolicited incoming requests. Ensure this ine is on.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 9 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top