Kaspersky Internet Security Firewall vs Windows Vista Firewall

newmark401

Hi, yesterday I bought the latest version (8) of Kaspersky Internet Security (2009). It is working well though I can't enable the firewall in it for some reason. I already have a firewall enabled - it came with my Windows Vista system; Windows Defender is also enabled. Should that be enough, or do I absolutely have to have the Kaspersky firewall? If yes, would that mean disabling the Windows Vista firewall as well as Windows Defender, and uninstalling Kaspersky Internet Security? I have heard that this might not work, and I am by no means an IT expert.

Any advice in layman's terms would be appreciated.

Thanks

Mark

Black Swan

newmark401 wrote: »

Hi, yesterday I bought the latest version (8) of Kaspersky Internet Security (2009). It is working well though I can't enable the firewall in it for some reason.

I'm currently running KIS2009 on Vista and suspect that you used the custom installation and not the standard installation? Then failed to check the firewall for it to be installed?

newmark401 wrote: »

I already have a firewall enabled - it came with my Windows Vista system; Windows Defender is also enabled.

The Vista firewall is an improvement over Windows XP, but not as good as the KIS2009 suite package combined. Although the Vista firewall blocks both incoming and outgoing traffic that was suspect (whereas the Windows XP firewall only blocked incoming suspect traffic), the heuristics feature in KIS2009 may be less effective not using the Kaspersky firewall, as the KIS2009 "learns" your usage patterns, as well as potential attack history, blocking such threats at the firewall.

A point of note... I found KIS2009 running on Vista to be sluggish for the first 2 to 3 days of use immediately following installation, while it was "learning." After the 4th day it became quite fast, especially after using KIS2009's system optimization features, eliminating much of the bloatware pre-installed by MS and the laptop manufacturer. My laptop now runs faster than when first purchased.

newmark401 wrote: »

Should that be enough, or do I absolutely have to have the Kaspersky firewall?

Not absolutely, but recommended that you have systems that are highly compatible in suite combination to optimize security. I do not have a high opinion of Windows firewall, so my bias should be noted. Also, Windows firewall is used by millions more users than Kaspersky, making it a bigger target for hackers/crackers and malware distributors. Also, Kaspersky updates its definitions and patches more frequently than Vista, sometimes hourly, given the hundreds of threats that emerge everyday on the web. MS is a joke when it comes to staying current.

newmark401 wrote: »

If yes, would that mean disabling the Windows Vista firewall as well as Windows Defender, and uninstalling Kaspersky Internet Security? I have heard that this might not work, and I am by no means an IT expert.

It's easy to uncheck the box on Vista's firewall, and it should be disabled if you plan to use Kaspersky's firewall. Running two firewalls on the same laptop or desktop is not recommend, as they can interfere with each other.

There is no need to uninstall Window's Defender that comes with Vista. It's still running in the background on my Vista OS, and does not interfere with KIS2009. Personally, I doubt that Window's Defender has any value if you are already running KIS2009. I have been using Defender and an earlier version of Kaspersky, and always keeping Defender updated, but it has never caught a single piece of malware in over 2 years, while Kaspersky has been busy blocking or capturing them.

There are some security programmes that KIS2009 does not like running at the same time, like Spybot Search & Destroy. When you run a vulnerability check with KIS2009, it will suggest that you uninstall Spybot S&D.

The KIS2009 suite is more complex than the earlier version 7, if you want to optimize it. The documentation for the new KIS2009 I found to be lacking, forcing me to experiment until I learned how to use it more effectively and efficiently. There is an excellent Kaspersky forum that you should visit, where a lot of the answers can be found, or you can post to it and get answers. It's free and useful (the link can be found in the KIS2009 suite).

newmark401

Hi, thanks for the reply. If I want to enable the KIS firewall, should I then disable the Windows Vista firewall and uninstall, then reinstall, the KIS software? Also, how would I reinstall KIS 2009 to ensure that the KIS firewall will be enabled this time?

Regards

Mark

celt2005

Why reinstall ??

disable Vista FW, and enable K2009 FW, should be on K Control Panel options

newmark401

Hi, the Kaspersky firewall looks as if it's enabled, but it also has the "Error, code 80000057" message, so it isn't really enabled. Not too sure what to do as a result because it could be too complicated to fix it (I don't have much IT knowledge).

Mark