[casa]

I need to install a firewall on my home computer. My OS is Windows XP Home Edition which has a weak firewall, but I either don't know how to use it or need something more robust.

My main need is to keep my kids from downloading videos and music from places like Kazaa and the like. I do sometimes download programs and upgrades to programs I have paid for, so I want to have the ability to control what is downloaded.

I am old to computers but new to this firewall issue, so I don't have a clue as to where to even start. I need a firewall that comes with really good instructions or really good tech support that will walk me through what I need.

I run Norton Anti-Virus and We-Blocker filtering for web surfing, but neither catch the downloads I want to keep out of my house and off of my computer.

I have a few websites I work on so need to be able to upload/download via WS-FTP Pro.

Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[KrUsTy!]

This is a BSD unix site and so we are unlikely to be much help with any Windows software "firewalls". Here is a site that is likely to give you help with your question.

http://www.security-forums.com/

{K}

[elmore]

casa,

Thanks for signing up. We are a BSD oriented forum and our firewall forum is for specific firewall filtering packages that run on BSD. We'll probably be of little use to you. Keep in mind if you're looking at running either OpenBSD, FreeBSD or NetBSD for your firewalling needs then you've come to the right place and we'd be happy to help. Though it sounds to me like you're looking for a solution to put on your windows XP box. Perhaps this forum www.security-forums.com would be a better fit for you.

If you'd like to check out what we're all about please stick around, and check out these Operating systems for your firewalling needs:

www.openbsd.org
www.freebsd.org
www.netbsd.org

Hope that helps you out! :)

[molotov]

Just a note, anything you do will be fairly easily circumvented, if your kids are tech literate. As a high school student who has to deal with filtering software everyday, I can tell you that it will be almost impossible to do, and even once you do it, it will only make things that used to be easy more dificult, esp. if you're new to unix (while all the time not stopping your children). I might suggest teaching your children your reasons to wanting to filter their webaccess, and hopefully they will come to the same conclusion that you have about copyright violation (I assume this is based off fears of legal reprisals.)

To get a system that stops all incoming mp3's or movies, youd have to block/filter irc, kazaa, ftp, http, hotline, and a couple thousand of other protocools, all of which can be tunneled through encryption, bounced around, or the software could just flat out be disabled. It is very hard to do, even with years of experience and practice.

Good luck, I know that although not officially what you were looking for, it will be helpfull none the less.