Scot Finnie is the editor of SecurityPipeline.com, editor at TechWeb.com, and author of ScotsNewsletter.com. He has served as managing editor for Windows Magazine and
editor for several other
computing publications. Catch up with Scot at his newsletter Web site (www.scotsnewsletter.com) or send him feedback at scot@pctoday.com.

Just because I recommend installing a new piece of software, in this case from Microsoft, doesn't mean that the software is perfect. In the first weeks after Windows XP Service Pack 2, several application problems were reported by a variety of sources. And some people had even worse experiences. Most, though, had no serious problems. But when living with the product, there come certain annoyances many of us would like to modify or do away with. This month, I'm offering some tips for making yourself at home with WinXP SP2, and I'll finish off with a heads-up about a great new program everyone should try.


Turn Off Windows Firewall

I've long recommended that anyone with a broadband connection buy an inexpensive broadband router and firewall product. There are several that fill the bill, including models from D-Link (www.dlink.com), Linksys (www.linksys.com), and Netgear (www.netgear.com). (See my Web page for specific model recommendations: www.scotsletter.com/reviews.htm.)

Getting one of these hardware products with four ports creates a nearly instant Windows peer network, which can come in handy even if you have only one computer. Routers and firewalls also give you about as much protection as WinXP SP2's Windows Firewall, and they have the advantage of being extremely convenient. They are the suspenders in the belt-and-suspenders approach to firewall protection.

For the belt part, I recommend that everyone use an inexpensive software firewall, such as Symantec’s Norton Personal Firewall ($49.95; www.symantec.com), Agnitum’s Outpost Firewall Pro (49.95; www.agnitum.com), Sygate’s Personal Firewall Pro ($39.95; www.sygate.com), or Zone Labs’ ZoneAlarm (free; www.zonelabs.com). If you're already running a full-featured software firewall, you should turn off Windows Firewall, which is turned on by default after installation. Two software firewalls running on one computer is one firewall too many.

The very latest versions of most software firewall products know enough to disable Windows Firewall during installation. But many of us are running firewalls that predate WinXP SP2. It's quite possible that if you already had a software firewall installed when you ran WinXP SP2 setup (or allowed Automatic Updates to install it), then there are two firewalls running on your system. Check to make sure that your third-party firewall is running first and then check and turn off Windows Firewall. To do that, open the Windows Firewall Control Panel and put a check mark next to Off (Not Recommended).


 Turn Off Internet Explorer's Pop-Up Blocker

Most of us hate Web browser pop-up windows. In fact, many of us hate them so much that we long ago found solutions we prefer to IE's built-in pop-up blocker, such as Google's Toolbar. If you've got something you like better, you're probably not all that aware of the IE pop-up blocker, which is turned on by default. I recommend turning it off, though. To do that, open the Internet Options Control Panel or choose Internet Options from IE's Tools menu. Click the Privacy tab. At the bottom of the box, remove the check mark beside Block Pop-Ups.


Disable Windows Security Center

Windows Security Center is a new SP2-delivered control panel that monitors your system for three security conditions: up-to-date and running antivirus software, a running software firewall, and whether Microsoft's Automatic Updates feature is turned on to its most aggressive setting. This simple tool is designed to alert you with System Tray icons and pop-up messages when any of those three security areas isn't up to snuff.

WSC (Windows Security Center) doesn't detect every antivirus program and software firewall, and it only detects the most recent versions of most of them. So even though you are fully protected, WSC may indicate that you're not. One solution is to upgrade to the latest version of your security programs. In most cases these upgrades are free, and some—including the update for Symantec's Norton AntiVirus—will come down automatically via the Internet if you run the company's update program. (In the case of Norton AntiVirus, Automatic LiveUpdate only updates antivirus definitions. You have to run LiveUpdate manually in order to check for program updates.)

For more experienced users who fully understand the security situation on their computers—and whose PCs are fully protected—there are two ways to get rid of Windows Security Center’s annoying warning messages. The first is to open the Windows Security Control Panel and click Change The Way Security Center Alerts Me. Remove the check marks beside some or all of the alert options there.

But what if you just want this thing gone (and not using any system resources) from your system? There are two easy ways to do that, both of which you can reverse if you ever change your mind.

1. If you're familiar with the Windows Command Prompt, open it (choose Start and Run, type cmd, and press ENTER). Type these two lines, pressing ENTER after each:

sc stop wscsvc
sc config wscsvc start= demand

(Note the space after the equal sign.)

To reverse these steps, type these two commands and press ENTER after each:

sc start wscsvc
sc config wscsvc start= auto

2. The second method uses a graphical process. Choose Start and Run, type services.msc, and press ENTER. That opens the Services box. On the right side, click any name in the Name column. Press the S key to scroll the list quickly. Double-click Security Center to open its properties page by right-clicking and choosing Properties.

Toward the bottom in the Service Status area, click the Stop button. Open the Startup Type drop-down menu and choose Manual. Click Apply and OK and close the Services window.

To reverse the steps, click Start from the Properties dialog box and choose Automatic from the drop-down menu.


Reconfigure Automatic Updates

P2's installation process browbeats you a bit in an attempt to get you to turn on Automatic Updates. Everyone should have Automatic Updates turned on in WinXP, but there are different “degrees” of On, and I'm not a big fan of the most aggressive one. Unfortunately, if you default to Microsoft’s settings, you get the most insistent setting of Automatic Updates, which downloads and installs crucial Windows patches on a schedule. Changing this setting is easy, however.

Open the new Automatic Updates Control Panel. If you find Turn Off Automatic Updates or Automatic (Recommended) in vogue, you might consider changing to a more appropriate setting.

But before I tell you about that: If you're the type of person who usually ignores pop-up messages from Windows telling you that critical updates are available, then you need the Automatic (Recommended) setting turned on. For everyone else, choose one of the following two options:

For dial-up Internet connections, choose Notify Me But Don't Automatically Download Or Install Them.

For broadband Internet connections, choose Download Updates For Me, But Let Me Choose When To Install Them.

Note that both of these settings may cause you to see a behavior wherein any time you shut down Windows, it pauses to either install or download and install critical updates automatically.


Meet The Mozilla Firefox Browser

Something else is going on right now that bears mention. Over two years in the making, Mozilla's Firefox browser (www.mozilla.org) combines everything most of us need from Internet Explorer with everything we want from it that Microsoft doesn’t provide. In short, this is finally the browser that is worth putting up against Internet Explorer 6.0. And that also means that everyone should give it a whirl. Mozilla is aiming to put the final touch on the first finished 1.0 version of Firefox sometime this fall. (Firefox 0.9, the current version, is the preview of the 1.0 version.)

Firefox is a splinter Mozilla browser that may someday become the primary browser offered by Mozilla.org. You would need a Ph.D. in Mozillaology to have any idea whether or when Firefox might become the only browser that Mozilla produces. That doesn't seem likely any time soon. The code base that became Mozilla 1.4 quite some time ago (the current released version is 1.7.2 with version 1.8 nearing the beta phase) is the new center of the Mozilla browser suite. That code base also underpins Netscape's 7 series of browser suites.

As browsers, Firefox is different than Mozilla. It's much lighter, isn't integrated into a big suite of tools, and has a built-in extension system that allows third-party developers to create useful browser plug-ins. The Firefox installer is under 5MB in size. It's fast and fun to use, and, of course, has a built-in pop-up blocker, tabbed browsing (multiple browser windows within one program instance), automatic importation of IE Favorites, history, settings, cookies, and passwords.

It's easy to give Firefox a try, and it won't disturb your IE installation if you do. Even prerelease versions of this browser are very stable.

by Scot Finnie