can anyone suggest a easy to use firewall...?
doesnt matter if it does not provide out-bound...
as long as is stealth and protect in-bound traffic... like windows XP firewall...

Have a peek at Filseclab firewall.........

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/filseclab.html

i think is ok... thanks anyway... third party firewall usually provide more protection... i ask for this because my dar dar computer Win2000 do not have a build in firewall... then i am afraid all that allow deny thing will be confusing... i think i will install my Windows XP on her computer...
see... semester end and everyone wants to format their computer....

IPCop

get Gentoo

Linux?

yes

IPCop is Open Source

i dont think can... can it run *.exe installers...? sorry... i dontknow much about Linux...

Linux doesnt use .exe files . however there is a program called Wine that can run .exe files on Linux. a little buggy though

then think cannot... have to use many programs for school...

The firewall in Windows XP SP2 is very easy and not in the way.
But I suspect she might not be an experienced computer user, so it would probably be better to go with a firewall that also blocks outgoing connections (the firewall in XP SP 2 dont do this).

ZoneAlarm is a free (as in beer) firewall that is very popular and I hear good things about it.

It is probably a good thing to install Mozilla Firefox and let her use that for webbrowsing instead of Internet Explorer, to prevent her from getting nasty spyware and adware, etc.

She should definitly have an antivirus software too. AntiVir and avast! are two free (as in beer) antivirus programs.

Another good idea would be to create a separate user account for her, so she dont have administrator privilegies.

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As for Linux, it is never too late to try it.
If you never used it, I suggest a LiveCD, which you just boot the operating system from the CD without have to install anything on the harddrive. A LiveCD is easy too use.
If you have a CD burner you can download one and burn it. Or you can ask a friend todo it for you, or you can buy one online they're very cheap, or even order one for free online.
Ubuntu Linux can be ordered for free at http://shipit.ubuntu.com/

Maybe you'll fall in love?
Linux in great in terms of freedom and security.

a LiveCD is an iso and has to be burned with the "Burn Disc Image to Disc" or something similar. if you just place the iso in the cd, then you wasted a pefectly good cd(unless it's RW).

the LiveCD i use is Slax(KillBill Edition) and im really liking it

yup... she is not a experience computer user... i admit that...
the zonealarm allow and deny thing will drive people crazy... i took a lot of time to get use to zonealarm... and now i loving it... but too bad it uses a lot of system resources... i will look into it to see how...
as for firefox... i doubt so... honestly speaking... i am the only one who uses firefox... all my other friends and relatives uses internet explorer... some even v5... basically... why...? i dont know...
for antivirus... i am going to install my symantec antivirus corporate edition for her... i think is a easier antivirus software to use... straight forward interface... no bloated GUI... well... i have not scan my system for quite sometimes...



maybe i will try it one fine day...

thanks anyway... Eldmannen and Mangix...

Agumon under zone alarm's alerts and logs tab choose off. Then you shouldnt get quite so many pop up boxes. The only ones you will still get are from programs that want to access the internet.

ya... i'm refering to the program alerts... didnt make it clear...

lol they're not annoying. well if you have to accept/block the same programs each time you restart the comp then yes but there's a way around that.