(Approx. 705 words)

Moving on to Vista – Part 9
by Neil Stahfest, Librarian, Tacoma Area PC User Group, WA
www.tapcug.org
ncstahfest(at)msn.com

Obtained from APCUG with the author's permission for publication by APCUG member groups.

As I mentioned last month, Vista's Service Pack 3 is out. I didn't see any real changes in my computer after I installed it, most of modifications are supposed to deal with computer security. I have since encountered a problem with my printer.

I don't print too often from my “Vista computer” so the problem wasn't immediately  obvious. When I did try to print some documents they “disappeared” without printing. My
first thought was that I had changed the firewall on my print server and locked out connections from other computers on my home network (I've done that before). No that
wasn't it. After checking and finding that I could transfer files between my computers, I went to the printer section of my control panel. That's where I discovered that Vista wanted a new printer driver installed. I don't remember any problems with the printer when I started using this computer. As I recall, Vista recognized my printer (a fairly new
HP ink jet printer) and it just worked. Anyway, a search of Hewlett Packard's web site didn't reveal a new printer driver. In fact it told me to use the one built into Vista. I turned to the installation CD that came with the printer and reinstalled the printer driver from the CD. It worked and I can print over my home network using a wireless connection again. I have no idea why this happened but at least one other TAPCUG member also
discovered a printer driver problem after installing Vista SP1.

Speaking of security (see paragraph 1), Windows Vista, like Windows XP, comes with a firewall program pre-installed. As all you computer gurus know, a computer firewall is a
hardware or software tool that examines all Internet traffic letting only “safe” traffic into your computer. The firewall for Vista was supposed to scan Internet traffic both entering and leaving your computer. I can hear some of you saying, “If I scan incoming traffic to
be safe, why do I care about outbound traffic?”. Well, incoming traffic is the bigger threat to you. Using pre-defined rules it determines which programs are allowed to use your network connection or which p o r t s c a n b e u s e d f o r communications. If some spyware, Trojans or or malicious “phone home” software slip past your firewall they may allow someone to take remote control of your computer to attack it other computers through your Internet connection (that's why Microsoft is always sending you those security updates). So a firewall that scans outbound traffic attempts to stop this. To make a longer story short, contrary to plans, the ability to check outbound traffic has not been provided with Vista's firewall.

Another shortcoming of Vista's firewall is that it does not create a log of all attempts to contact your computer from a local network or the Internet. This kind of record can
be useful if you suspect a hacker has been visiting your computer in the middle of the night. Actually, there is a way that you can modify Vista's firewall to create a log and examine outbound traffic. The process to set this up is probably more complicated
than most of us would like to deal with so I offer a much easier solution. Turn off Vista's firewall and install a third party firewall program. Do not try to use two or more firewall programs at the same time. They do not play well together. There are a number of
firewall programs that you can purchase as well as some that are free. I've been using the free version of Zone Alarm for many years and I'm satisfied with its protection. It
also creates a log that I can use to examine attempts to connect to my computer. You can find it on the Internet at www.zonealarm.com .

This article has been provided to APCUG by the author solely for publication by APCUG member groups. All other uses require the permission of the author (see e-mail address above).