Wamp on Windows XP or Vista

[6719jason]

Slight boo boo on my part... it was ntdll.dll not nt.dll

[gemini06720]

Slight boo boo on my part... it was ntdll.dll not nt.dll

OK, that is better...

That 'ntdll.dll' file is part of Windows operating system ... and either ZoneAlarm (most likely) or AVG (very unlikely) might be responsable for it 'crashing'... Unless you are running some misbehaving TSR program...

[6719jason]

OK, that is better...

That 'ntdll.dll' file is part of Windows operating system ... and either ZoneAlarm (most likely) or AVG (very unlikely) might be responsable for it 'crashing'... Unless you are running some misbehaving TSR program...

Yeah those are my thoughts also, I am not sure which other free firewall to use :S

As I say, before I downgraded the system to XP and back to Vista, it was running perfectly well

[gemini06720]

Jason, I do not think downgrading from Vista to Windows XP caused the problems - unless you simply installed Windows XP on top of Vista, in which case, yes, you can expect problems, lots and lots of problems...

On my main computers, for the past 7 years (I think, it has been a long time), I have been using what is not called AVG Internet Security Suite 2011 - it is somewhat of a 'heavy' (on the ressources) program suite, but it has served (protected) me well all those years.

On other computers, I have been using quite reliably the free version of Comodo Internet Security

But, if this is your main computer, I strongly suggest that you look for the shareware (as in pay yearly fees) version of some of the Internet security suites...

[geoffp]

Jason, For what it is worth, I used to run ZoneAlarm on a pc a couple of years ago and had nothing but problems with it, I had one hell of a job to get it off of that pc. there was always a bit left on the hard drive.

To be honest Jason,I would not touch ZoneAlarm with a barge pole

[gemini06720]

Geoff, I guess you were one of the numerous person/people having problems with ZoneAlarm...

By the way, Geoff, what is the exact size of a 'barge pole', in both imperial and metric...

[daj]

ZoneAlarm and the nightmare that is Norton/Symantec Security Suite should be eliminated. Just saying!

[mcrossley]

Oooh, don't get me started on Norton

[gemini06720]

Maybe, just maybe we should start a new thread about the 'glory' of all those protection software...

For years I have been wondering why those companies selling computer protection software have been able to create (design) trojan/virus defences even before those new trojan/virus had been publicly released...

[Super-T]

Over the years I must have taken a 100 Nortons out of computers to fix problems and yet the old Norton Utilities were great.
Most computers speed up dramatically once Nortons is removed.

[uncle_bob]

I recommend removing all third party antivirus and firewall programs and just use Microsoft Security Essentials and the built in Windows firewall. And try not to run any services that aren't required.

[b.e.wilson]

I recommend removing all third party antivirus and firewall programs and just use Microsoft Security Essentials and the built in Windows firewall. And try not to run any services that aren't required.

Seconded.

[daj]

I recommend removing all third party antivirus and firewall programs and just use Microsoft Security Essentials and the built in Windows firewall. And try not to run any services that aren't required.

Third!

We have kind of hijacked this thread!! As Terry has said, I too have taken so many copies of Norton off PC's for friends -- it's a wonder Windows has any resources left to run anything given all the nonsense (that's me being polite) that Norton boots up with!

[6719jason]

LOL!

You'll all be pleased to know that.... I'm back up and running! At last! And with something quite surprising in the mix!

This is the current situation:

- Installed and running Apache 2.2.20 Binary as a Service
- Installed and running PHP 5.2.17 Binary (Unzipped to C:\php and configured for the system - recommended over Installer)
- Installed and running MySQL Community Server 5 Binary as a Service
- Comodo Antivirus
- And believe it or not, I could not get despite 2hrs of trying and failing Comodo Firewall to work with Apache...
- So instead I have running.... Zonealarm Free Firewall

They Server is running really well, no complaints over its current speed and load times (For me at least :S)

ApacheStatus.JPG

I think a thread on Firewalls would be very appropriate!

Feel free to check and browse my site to see for yourself its current performance!

Thanks again for all the help and advice

[geoffp]

Glad to hear that you have got it all sorted Jason