Forcing firewall to load before ethernet

steve_on_lists_at_yahoo.com
Date: 08/18/05 

Date: 18 Aug 2005 09:14:33 -0700

Overview

During brief time at windows startup, it appears
my DSL connection often has no protection. I want
to control startup of software and windows components
to plug this breach.

====================================================
My specs

Win XP Home edition
Norton 2005 AntiVirus & Firewall
NOTE: Windows firewall is disabled (required, I think
       to use Norton)
Software fully updated
External DSL modem connected to PC via ethernet cable
====================================================

When I boot up,

 1. my security software loads automatically.
 2. If I forgot to manually disable my ethernet
    connection before I shut down the last
    time, then my ethernet will also load automatically

Is this a problem?

 I run very little stuff in background, and have very
 few icons in my Windows task bar. There is no
 predictable pattern as to how these icons appear during
 windows startup.

 Based on observations of those icons, it appears
 that on occassion, during windows startup my ethernet
 loads before my firewall and other security
 software load. If so, then for that brief time
 (under 1 minute) my system is potentially
 vulnerable, since the ethernet connects to an external
 DSL modem. Is that a problem?

Problem or not, do you know how to do the following tweak?

  I would like to tweak my boot up / start up routine to force
  my ethernet to either (1) wait until the Norton stuff is
  all loaded or (2) wait some predefined amount of time before
  loading, under the assumption that my security stuff will be
  loaded before then. Anyone have any ideas or can you point
  me to any resources you know contain the answer?

Thanks
Steve

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