Geswall, Good and Bad

[trjam]

I really like this software. It doesnt happen often but every now and then one comes along that I really feel comfortable with. Now, that statement applies to me so I understand how others may feel. This isnt a comparision of products but more about what you feel might be lacking in it, what Gentle Security might need to do to continue to improve, what your likes and dislikes are. Just looking for information on how you feel about it. Thanks folks.

[Huupi]

don't know much about it,but from what i'v read it seems to be the ultimate rootkit killer(kernelprotection among others).
Looks interesting.

[subset]

Hi,

I used Geswall free for my web browser a few weeks, just to escape all this Web AV annoyances.

Two things why I turned my back on it:
- My browser was getting slower and slower over time and I read that others had the same problem, but I didn't find a solution.
- But much more important was the idea that came to my mind:
What the hell will happen with all this downloaded files (protected by Geswall) if I ever uninstall Geswall?
This was the main reason to switch to Sandboxie with its 'autodelete sandbox when browser is closed' feature.

My switch to SB had nothing to do with an safety aspect, Geswall did its job well.
It was mainly because Geswall didn't exactly fit my needs.

Cheers

[Henk1956]

I am using it (Pro version) for 33 months now and also feel very comfortable with it.
What I like is that it is easy to configure (much easier than the classical HIPS I used before), provides excellent protection, is quiet (no pop-ups), is light on resources (no slow downs) and tracks downloaded files from the internet (labelling them as untrusted). All of this makes it a perfect companion to me.

There is only one slightly annoying behaviour, which Brian told me would be solved. When an application, for instance notepad, is added to Applications with Security Level set to "Auto-isolation, no pop-ups" the following may occur. Running notepad unisolated and having typed in some text, you may want to use Save As to store your text in a Confidential folder. When moving to this folder, you may encounter a folder containing an untrusted .txt file in which case notepad will be isolated (just because the untrusted.txt file is there, not because notepad is actually trying to read this file). Now, you are no longer able to store the text in the intended Confidential folder, because Geswall will deny notepad access to this folder. (long story, hope you can follow it)

An addition I would like is a simple firewall, so I can drop my current one which makes configuration easier. It should allow me to block all applications all internet access (not LAN access) by default and report to me if any attempts are made by an application to access the internet. When such an attempt is made, I will decice if it should be granted internet access (in which case I will add the app in Applications and create appropriate rules for it) or not (in which case I should be able to make an always deny all internet access rule for this app, such that I don't get any pop-ups for this in the future anymore). Using it this way, I would be assured that no application is accessing the internet unisolated with a minimum number of additional pop-ups from Geswall.

Another addition could be an installation monitor. Something like the Track'n'Reverse feature of Tiny Firewall or Spyberus, which during an installation tracks all changes to your system and assembles these in a report and also allows you to undo all the changes if you don't like them (for instance an unexpected driver has been installed). This monitor should act real time and not be a before and after installation comparison of snapshots (the latter may not show the installation of a rootkit, which would already be hidden if you take the after installation snapshot).

But even without these additions, it remains the best companion in my arsenal of security applications.
I can recommend it to everybody.

[aigle]

It,s mostly good. Only bad that the development is now slow. Not enough market is the reason.

The newer version will have a new engine and I am waiting for that.

[Henk1956]

Question of subset:
What the hell will happen with all this downloaded files (protected by Geswall) if I ever uninstall Geswall?

Answer:
If you use the free version of Geswall, download and install the trial Pro-version.
The Pro version allows you to list all untrusted labelled files in a log.
Now you can right click on any file entry in the log and either label the file as trusted or delete it.
If you are done, just uninstall Geswall.

[aigle]

{QUOTE-> I am using it (Pro version) for 33 months now and also feel very comfortable with it.
What I like is that it is easy to configure (much easier than the classical HIPS I used before), provides excellent protection, is quiet (no pop-ups), is light on resources (no slow downs) and tracks downloaded files from the internet (labelling them as untrusted). All of this makes it a perfect companion to me.

There is only one slightly annoying behaviour, which Brian told me would be solved. When an application, for instance notepad, is added to Applications with Security Level set to "Auto-isolation, no pop-ups" the following may occur. Running notepad unisolated and having typed in some text, you may want to use Save As to store your text in a Confidential folder. When moving to this folder, you may encounter a folder containing an untrusted .txt file in which case notepad will be isolated (just because the untrusted.txt file is there, not because notepad is actually trying to read this file). Now, you are no longer able to store the text in the intended Confidential folder, because Geswall will deny notepad access to this folder. (long story, hope you can follow it)

An addition I would like is a simple firewall, so I can drop my current one which makes configuration easier. It should allow me to block all applications all internet access (not LAN access) by default and report to me if any attempts are made by an application to access the internet. When such an attempt is made, I will decice if it should be granted internet access (in which case I will add the app in Applications and create appropriate rules for it) or not (in which case I should be able to make an always deny all internet access rule for this app, such that I don't get any pop-ups for this in the future anymore). Using it this way, I would be assured that no application is accessing the internet unisolated with a minimum number of additional pop-ups from Geswall.

Another addition could be an installation monitor. Something like the Track'n'Reverse feature of Tiny Firewall or Spyberus, which during an installation tracks all changes to your system and assembles these in a report and also allows you to undo all the changes if you don't like them (for instance an unexpected driver has been installed). This monitor should act real time and not be a before and after installation comparison of snapshots (the latter may not show the installation of a rootkit, which would already be hidden if you take the after installation snapshot).

But even without these additions, it remains the best companion in my arsenal of security applications.
I can recommend it to everybody. <-QUOTE}
All suggestions are good but I think it might lead to some bloated application with slow downs, conflicts etc especially as it has less uers, less bugs reported and less issues will be fixed.

For all these reasons I like it to remain simple.

[IceCube1010]

I have been using GesWall (free) for about 2 months and I find it very good. I had a small problem with trying to print from my IE web browser but a quick change to one of the rules fixed that. I don't notice any slow down in speed, very little if no configuration. I use it as a IE browser protector. I also have web email and it protects that also. The Pro version always you to protect any application on your system.

Along with Avira Free and Threatfire Free, you have one on the best securities money can't buy!;D

IceCube

[IceCube1010]

All suggestions are good but I think it might lead to some bloated application with slow downs, conflicts etc especially as it has less uers, less bugs reported and less issues will be fixed.

For all these reasons I like to remain simple.

I couldn't agree more.

[337]

{QUOTE-> It,s mostly good. Only bad that the development is now slow. Not enough market is the reason.

The newer version will have a new engine and I am waiting for that. <-QUOTE}

I feel the price in U.S. dollars is a little steep, but when I ran the free version it seemed good---it just didn't grab me... May run the next version and see what happens!:thumb:

[aigle]

{QUOTE->
Along with Avira Free and Threatfire Free, you have one on the best securities money can't buy!;D IceCube <-QUOTE}
Well said. :thumb:

[farmerlee]

The only thing bad about geswall is i couldn't use it properly lol :).

[Kees1958]

I have used GeSWall Pro for two years (one PC with DefenseWall for wife, one PC with GeSWall for son).

1 What I liked about GW is its granularity and its ability to virtualise (redirect).

2 What I do not like is that you have to turn defense down in order to be able to obtain digital rights properly (DW deals with it out of the box without lowering defense).

3 I tried the latest release (liked the overview option), but I do not like the fact that untrusted files change to trusted status when you copy them to another disk/partition. I really can't understand this. Please correct me when this has been changed! DW's total untrusted file control (realised in 2.3) really makes a difference.

4 It was a little faster than DW also

5. DW is easier to use (even after the GW wizard was developed)

6. Development is much slower than DW

7. DW has catched up in granularity with resource protection (offering a default user friendly modus and optional expert additions).

8. GW had four levels of protection, DW only offers two (trusted/untrusted). DW now also offers protected/unprotected status independantly of trusted/untrusted (smart feature in DW of allocating download directories, untrusted/unprotected files in it become untrusted/protected after 15 days, trusted files are protected by default, untrusted are unportected by default, so the theoretical 4 options are reduced to three, all taken care for automaticcally). So this advantage over DW is gone also (even with DW implementing it easier/simpler).

I always rated these products on par, but reason 3, 6 and 2 are why we only use DW on our home setup.

I hope Brian and his company survives, I like the competition between GW and DW (as I was pleased with SafeSpace offering an alternative to SBIE), I think products improve better with competition than without. So GW users please keep using GW in stead of switching to DW (sorry Ilya).
I think highly of Ilya (of DW), but I can see that the features of GW influenced his release planning. It is now time for GW to play catch up, these points should be improved:

3, 6, 2, 8 (ad 8: provide a simple UI, provide a no-brainer out of the box setting with resouce like protection for power users in stead of the pseudo code like configuration now, has any power user succesfully added some registry improvements in GW? for instance).

[bman412]

This is probably the only bad thing about GesWall for me:

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c382/dxgil/GesWall.png

... and since something is hampering it's install on my computer I couldn't divulge any benefits from installing it :(

[Ilya Rabinovich]

{QUOTE-> So GW users please keep using GW in stead of switching to DW (sorry Ilya). <-QUOTE}
Oh, no sorries- I'm the first who stands for a honest competition. I believe that only competition can make this world spin around a little faster :D USSR died because of lack of internal competition and strong external one.

{QUOTE->
I think highly of Ilya (of DW), but I can see that the features of GW influenced his release planning. <-QUOTE}
Naturally- I see no reasons to do some features only because "hey, my competitive product have it". I have my own vision of my product development. Naturally, I always listen to my users, but I'm not a "users-always-rights" executer.

[aigle]

What is USSR?

Thanks

[Tony]

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which is all of the lands that were controlled from Moscow before the break up of the soviet union, ie all lands east of and including Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia etc, and North of Iran and China to the Pacific coast. (i Think??)

[Ilya Rabinovich]

{QUOTE-> Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which is all of the lands that were controlled from Moscow before the break up of the soviet union, ie all lands east of and including Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia etc, and North of Iran and China to the Pacific coast. (i Think??) <-QUOTE}
USSR was consists of: Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Belorussia, Ukraine, Moldavia, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kirghizia, Tajikistan. No north Iran, no China. But this is definitely offtop here.

[ErikAlbert]

{QUOTE-> but I'm not a "users-always-rights" executer. <-QUOTE}
That is the right attitude. :)

[Page42]

{QUOTE-> ... and since something is hampering it's install on my computer I couldn't divulge any benefits from installing it :( <-QUOTE}
My problem exactly! I have GeSWall Pro 2.7.1 running smooth as can be (during trial period) on one machine, but I can't get it to run on my other computer. It's perplexing. Everything hangs up and I can't even uninstall it (although Brian is suggesting manual removal, which I have yet to try). I have to use Acronis TI to recover a fresh image I created prior to trying the install. I intend to continue trying different things, but so far I have tried three times and GeSWall won't run on one computer.

[ErikAlbert]

OK. I will skip this one for now and keep DW running.

[Hugger]

{QUOTE-> The only thing bad about geswall is i couldn't use it properly lol :). <-QUOTE}

I tried the free version a while ago but got stuck on some part of it. I do not remember what it was that I didn't understand.
I went to their support and entered a description of my problem.
A week or two later I still had not even received an acknowledgement of my post and got no help at all from them.
Removed the program and entered another post in my original thread about not receiving any help.
That they acknowledged by removing the thread.
I don't think that any product is so good that the company you get it from can just ignore requests for help.
It's a shame too. I was enjoying it but didn't understand it.
Best regards.
Hugger

[zopzop]

the good :
it's very simple to use
there's a free version that works great
requires very little in the way of updates
light on system resources
works fine in a LUA

the bad :
acts "funny" on some systems (even though i've never had an issue with it on any of my pcs)

see my sig, it's one of the 3 security programs i still use

[Pedro]

GeSWall's main advantage is visibility. You can see the rules, and you have a log like a firewall.
If something is not working, look at the logs. Excluding bugs, you will solve your problem with the logs.
That makes GW have a "longer life" if you will.
The thing that contradicts this is the time limited license. Although it's probably for the free version only. He has make money somewhere. :)

[trjam]

He makes money om the Pro which is worth every penney and not an ongoing yearly fee.

[simmikie]

{QUOTE-> It,s mostly good. Only bad that the development is now slow. Not enough market is the reason.

The newer version will have a new engine and I am waiting for that. <-QUOTE}

aigle, is the developer, Brian i believe, communicating with his user base more consistently (alot more consistently)? i think i know he communicates with you more often than not...? merely curious.


Mike

[trjam]

I have spoken to him quite often, but not about the beta. Kind of leave that to aigle. But the responses to my questions have been quick. I agree though, the time for some information has come. The product is very good, so a little feedback for the future is warranted.

[simmikie]

{QUOTE-> I tried the free version a while ago but got stuck on some part of it. I do not remember what it was that I didn't understand.
I went to their support and entered a description of my problem.
A week or two later I still had not even received an acknowledgement of my post and got no help at all from them.
Removed the program and entered another post in my original thread about not receiving any help.
That they acknowledged by removing the thread.
I don't think that any product is so good that the company you get it from can just ignore requests for help.
It's a shame too. I was enjoying it but didn't understand it.
Best regards.
Hugger <-QUOTE}

yep, another clueless developer, who apparently believes that alienating and ignoring the user-base is the key to an expanding business.


Mike

[trjam]

{QUOTE-> yep, another clueless developer, who apparently believes that alienating and ignoring the user-base is the key to an expanding business.


Mike <-QUOTE}
Lol, sometimes folks just make my day. Clueless, I dont think so. But you are entitled to your viewpoint.

[trjam]

oh, one last thought. There are developers who are completly finacially secure from their dealings in the past. So, as unthinkable as it might be, sometimes products are created for other reasons then just turning a profit.

[IceCube1010]

GesWall Free + Threatfire Free + AntiVir Free = Best darn security money can't buy!

IceCube

[aigle]

{QUOTE-> yep, another clueless developer, who apparently believes that alienating and ignoring the user-base is the key to an expanding business.
<-QUOTE}I don,t think it,s a matter of being clueless. There must be other reasons like not enough resources, time, staff etc. I don,t know really but sure vendors can,t be so clueless unless they are earning a lot already and don,t care.

[aigle]

{QUOTE-> aigle, is the developer, Brian i believe, communicating with his user base more consistently (alot more consistently)? i think i know he communicates with you more often than not...? merely curious.
Mike <-QUOTE}
Actually I am using GW since long and reporting so many issues & giving suggestions etc. It,s rare that I don,t get a reply. Ok, let me ask him about the new version with a new engine. :)

[simmikie]

{QUOTE-> Lol, sometimes folks just make my day. Clueless, I dont think so. But you are entitled to your viewpoint. <-QUOTE}

in business it's not enough to build a better mouse trap. high touch must accompany the high tech to cultivate, and retain a customer base. i recall before 2.7 was released the developer went incommunicado, i believe there is a thread here expressing user/prospective user angst. you just acan't do that, it's business suicide. so if this guy is falling on hard times, it's by his own hand. i don't wish this guy any ill, i'd like to see Geswall succeed, but stonewalling users will not help. aigle, geswalls most ardent, commited, Geswall user, himself has stated that Geswall development is slow, and there is speculation that the resources of time and money could be the cause.

Geswall, a niche product to begin with, needs all of the PR, and support it can get. buzz about the product must be maintained, and new buzz created to maintain interest and user involvement. this does not even rise to the level of business 101, it's common sense. someone can be brillant with binary, and stupid with people, but people build empires, not binary, and to not get that so obvious fact makes you clueless in my book. get it?


Mike

[trjam]

No, I dont get it. You see, I am what they call, "Just plain stupid." lol

[simmikie]

{QUOTE-> I don,t think it,s a matter of being clueless. There must be other reasons like not enough resources, time, staff etc. I don,t know really but sure vendors can,t be so clueless unless they are earning a lot already and don,t care. <-QUOTE}

being able to write code, does not automatically entitle one to the 'brass ring'. success comes to those who not only master the things they do well, but to those that master what they don't do well or are uncomfortable with. a niche product like Geswall needs to engage the end-user on a consistent and deep level to grow. failure to recognize this is,well, less than business savy. would you not agree?


Mike

[Kees1958]

GW was a small company, with a developer (also russian I believe who lives in Luxembourg when I am right) and a sales/customer/webmarketing contact (Brian). It looks like Brian is only working part time on this/his company, due to the lack of business. When he is working full time, that would mean that GW generates a lot more questions than DW (because Ilya only operates a one man band). I do not think that GW is so much more difficult to use than DW, so only logical explanation is that Brian also does other work.

It is not about 'big-headed-ness' that they have reduced communication, just lack of time. Brian was in the early days as eager as Ilya to provide hands-on assistance.

A life-time license construction is not a healthy business model for a niche market product. As Bellgamin stated in another post, it is often a company life time license. For some growing/large potential markets (e.g. upcoming Chinese market with 1,3 milliard people living there or 1.3 billion in US terminology) it is a possible business model.

E.g. AVG is 80 million users world wide = 6% of 1.3 billion (US)/milliard (European) Chinese population


@Aigle and Trjam
Does GW still change the trusted status when you move a file from one partition to another?

Regards

[IceCube1010]

Yes Kees it does. Moving the file around on the same partition leaves the status intact. But moving it to another drive will reset the status. This is with GeSWall 2.7.1 (free) Maybe the Pro version is different.

IceCube

[iphone]

No, this is the same with the pro version.

[trjam]

first of all, simmikie, I apologize for sounding like a smart ass. It wasnt called for. I am not in any form or fashion, represent them in any way. I am just a paid and happy consumer of theirs. What does the future hold. I really dont know. A year ago some asked the same thing and here we are today and mine gets updated still periodacally, so they are still at it. I mean, in all honesty, how many vendors period will be here in a year. I bought the lifetime license and if a year from now it is worthless, I dont care. The product is damn good and allows me to run it and nothing else. So, there isnt a correct answer, just an answer.:)

[Page42]

{QUOTE-> I am just a paid and happy consumer of theirs. <-QUOTE}
I just finished the 15 day trial and purchased a license. I feel comfortable with GeSWall, and I can understand it.

[simmikie]

{QUOTE-> first of all, simmikie, I apologize for sounding like a smart ass. It wasnt called for. I am not in any form or fashion, represent them in any way. I am just a paid and happy consumer of theirs. What does the future hold. I really dont know. A year ago some asked the same thing and here we are today and mine gets updated still periodacally, so they are still at it. I mean, in all honesty, how many vendors period will be here in a year. I bought the lifetime license and if a year from now it is worthless, I dont care. The product is damn good and allows me to run it and nothing else. So, there isnt a correct answer, just an answer.:) <-QUOTE}

no offense taken. and you are right, Geswall is an excellent security, with many happy customers. i just wish Brian would give himself more of an opportunity to succeed. of course ultimately it's his call to make. his company to guide as he sees fit.


Mike

[trjam]

Thanks simmikie. It is good and I have asked, fairly sternly for an update of its future. I feel as a paid consumer I am entitled to this. If I am to enlighten others of Geswall, then I should be able to say it is safe to purchase. If not, I wont.

[trjam]

Brian, just sent me a long email with what I was asking for. I will post the following but he asked that all not be unveiled yet and I wish to respect his wishes. Beyond what I post, I will say, I like what I hear.:thumb:

GentleSecurity is in good shape and continues to develop and support
its GeSWall products line. We appreciate our users feedbacks and
feature requests.


Thanks,
Brian L. Walche
GeSWall Support

It may not be what some want, but I am sticking with them because of what the future will hold.

[aigle]

I got the reply too but can,t share it also.

[Dark Star 72]

I have been using the free Geswall for a couple of days and cannot believe how quiet it is. Installed in a couple of minutes and got a pop up asking if I wanted to run FireFox isolated [yes] and havn't heard anything from it since. Seems very light and browsing is certainly a bit faster than it was. Is this all there is to it, I was expecting a day or two of pop ups while it settled in. I keep wondering if I've not installed or set it up right, if it is this good it's a keeper. :D
Any advice / hints on running it much appreciated.

[iphone]

IS GesWall really good for stop malware and virus ?

[Kees1958]

@Iphone & Dark star Yes and Yes

An policy based sandbox/HIPS realy is that quiet

A policy based HIPS chaines virusses in the limited user environment, meaning all trusted/protected files/programs/registry hives are saved.
When GW fixes this issue mentioned in post 37,38,39 it really stops malware

Regards Kees

[trjam]

I agree Kees, and hopefully that wont take to long to fix.;)

[ErikAlbert]

Of course Geswall stops malware, like any other security and sandbox software, I never had any doubts about that.
You better find out where and against which malware Geswall protects you. In other words what are the limits of Geswall ?
Every malware that isn't stopped by Geswall, needs another security software to fill the gaps of Geswall.

[trjam]

cant argue that point either. There isnt a magic pill, just some antibiotics work better then others.;)

[simmikie]

{QUOTE-> Of course Geswall stops malware, like any other security and sandbox software, I never had any doubts about that.
You better find out where and against which malware Geswall protects you. In other words what are the limits of Geswall ?
Every malware that isn't stopped by Geswall, needs another security software to fill the gaps of Geswall. <-QUOTE}

one of the main features of SafeSpace i enjoy/use is the ability to move an isolated file wherever i like and SafeSpace tracks it. also, a right click will enable any file to become isolated.

the downside of SafeSpace (in my opinion) is 1) files, not folders are isolated (without making first a general rule) 2) specific rules (probably not phrasing this correctly) cannot be made yet, only general rules, which if care is not taken, one can leave coverage holes inadvertently. 3) development is very, lets say, deliberate (one upgrade in the 8 months i have been using it).

i guess i have said that to say this. being able to have your policy based security app track files everywhere, is a nice, desirable feature. :doubt:

Mike

[ErikAlbert]

{QUOTE->
i guess i have said that to say this. being able to have your policy based security app track files everywhere, is a nice, desirable feature. :doubt: <-QUOTE}
That depends of course how you look at malware.
My goal was to get rid of malware as quick as possible and without wasting time on it.
In the beginning I thought that this was every member's goal too and it took me awhile to find out that another group of members have another goal.
They prefer to study malware as a job/hobby, they even infect their computer intentionally, to see what happens. They also test anti-malware to see if certain malware are killed or not.

What you consider as a nice desirable feature, is something I don't need.
I don't even know when I'm infected unless the malware shows it very clear it's there. I only know that it will be removed and won't remain on my harddisk and of course I try to stop the execution of as many malware as possible immediately.
I'm still working on that, my security is still not good enough, but I don't find the right anti-malware software to make it possible. There are too many anti-malware, I don't understand, they are all so vague, incomplete, not userfriendly, wrong philosophy, etc, ... :)

[trjam]

try geswall and create your own rules.;)

[aigle]

{QUOTE->
I'm still working on that, my security is still not good enough, but I don't find the right anti-malware software to make it possible. <-QUOTE}

This dream will never come true I believe.

[aigle]

{QUOTE-> This is probably the only bad thing about GesWall for me:

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c382/dxgil/GesWall.png

... and since something is hampering it's install on my computer I couldn't divulge any benefits from installing it :( <-QUOTE}

Hello, pls see this thread.

http://www.gentlesecurity.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=266&highlight=

U can downloaded updated packages from here.

http://www.gentlesecurity.com/download.html

Let us know if it works now.

Thanks

[ErikAlbert]

{QUOTE-> This dream will never come true I believe. <-QUOTE}
I don't quit easily. Besides I don't dream, I get ideas and try to accomplish them. Each month my recovery/security is somewhere improved. :)

[aigle]

Yes and it wil only continue to improve every month, believe me. :)

[bman412]

{QUOTE-> Hello... <-QUOTE}

Thanks aigle. Installed and trying out GeSWall pro for 15 days. Xfire rules need some tweaking (lost voice chat, ingame chat, doesn't even show what game I'm logged on to). But aside from that quirk, works as intended with general browsing.

One problem that would most likely arise is the rule, resource allocation with other programs not yet included in safe apps list. (Will try to see if I can make cabos work with limewire's rules as a baseline0

[bman412]

So after some days of trying GeSWall with it basically out of the box, I've decided to uninstall it mainly because of MY newbie and limited knowledge to create rules for the applications I use. I also noticed a delay when accessing files on my disk or just even opening up My Computer perhaps due to GeSWall and explorer.exe's interaction. All in all, for single task general browsing use, GeSWall does its job and I would most likely install its free version or Sandboxie on my sister's pc.

[ErikAlbert]

{QUOTE-> So after some days of trying GeSWall with it basically out of the box, I've decided to uninstall it mainly because of MY newbie and limited knowledge to create rules for the applications I use. I also noticed a delay when accessing files on my disk or just even opening up My Computer perhaps due to GeSWall and explorer.exe's interaction. All in all, for single task general browsing use, GeSWall does its job and I would most likely install its free version or Sandboxie on my sister's pc. <-QUOTE}
The most simple sandbox is DefenseWall, I hardly notice, it's on my computer and it also locks your data folders automatically, while on the internet.
One disadvantage : you have to pay for it and an annual renewal of the license.

[trjam]

{QUOTE-> So after some days of trying GeSWall with it basically out of the box, I've decided to uninstall it mainly because of MY newbie and limited knowledge to create rules for the applications I use. I also noticed a delay when accessing files on my disk or just even opening up My Computer perhaps due to GeSWall and explorer.exe's interaction. All in all, for single task general browsing use, GeSWall does its job and I would most likely install its free version or Sandboxie on my sister's pc. <-QUOTE}
The rules that come with it are sufficient, at least for me.;)

[Ilya Rabinovich]

{QUOTE-> One disadvantage : you have to pay for it and an annual renewal of the license. <-QUOTE}
It's not a disadvantage. If you buy piece of bread, do you expects that it will be freely extended when you'll eat it all? No, because bread's production costs money. So, why do you expects that software production costs nothing and you may extend it forever for free?

[Banshee]

{QUOTE-> So after some days of trying GeSWall with it basically out of the box, I've decided to uninstall it mainly because of MY newbie and limited knowledge to create rules for the applications I use. <-QUOTE}

There's an application wizard that helps you creating rules. Have a look at the help files.

[bman412]

{QUOTE-> There's an application wizard that helps you creating rules. Have a look at the help files. <-QUOTE}

Yes I have tried that with Xfire but still lost Xfire's functionality. As I have said, GeSWall is not for me mainly because of my inability to set up rules and resources for the applications I use. And if GeSWall requires the user to input configurations manually then perhaps what it claims on its website is false? ???


{QUOTE-> Easy to use - non-intrusive, no configuration required. Personal Edition.

GeSWall is designed to be as non-intrusive as possible. You can keep browsing, mailing, chatting, sharing and so forth in the same way as without GeSWall. Web browsers, mail clients, chat messengers, file sharing clients, office, multimedia and other internet applications become safe to use with GeSWall policy. At the same time, you can create files, start processes, access internet resources without restrictions. The files you created and worked with remain and are not cleaned, as is the case with virtualization solutions. Additionally, GeSWall does not require configuration or learning mode. <-QUOTE}

[Antarctica]

{QUOTE-> It's not a disadvantage. If you buy piece of bread, do you expects that it will be freely extended when you'll eat it all? No, because bread's production costs money. So, why do you expects that software production costs nothing and you may extend it forever for free? <-QUOTE}

100% agree with you Ilya. There are very few Software I am willing to pay and DW is one of them. Especially with the service we get, it's worth every penny you pay for.:)

[Blackcat]

{QUOTE-> It's not a disadvantage. If you buy piece of bread, do you expects that it will be freely extended when you'll eat it all? No, because bread's production costs money. So, why do you expects that software production costs nothing and you may extend it forever for free? <-QUOTE}
I have just renewed my license. Relative peanuts for the amount of time Ilya spends on the Forums/improving the product/product support.

[trjam]

I have tried both and prefer Geswall. I like DW to but Geswall was right for me. I respect Ilya alot, and Brian knows how I feel. I will not argue the point of anyone going with either one. Yes I would love to see you buy Geswall, but as long as you buy one, you are way ahead of the game. It is becayse of people like Brian and Ilya that gave us alternatives that work. So salute, to both.:thumb:

[ErikAlbert]

{QUOTE-> It's not a disadvantage. If you buy piece of bread, do you expects that it will be freely extended when you'll eat it all? No, because bread's production costs money. So, why do you expects that software production costs nothing and you may extend it forever for free? <-QUOTE}
Well, not everyone wants to pay for security softwares, they use nothing but freewares. I don't have a problem with DefenseWall, I recently renewed my license and I fully agree with you, but other users don't see it that way.
I already saw posts of users that beg you to create a free version of DefenseWall.
Sometimes users buy a security software, but when they have to renew their license they switch to a freeware or another payware.
Each time I see alot of posts of a software, it is usually free or temporary free : Boclean, ShadowSurfer, PowerShadow, Returnil, ...