Light 2-Way FW for Old XP Laptop?

Discussion in 'other firewalls' started by Cruise, Jul 29, 2014.

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  1. Cruise

    Cruise Registered Member

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    My son's friend is using an 11 year old laptop running XP-SP3 x86 and at this time he can''t afford to upgrade. Noticing that his friend is using the old WinXP FW my son asked me to suggest a free 2-way FW that won't hog the CPU or RAM and is user-friendly. It's been a very long time since I've used XP, so I thought I'd ask that question of those of you who are still running it.

    Cruise
     
  2. biscuits

    biscuits Registered Member

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    Check out Comodo Firewall 2.4.17.183. It won't hog the CPU or RAM (i'm using it on a laptop with 256mb RAM). An alternative is Comodo Firewall 3.0.14.276 (has HIPS like function).
     
  3. The Shadow

    The Shadow Registered Member

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    Hey Cruise,

    My son is using my 10-year old XP notebook and it's been running very well (first for me and now for him) with Kerio Private Firewall 2.1.5 > download (only 2MB).

    Btw, you might also tell him to grab a free Shadow Defender > here (while the offer is still good)!

    TS
     
    Last edited: Jul 30, 2014
  4. trott3r

    trott3r Registered Member

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    Other free firewalls include the older unsupported Agnitum outpost free.
    Still supported are private firewall and online armor all run fine on my xp machines.

    User friendly could be an issue with hips enabled but they do have a learning or training mode that can be run for a while to minimise problems.
     
  5. zapjb

    zapjb Registered Member

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    GhostWall
     
  6. Cruise

    Cruise Registered Member

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    trott3r,

    Between PFW and OA(free) which do you find lighter on CPU & RAM (for WinXP)?

    Cruise
     
  7. Cruise

    Cruise Registered Member

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    Thanks Shadow - and I do think it's a good idea to add Shadow Defender to help protect XP (and being free doesn't hurt). ;)
     
  8. Cruise

    Cruise Registered Member

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    Wow, that's almost unbelievable!!! o_O
     
  9. 59er

    59er Registered Member

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    I used Private Firewall on an older Dell Precision 470 with 1.5gb of ram,Windows XP SP3. Light on system resources. Was, eventually, slow to load using alongside Microsoft Security Essentials. No problems using Avast free.

    Also, testing Online Armor (Limited Freeware) on a Dell Dimension 8300 (2004) with 1 gb ram,Windows XP SP3. On this system it seemed a little buggy and very, very slow to load with all features enabled (default). For example, playing Spider Solitaire, cards would disappear for a few seconds when trying to move them. Excluding 'Games' did not help. Browsers took a little longer to load, compared to using XP's firewall.
    Disabling HIPS was the solution. Now it works great. Light and quiet. Loads fast. Using with Avast free. This configuration seems best for a no fuss 2 way firewall.
    Private Firewall, in default configuration, worked well on this system.

    If your son's friend's computer is low on Ram try a neat little program called CleanMem. There is a free version. Here's a quick review from Gizmo's: http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-memory-optimizer.htm
     
    Last edited: Jul 30, 2014
  10. noone_particular

    noone_particular Registered Member

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    Kerio 2.1.5 isn't the most user friendly firewall but it is one of the lightest. I've used it for many years on both 98 and XP units. Still using it. If the user takes the time to learn the basics of internet protocols, Kerio can be a very effective internet firewall. For more savvy users, the combination of Kerio and System Safety Monitor, a free standing classic HIPS is nearly bulletproof.
     
  11. ichito

    ichito Registered Member

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    Great combo and it was earlier on my XP (Kerio still exists on it)...I vote for it...with two hands :)
     
  12. Cruise

    Cruise Registered Member

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    Well, my son's friend found Kerio too difficult to setup, tried a few other free FW's and decided he likes Comodo (with default settings). So, fwiw, as of now he is using Comodo's FW with Panda AV free-edition (and Opera 12). My son tells me his friend's XP laptop is running quite well!

    Cruise
     
    Last edited: Aug 1, 2014
  13. mhf

    mhf Registered Member

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    You could try Jetico 1.0 - I've been using it for years on an old XP pro laptop : light and mostly silent.
     
  14. 0strodamus

    0strodamus Registered Member

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    Jetico is an excellent choice. However, if Kerio was too difficult, Jetico's rule tables may prove to be even more of a challenge.
     
  15. mhf

    mhf Registered Member

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    True...
     
  16. trott3r

    trott3r Registered Member

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    I personally found PFW the lightest but OA was light as well.

    It might just come down to how well it gets on with other security on the computer you install it to.
     
  17. halcyon

    halcyon Registered Member

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    Look'n'Stop has always been the best compromise me for a extremely light-weight firewall that isn't totally outdated (like Kerio is). It's light years a head in terms of lightness compared to Comodo 2.x
     
  18. biscuits

    biscuits Registered Member

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    I was about to recommend LnS as an alternative to Comodo 2.x too but as per Cruise's original post, they are looking for a free FW.
     
  19. biscuits

    biscuits Registered Member

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    Almost:)

    I'm glad the old laptop of your son's friend is working well.
     
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