PC Tools Firewall 3.0.0.60

Discussion in 'other firewalls' started by Diver, Jan 11, 2008.

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  1. sukarof

    sukarof Registered Member

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    Do you mean the firewallGUI.exe? I dont seem to have that problem. Memory does indeed increase depending on which gui page I open, but when I close it back to tray the memory is recovered. At the most it takes 14MB and when closed it goes back to 5-6MB. Maybe it is OS related? I run Vista...

    *edit* spellchecking
     
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2008
  2. Espresso

    Espresso Registered Member

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    Not for me. Mine maxes out at 6MB after flipping through all the pages and drops back to 3Mb when minimized.
     
  3. Diver

    Diver Registered Member

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    I run XP Pro SP3 b3244 in a LUA. Its a notebook that requires many drivers to work right and its not unusual to have minor incompatibilities with various security programs.
     
  4. dave88

    dave88 Registered Member

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    Excellent, using Azureus. With Stateful packet inspection enabled. Full speed, no noticeable slowdown.
     
    Last edited: Jan 29, 2008
  5. dave88

    dave88 Registered Member

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    It currently comes bundled with Threatfire, I have not tested it (and do not have it installed), but I imagine Threatfire probably has it's back if it's installed.
     
    Last edited: Jan 29, 2008
  6. Diver

    Diver Registered Member

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    The memory problem occurs only in LUA. Gives up memory in an administrative account. Not the first time something did not work 100% right in an XP LUA.
     
  7. Espresso

    Espresso Registered Member

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    Too bad they didn't combine them properly and use a common interface.
     
  8. Diver

    Diver Registered Member

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    IMO, that is not the problem. What they need to do is combine the paid version of TF with an AV that has on access scanning, instead of being limited to on demand.
     
  9. Wordward

    Wordward Former Poster

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    The web site doesn't mention TF being bundled with PCTFW. Are you sure it is?
     
  10. Diver

    Diver Registered Member

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    When PC Tools FW is installed, it asks if you want to install TF. I don't know if that requires a separate download, or if it is in the package.
     
  11. Wordward

    Wordward Former Poster

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    Thanks for the info. I appreciate it.
     
  12. Kees1958

    Kees1958 Registered Member

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    Hi,

    New PC Tools scored best (with dll injection protection enabled) in a dutch VISTA portal.

    http://www.gratissoftwaresite.nl/testlab/Gratis firewalls getest welke is de beste#criteria

    For those of you not reading Dutch :)

    Test criteria:
    1. Ease of installation and de-installation
    2. GRC stealth port scan
    3. Block specific exploits on Ports (PCFlank)
    4. Two leak tests (GRC, PCFlanl)
    5. Simple Termination test
    a. Standard termination test1 elevated privileges/force open
    b. Standard termination test2 elevated privileges/force open
    c. DLL injection1
    d. DLL injection2
    e. Brute force termination
    6. Outbound application control
    7. Anti Execution control
    8. Ease of adding rules
    9. Dynamic port contral inm relation to application execution
    10. Memory usage
    11. Available in Dutch

    Comodo scored best, but was a dragon to configure. What is nice is to look at the CComodo results in standard mode (for those of you who run without D+)

    Regards Kees
     
  13. aigle

    aigle Registered Member

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    Does it has SPI?

    Thanks
     
  14. Wordward

    Wordward Former Poster

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    I can't find anything about PC Tools Firewall being bundled with ThreatFire or even suggesting it. Just curious where this information is?
     
  15. bigc73542

    bigc73542 Retired Moderator

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    I downloaded PC-Tools firewall for Vista a couple of days ago to trial it and it had the option to have it install with threatfire during the install process.
     
  16. jdd58

    jdd58 Registered Member

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    Upon running the PCTools setup.exe it asks if you want to install TF. It is then downloaded separately and installed with the firewall.

    Used PCTFW and TF under LUA. The PC would not wake up from suspend with "Enable protection against code injection" checked. I suppose TF covers that anyway.

    I also was unable to block Antivir's avnotify.exe with this firewall. Has anyone else encountered this problem?

    I like this firewall, much snappier browsing than with Comodo 2.4.
     
  17. dave88

    dave88 Registered Member

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    Yes, you have to turn it on though, it's off by default.
     
  18. Espresso

    Espresso Registered Member

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    The code injection protection can cause problems with a few apps. I was having problems with ACDSee crashing and the source of the error was fwhook.dll. I set it to Allow for memory injection and OLE object activation and it worked fine. It also happened with a couple other apps whose names escape me...
     
  19. aigle

    aigle Registered Member

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    Thanks. I wonder why it,s turned off by default. Very strange indeed.
     
    Last edited: Jan 31, 2008
  20. Nebulus

    Nebulus Registered Member

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    Probably because SPI will slow down the connections (just a thought, not something I tested).
     
  21. acr1965

    acr1965 Registered Member

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    I am giving this PC Tools firewall a whirl. Even decided to use Threatfire (again) too. Besides the SPI are there any other tweaks that I should be aware of?
     
  22. pitzelberger

    pitzelberger Registered Member

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    I recently switch from CFP v3.0 to PC Tools Firewall, because there were still to much problems with CFP on my system (I might give the soon coming update v3.1 another try).

    Anyway, I must say, I quite like PC Tools Firewall. It is easy to set up and runs very lightweight. OK it takes a few more MB then comodo, but it is very low on cpu and I/O, and most important, it does not interfere with any other of my applications (thats actually why I stoped using comodo).

    The GUI is not really attractive (especially the tray icon with the wall looks a bit ugly), but I think I can live with that.

    Also I like that the firewall popups show you IP + Domain name, if an application likes to connect.

    I am not sure how about leak tests, but I guess you can fine tune it, if thats your thing. Also I would like to know how the combination PC Tools firewall + Threatfire would score in leak tests. I could imagine thats quite a good combination?
     
  23. Kees1958

    Kees1958 Registered Member

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    Yes,

    Since your are using Comodo without D+, this might be a good alternative for you (off course Aigle I do not have to tell you how to configure EQS)

    https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=199320

    Regards Kees
     
  24. Kees1958

    Kees1958 Registered Member

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    With EQSecurity works splendid, https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=199320

    Leaktests of this combo
    AWFT = pass all (FW+)
    Strange test where you have to install a program and for one test even has to start your browser
    BTS = pass (FW+)

    Breakout = did not do anything, please advice

    Breakout2 = pass with remark (FW+)
    - intercepted userinit violation
    - wall paper changed (!)

    Coat = pass (FW+)

    Copycat = pass (FW+)

    CPIL = pass (FW+)

    CPILSuite =pass (mixed)
    a) first EQS detected phisical memory violation
    b) next FW+ detected code injection


    DNStest = pass (FW+)

    DNSTester = fail
    made recursive DNS query

    FireHole = pass with remark (FW+)
    No message send, was able to start webbrowser

    Ghost = fail with remark
    FW+ did warn, but did not prevent to display webpage

    Jumper = pass (EQS)
    EQS did block the registry change

    Leaktest = fail with remark
    FW+ did warn, but did not prevent to connect to server according to leaktest 1.2

    OSfwbypass-demo = did not do anything, please advice

    PCaudit =pass (mixed)
    a) first EQS detected wininit change (thanks MIKE NAS)
    b) next FW+ detected code injection

    PCaudit2 = pass (FW+)

    PCFlank = pass with remark (FW+)
    No message send, was able to start webbrowser

    Runner= fail with remark (FW+)
    No message send, but opera executable ruined (from an intrusion point if view this is not a pass but a fail)

    Surfer= =pass (mixed)
    a) first FW+ detetcs code injection
    b) next EQS detected registry change

    Thermite = pass (FW+)

    Toolleaky = tool reported pass itself (FW did not pop up, please advice)

    Wallbreaker = pass test 1, 3 and 4, stopped test 2 but allowed to display webpage

    Yalta = pass (FW+)

    ZAbypass = pass (FW+)
     
    Last edited: Feb 5, 2008
  25. Piecan

    Piecan Registered Member

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    I've just had a nightmare tonight trying to get rid of PC Tools and ThreatFire! I installed PC Tools without the Threatfire first and it was ok so then installed it and my system crashed. When I restarted I couldn't uninstall because it said there was a fault, couldn't do a system restore to an earlier date because not enough memory. After numerous re boots and a blue screen I managed to kill programs I didn't need to give the computer enough memory to do a system restore. This is all on a new Windows Vista 2GB pc with NOD.
     
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