Anything similar to Sygate or old @guard??

Discussion in 'other firewalls' started by xheffalumpx, Dec 16, 2007.

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  1. xheffalumpx

    xheffalumpx Registered Member

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    Hi, I'm hoping someone can help with choice of firewall for Windows XP Service Pack 2. I used to be an old AtGuard user until they were taken over and wrecked into Norton/Symantech firewall. Then I went over to Sygate until they were taken over and wrecked into Norton/Symantec (can you tell I really don't like what Symantec have been doing? lol) and now I am in a quandry as I can't find that kind of firewall anymore :(

    I liked Outpost at first because it was similar to Atguard/Sygate but sadly they too went down the route of excess bloat and hiding functions underneath layers of pages!

    I tried Comodo recently but there's just something about it I don't like.

    So, what is a good up to date firewall that is similar to Sygate/Atguard? Preferably with the same type of interface? I don't really like how the newer bloatware variety seem to be geared towards noobs and you have to dig through page after subpage to get to the important bits! Thanks for the help!

    http://www.mysoft.com.ua/imgbig/ATGuard-322-mysoft_com_ua_2905435.gif

    I miss Atguard :(
     
  2. Mrkvonic

    Mrkvonic Linux Systems Expert

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    Hello,
    Keep using Sygate - it's still superb. The perfect firewall for Windows.
    Cheers,
    Mrk
     
  3. Kerodo

    Kerodo Registered Member

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    Yep, I would 2nd that, if you like Sygate then there's really no reason why you can't keep on using it...
     
  4. Long View

    Long View Registered Member

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    Have just tried sygate 5.6 (build 2808 ) and can only add my support. No slow downs that I can measure.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 16, 2007
  5. subset

    subset Registered Member

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    No need for a change as long you stick to XP.
    I tested a a couple of firewalls and think Online Armor is very similar to Sygate.
    Only if you fell a strong need for a change...

    Cheers
     
  6. dmenace

    dmenace Registered Member

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    Nothing like a barebones light as feather firewall.... :)

    If your yearning for a change try Jetico v1 (free) or Looknstop (paid).
    or maybe Netveda Safety.Net? I don't think any of these are bloated.
     
  7. xheffalumpx

    xheffalumpx Registered Member

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    The trouble is I have a bug? or some problem with Sygate and Gene 6 FTP server not playing nice :(

    For some reason whenever the FTP server is used to transfer a file, Sygate goes nuts and takes up 100% CPU time. Since this particular FTP server is for the LAN users and is coming in for more use now the CPU problem is really why I was looking around for something similar. If anyone has any ideas how to fix that..?
     
  8. red_jack

    red_jack Registered Member

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    Check if your network card has TCP Checksum Offload enabled in advanced driver settings. If enabled, try setting to disable with a reboot.
     
  9. xheffalumpx

    xheffalumpx Registered Member

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    It's a 3Com Gigabit LOM (3C940). The closest I can find is Hardware Checksumming (ON). Is that the same thing? By the way where can I get the very last/newest versions of Sygate? I don't mind trying it again if this issue can be resolved.

    Almost all other firewalls I've tried so far have either ended up moving away from the original design or are just too fiddly and annoying to get to the rules screens (if they even have them in some cases!) and don't offer the fine tuning that was available in AG/Sygate. Why on earth someone couldn't just make an up to date version of AtGuard or Sygate instead of pushing their all-in-one firewall/antivirus/malware/kitchen sink 50mb "firewall" these days...
     
  10. WSFuser

    WSFuser Registered Member

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  11. red_jack

    red_jack Registered Member

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    Yep that is it. 3Com gigabit are a problem with the hardware checksum on. When the hardware (network card) checks the packets, its doing the job the software normally does. This interferes with what the software is expecting. The result is normally high cpu usage on SPF. Reboot after making changes. If you still see high CPU try disable driver level protection.
    The dats are no longer being updated for IDS (Pro). If you have a problem getting the last dat update I put up a patcher here. http://www.savefile.com/projects/1045248
    It can be undone from the uninstaller created in SPF install folder. Stop SPF run the patch and it will copy over the last dat file set. It will also correct the registry entries that were not correct in 5.6 3xxx builds for dat updates and the About screen. When done restart SPF. This assumes you used the default install folder...
    Before Symantec turned off the Sygate forum I had both the download links in this thread posted/stickied there. Old news for a great product. Jack
     
  12. Hairy Coo

    Hairy Coo Registered Member

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    Another light,simple wall well worth considering is Filesclab.

    Download here

    tttt.png
     
  13. Arup

    Arup Guest

    After Sygate had the issue with Avast and loopback in general I decided to give Filseclab a try. It was quite good, little bit quirks here and there but overall it was light and fast with no speed impact on the connection itself. It has built in rules which are quite effective. The rules do need to tweaked to get full stealth at GRC.
     
  14. noway

    noway Registered Member

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    Kerio 2.1.5 is probably the closest thing to Atguard.
     
  15. henryg

    henryg Registered Member

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    Noway, Thank you for the post. I was also wondering about AtGuard's similarity to other firewalls. BTW, is Kerio 2.1.5 still available for a download?
     
  16. xheffalumpx

    xheffalumpx Registered Member

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    I'll give that network card config a try. Hmm that Filesclab does look quite nice and similar, that kind of rule page and detection/control is just what I'm looking for. I heard of Kerio as well, not tried that one yet!

    I'm wondering if anyone has tried Ghostwall at all? It looks kind of similar and seems to be lightweight and not full of excess blubber...

    http://www.ghostsecurity.com/images/ghostwall01_large.gif

    http://www.ghostsecurity.com/ghostwall/ It's free, I'm wondering if anyone has tried it and how it compares to the above firewalls? It doesn't appear to have application level rules though which is a big minus for me though. Unless I missed that somewhere..
     
  17. herbalist

    herbalist Guest

    Kerio 2.1.5 is available at OldVersion. Like Sygate, it won't work with Vista, but is a lightweight and effective firewall on all the older versions of windows. I use it on everything from 98 thru XP.
    Rick
     
  18. xheffalumpx

    xheffalumpx Registered Member

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    Kerio 2.1.5 does look almost identical to Atguard from the screenshots I've seen. Does it work ok with proxies? Sygate doesn't work so well with a proxy. It's not hugely important since I don't use one but nice to have just in case :) (NOD32 v3 being a prime example if I ever upgrade to it)
     
  19. ellison64

    ellison64 Registered Member

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    red_Jack....A small quirk that ive always found with sygate (pro) is that when you resize the gui ,it stays like that for the session but after rebooting ,the gui defaults to its "normal"size.Is that a bug or design and can it be altered somewhere in registry so that the gui remains the same size even after reboot?
    tia
    ellison
     
  20. lucas1985

    lucas1985 Retired Moderator

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    GW is a simple, stateless packet filter. It's ideal when you need a firewall with zero pop-ups and high performance (zero latency). It doesn't bind packets to applications.
    Kerio has no problem intercepting and filtering loopback traffic.
     
  21. red_jack

    red_jack Registered Member

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    @ellison64:
    No settings in the reg that I am aware of for last window position... Not sure how SPF stores that info during the session.
    There are a few programs that can control/monitor the windows size and position for you. Here is a basic freeware one that has a small memory footprint. The Window Demon
     
  22. ellison64

    ellison64 Registered Member

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    Thanks ill try that !
    elison
     
  23. red_jack

    red_jack Registered Member

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    @ellison64:
    One suggestion, make sure SPF is fully shutting down when you power down the PC. Try shutting SPF down manually before you shutdown. I looked a 2710 and 2818 box this AM and they both remembered the size and position after a reboot. Something might be locking your personal profile in XP during shutdown, check the windows event log for error messages during shutdown.
     
  24. ellison64

    ellison64 Registered Member

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    Well bless my soul !!...thats fixed it.The simple action of exiting the firewall manually (after resizing the gui) has made the setting stick...even after reboot.Do you know it has been literally years ( on and off )that ive used this firewall ,and never thought to do that.
    Thank you red_jack :thumb:
     
  25. red_jack

    red_jack Registered Member

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    @ellison64:
    Glad I could help.
    Something is probably not unloading fully at shutdown or you have a quite large registry file. There is probably an entry in your event viewer showing an error message about this. MS put out a program to monitor and correct this before shutting down or logging off, UPHClean. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/837115 The readme.txt file from the download page gives much more details on how and why it works. If you notice other little things here and there when you reboot, this program might be useful for you.
    Jack
     
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