I Need a firewall for Windows 2000

June 2, 2010: Windows 2000 is not compatible with the current ZA firewall, and 6.5 is no longer supported. I have spent hours searching for a STAND-ALONE firewall substitute, but without success. I only have 198 MB of RAM, so the only compatible software from a well-known company is Sunbelt Personal Firewall. I installed it, but it malfunctions. It also monitors & interferes with the smooth functioning of my other software when they try to do something that does NOT involve internet access. So, can anyone recommend a lesser known stand-alone firewall that he/she or a trusted source knows of from personal experience ? Thank-you !!! The following companies CANNOT be used for one reason or another: --Avast, --AVG, --Avira, --BitDefender, --eSacn, --ESET, --F-Secure, --G DATA, --Kaspersky, --Kingsoft, --McAfee, --Microsoft, --Norman, --Panda, PCTools, --Sophos, --Symantec, --Trendmicro, --Trustport; Also --Lavasoft, --Comodo [release date April 12/10], --Webroot, and --Zonealarm. Also --Look’n’Stop, --Ghostsecurity, --Iolo, --Online-Armour Free and --Agnitum.

 

Have a look here. There are the ones you mentioned plus some others you haven't. http://www.spychecker.com/software/firewall.html

 

Sygate Free. try File Hippo

 

I wonder if Kerio 2.1.5 might work. I used in the past with W98. Not sure what it requires in the way of RAM.

Regards,
Jerry

 

Kerio 2.1.5 does indeed work on Windows 2000 -- I've used it since W2k was released, and it's still my current desktop system.

It runs as a Service, and is light on resources (4th column is Memory usage):

​

(compare the bloat hog Photoshop below! -- of course, it's been used for several hours)

Be aware that Kerio 2.1.5 fails all of the Matoussec tests. Hopefully, with proper security in place, that's not a concern of yours!

----
rich

 

Are you looking for an application based firewall or a rules based one? Kerio may be the best bet but IIRC it's not supported either- but with all the people who still use kerio I would suspect you'll find answers to any issues you may have.

I think you could still use an older version of ZA, there's a fair number of people that use ZA 6.5. So, same with kerio, I think you can find answers to issues you may have in forums like here.

There's also Outpost free version which claims to support windows 2000, not sure about the resource usage but I don't remember Outpost being that heavy-
http://free.agnitum.com/

 

June 2: Thanks ever so much to Woody777, The Hammer, JerryM and Rmus. Sygate.com re-directs to Symantec’s website. Today I read somewhere that Symantec had purchased Sygate. I will check out Kerio, but when I was studying Sunbelt Software’s products last month, they made a couple of references to Kerio, and I inferred that Kerio’s engine was no longer state-of-the-art. In the Spychecker list, Mil Firewall looks like a winner, and I am in the middle of studying its details on its website. PLEASE IF ANYONE ELSE HAS ANYTHING TO CONTRIBUTE REGARDING THESE OR OTHER PRODUCTS, PLEASE MAKE A POST !!!

 

Using Kerio2.1.5 on 192meg W2K Compaq Armada laptop. No problems, tiny, great firewall.
ZA 5.5 worked as well and if I recall it ran in about 10meg, so bigger than Kerio.
Neither needs any updates.

Sunbelt bought Kerio. Kerio2.1.5 is indeed unsupported, not does it need any.
Sunbelt added few things which you don't have to use (web watch, behavior, IDS rules). They also added a simple setup like in ZA (overall application permissions).

But the Kerio style of packet rules is identical to the old Kerio - one screen of rules, plus they added few nice things such as IP groups so you can have several instead of just one Custom addresses group. Big convenience.

I use Sunbelt's firewall 4.6.1861, the current version, no Vipre in it, on XP box. It's flawless for me. Just no issues. And Kerio 2.1.5 on another XP box. Sunbelt needs 20-24meg vs Kerio's 5meg.

 

I used Kerio 2.1.5 on Win2k for years also, it was my favorite. Once you get the rules set up and tweaked, it's excellent. Light, great interface, nothing like it anymore really. I think it's a good match for 2k.

 

No, Kerio 2.1.5 is not "state of the art". Neither is the win 2K system you're considering installing it on. No matter how good an older product might be, they'll always push the "latest and greatest" at you. "State of the art" firewalls are usually security suites with HIPS, IDS, spam filters, popup blockers, and most anything else you can think of, all combined into one bloated, resource hungry package. Kerio 2.1.5 on the other hand, is strictly an internet firewall. It does one job and does it very well while putting almost no load on your system. I use Kerio 2.1.5 on several PCs, from 98 thru XP. It works very well on all of them. If you want all of the other "features" that are included in the new firewall suites, you can install a separate HIPS, IDS etc. The single purpose apps often perform their specific function better that their combined suite counterparts.

 

I'm a big fan of kerio 2.1.5 too. The later versions starting with 4 I had nothing but dissapointing experiences. The dreaded BSOD (blue screen of death) was not uncommon amongst other things.

Also Sygate is a good consideration if you need an easier to configure firewall for Win2000. In my guide page you find also a working download link to the firewall. I suggest the 5.5.2710 instead the last version that is recognized by XP security center.
http://www.saunalahti.fi/jars2/SPF_eng/SPFGuide.html

Both of these 2 firewalls kerio 2.1.5 and SPF never seem to conflict with any other software and are light to run. And most importantly uninstall with no problems.

As told, you don't and should not try to install any current firewalls on your old system. These oldies but goldies work well as basic firewalls. Sygate has a great logging too for to monitor where the apps connect into. It works great with Avira AntiVir free that does not have those proxy shields like Avast has. With Avast it allows software go out without asking. The connections are logged though.

Jarmo

 

Please kindly consider SoftPerfect Personal Firewall.
Classic firewall w/o HIPS suitable for windows starting from 95 to 2008.
This firewall is freeware.
Details are at address:
http://www.softperfect.com/products/firewall/

Also considers Ashampoo Firewall Free
Details are at address:
http://www2.ashampoo.com/webcache/html/1/product_2_0050__.htm
I'm not quite sure about licence details, so please try to find this yourself.

Best regards
William

 

June 7/10 -- I have made my decision on what firewall to use. I would like to tell y’all what I decided and for what reasons. But first, I would like to thank everyone. You guys have been great !!! I have learned a significant amount, even though the whole experience has been very time-consuming and frustrating. I would also like to thank the many members who did not have information that they deemed worthwhile to post, but who undoubtedly gave my problem considerable consideration.

In addition to the visits to all the software company websites that I mention in my original post, I studied the websites listed in The Hammer’s spychecker.com. This list was very helpful and all the products seemed to be good softwares and deserved being listed. Unfortunately, a computer with 198 MB of RAM is a real handicap these days. I would caution readers to always check the release date of any software that they are considering downloading from a lesser known small company. Also, find out where the company HQ is and what the contact methods are. I am not comfortable dealing with any software company from totalitarian mainland China. One “European”company did not even say what country (if any) that it is located in, much less provide an address or telephone number.

I was impressed by the endorsements for kerio 2.5.1. In the final analysis, I decided to re-install my ZoneAlarm 6.5. My concern is that, like anti-terrorism, anti-malware must succeed 100% of the time against serious threats, but bad guys only once. ZoneAlarm has not issued an update for version 6.5 in at least 2 years. Granted, they had only issued 2 to 4 updates per year when supported. I infer from reading the replies to my post that firewall breaches through older versions of ZA and Kerio are rare. Since neither ZA nor Kerio 2.5.1 receive updates, I am better off staying with ZA, which requires no configuration decisions by the user, and which has worked beautifully for me.

Here is a personal message to Noone Particular who said “No, Kerio 2.1.5 is not "state of the art". Neither is the win 2K system you're considering installing it on.” Thanks for the “shot”. I needed that. It also made me laugh heartily!