I need a firewall

Whoa, thank you for all info, but that's too overwhelming, I'm confused. I've eliminated LnS from my list ('cause your're saying it's not for novice users) and Outpost Free ('cause I've read some weird stuff about it).

So there's only Comodo Free and Personalfirewall left to choose. And another option - not to install a firewall at all but keep using the Windows XP inbound firewall only.

I'm always surfing the web in a sandbox (Sandboxie) and it automatically deletes all the contents when I close Firefox, so I guess that I can't get a keylogger or something like that on my system. So... I really don't know it I should bother installing a FW and learn how to use it + it will eat some of my memory or should I just stay with WinXP FW.

Thank you guys again for all you comments and help!

 

If memory is such and issue you can always add a couple more bars of ram. 2 more gigs. I had 1 gig of ram initially added two more. XP Pro SP3 3.40 GHz and 3.12 GB of ram.
My firewall at the moment if Private Firewall but have used Outpost free in the past and liked it as well.

 

Having considered your posts in this thread my advice is just activate the WinXP FW, maximize FF no script and play in the sandbox.

Good luck,

 

Hello again!

I would like to ask you some more questions. For example: if I somehow get some kind of malware on my PC, is it possible that this malware could be sending out information from my HDD to someone, is that malware able to send whole DOC, JPG, TXT (etc.) files out? Or what does it send?

And another important question - if by any chance I already have malware that's calling home on my HDD, will the newly installed FW tell me that?

Can you please tell me again how much RAM the new Comodo 5 Free Firewall takes when it runs in Windows XP? Will it at all slow down my PC? Will it work "friendly" with Sandboxie also? Is it the kind of firewall which is popping messages out all the time or is it more a "set-and-forget" thing? What about the updates, how often it gets updated? Do I have to set the XP firewall to OFF before I install the new one? Anything else I have to know before I install and use it? Any known errors/bugs? And is it naggy (since it's free)?

Tell me those things for Privatefirewall too please (except the ones mr. bellgamin already wrote in the upper posts).

Again, thank you a lot!

 

All your questions about Private Firewall should be answered here http://www.privacyware.com/pf_product_tour.html
and if you need further help go here http://www.privacyware.com/support_ticket.html

 

He asked about Comodo.

lws the best thing I can tell you is download and try it yourself. It will run differently on every system. I had the CIS package with the AV, Firewall, Def+ and all the options installed and it ran lightly for me, but it may not run lightly for you.

 

He also asked about Private Firewall at the bottom of his last post...

 

There is no sense getting a car if you can't drive one.

 

PFW is a taxi. Excellent driver at the wheel.

 

I'm having the similar dilemma. Thinking about moving away from LnS (as the trial has expired) and was kind of stopping on PFW (because of light resource usage). Looking at bellgamin's suggestion, had a question - OA sollutions Premium or Free probably use more resources than PFW, right?

 

I wasn't referring to you bellgamin! You could drive these any of these products (cars) because you have learned what you need to learn and passed your driving test.

BUT these tools in the hands of the untrained can lead (IMHO) to disaster.

If there is no understanding of say the difference between a scan for malware and a SW FW. Picking a product from a list makes little sense. Knowledge is more important than tools.

 

OA uses a little more cpu than PFW, but it's hard to define "lightness" based only (or primarily) on resource usage statistics, as revealed by such as Process Explorer et alia.

I am mainly concerned with "lightness" from the standpoint of how it makes my computer feel when I am actually using it.

I have noticed that some apps (especially security apps) seem to consume tons of resources but actually my computer seems to respond with much greater zip than it does when I use certain other apps that use much fewer resources.

An example is OA versus CIS. CIS shows better numbers on Process Explorer but OA actually feels lighter on my PARTICULAR computer. Now, before we get into an A versus B contest, let me quickly add that the opposite is true for my younger daughter's laptop. She says that CIS is barely noticeable on her laptop whereas OA brings her laptop to its knees.

The moral is -- each computer has its own *set--up mix* of software, ram, cpu, etc -- and will react quite differently to a given app than may be the case for a different computer that has a far different *set-up mix*.

IMO, if speed & lightness are really really important to you, there is no substitute for actually trying out the alternative apps and seeing how they FEEL to you on your particular computer.

For me, PFW gives me the greatest zip of any FW + classical-HIPS alternatives that I have tried, but OA is a very close second.

(By the way, Defense Wall (DW) is a hair lighter on my computer even than PFW. However, I have a personal preference for classical HIPS/FW whereas DW is mainly a policy-based HIPS/FW. BUT - - if you want lightness, top-tier support , and simplicity-of-use that even your senile maiden Aunt Muffy couldn't screw up, DW is THE way to go -- hands-down!!!)

 

I made my decision. For now I'll stick with the XP firewall, but when/if I decide to installa a FW on this machine it will be Privatefirewall. Thanx to all who helped me!

 

My desktop is a pentium 4 extreme 3.2ghz and 2 GB of ram. I'm happy with Outpost and Avast combo.

 

I was looking at installing Comodo FW on a new machine.

They have just released a new version (5).

Reading their forums it seems that even if you only install the FW component it still call home for the cloud scans whether you like it or not.

http://forums.comodo.com/firewall-help-cis/massive-traffic-out-t62002.0.html

http://forums.comodo.com/firewall-help-cis/cloud-t61872.0.html

I think this is a bad move (if its correct)

The above may be a consideration for you when deciding which FW to go for.

 

Huwge, this is true, but the cloud scanning and analysis can be easily disabled in Defense+ options.

 

According to what I have read in those linked post, it cant be turned off with the latest version

 

Please answer me this: If by any chance I already have malware that's calling home on my HDD, will a newly installed FW notify me about it? Thank you!

 

Please?

 

Some will tell you a program is attempting an oubound connection and list possible causes if I remember correctly. I don't use a software firewall at present so I'm out of touch somewhat.

 

An example of what you're asking about. wmplayer.exe is not malware, but the same principles apply. Many 3rd party firewalls will alert similarly.

 

So the answer is yes. Thank you!

 

PFW is good and light firewall, but it doesn't like my heavily favored PC game Civilization - neither Civilization IV nor its latest young brother Civilization V. It just freezes on the game's startup
I've noticed this issue already with earlier v7 releases of PFW, but the issue for my PC still remains.

So I switched to OA free. It liked my games, but it felt a bit heavier than PFW. Nothing much, but the small things sometimes can matter. The main reason why I gave up, was somehow slowed browsing speed

I decided to try comodo v5 - just firewall with defense+ (no sandbox module or antivirus). I was biased on the negative side for this product... But so far it looks good and lighter on my system than OA free. I would call it positive surprise for me. I would probably rank comodo next to PFW on terms of system impact (by this I mean overall working comfort and feeling)

This, again, is only my experience and it could be different for others