IS PC Tools free firewall any good

Discussion in 'other firewalls' started by cruser921, Oct 31, 2008.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. cruser921

    cruser921 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2007
    Posts:
    79
    HI was curious i ran into PC Tools Free Firewall surfing the web today and was wondering if it is any good it currently is in version 4 with a 5 on the whey. I'm looking for a good free firewall other then comodo as i bad experience with there firewall. I saw this one and it looks good anyone use it?
     
  2. Woody777

    Woody777 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 29, 2006
    Posts:
    491
    Yes, its a Good Firewall. Runs very light. You can tell it to use Statefull Packet Inspection. It will allow proxys also.
     
  3. twl845

    twl845 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Apr 12, 2005
    Posts:
    4,186
    Location:
    USA
    Brought to you by Symantec. o_O
     
  4. cruser921

    cruser921 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2007
    Posts:
    79
    sounds good guys ill check it out just need it for outbound stuff as inbound is covered by my router. but i like to know what is going out :). which one should i use the curent version 4 or the beta ?
     
  5. wtsinnc

    wtsinnc Registered Member

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2008
    Posts:
    943
    cruser921;

    The link is to the PC Tools forums; it gives details about the new version 5 firewall which I'm using on one of my Windows XP installs and I have also used it with Vista Ultimate. I find it to be a solid and relatively lightweight firewall and believe you will like it.

    http://www.pctools.com/forum/showthread.php?t=54232
     
  6. cruser921

    cruser921 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2007
    Posts:
    79
    Thanks will hop over there and check it out :)
     
  7. chris2busy

    chris2busy Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2007
    Posts:
    477
  8. Saraceno

    Saraceno Registered Member

    Joined:
    Mar 24, 2008
    Posts:
    2,405
    Personally, I think it's a very good firewall.

    If leaktests are your thing, the new version passes level 10 on matousec's site. Basically it will not only just alert you for incoming/outgoing connections, but any suspicious application behaviour.

    :)
     
  9. Fuzzfas

    Fuzzfas Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jun 24, 2007
    Posts:
    2,753
    PC Tools firewall is very light on resources and one of the few that don't cut down at all your internet speed (confirmed by Matousec in TCP and UDP perf test). Also the enhanced security now gives more protection , as seen in Matousec's firewall challege. Unfortunately though, on my pc it causes crashes , so i had to disable it.

    But it's in the right path. And in the league of lightweight firewalls , it's a champion.
     
  10. chris2busy

    chris2busy Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2007
    Posts:
    477
    i reccomend it as well for Vista...light and enhanced security verification didn't cause any trouble for me :) cheers
     
  11. Saraceno

    Saraceno Registered Member

    Joined:
    Mar 24, 2008
    Posts:
    2,405
    Enhanced security verification had no problems for me either (Vista).

    Another user posted an article on leak tests in this thread.

    Has some good info, such as:

     
  12. cruser921

    cruser921 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2007
    Posts:
    79
    ok so i should use the v5 beta instead of the current v4 as the beta is a better version :).
     
  13. tipstir

    tipstir Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jun 9, 2008
    Posts:
    830
    Location:
    SFL, USA
    Find 3.14 is stable and faster than 4.xx 5. is beta has bugs...
     
  14. Escalader

    Escalader Registered Member

    Joined:
    Dec 12, 2005
    Posts:
    3,710
    Location:
    Land of the Mooses
    Well users get what they pay for.

    What is mean by "any good" ?
    Have you read the stickies here on Firewalls?
    What FW's are do and the criteria they should meet?

    If not then you will be blown from pillar to post by experts here touting their selections which may be fine for them but not for you.

    Read and study the learning threads here first before choosing one.
     
  15. cruser921

    cruser921 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2007
    Posts:
    79
    i got ride of it as i found out my router has SPI.Nat built in and it wa a redundant process.
     
  16. Escalader

    Escalader Registered Member

    Joined:
    Dec 12, 2005
    Posts:
    3,710
    Location:
    Land of the Mooses
    What that means is you have no outbound control over what applications connect to the www and which ip they use for updating.

    You appear not to be concerned with your own privacy?

    A router is good but it only filters incoming packets.

    Suggest you rethink this matter:D
     
  17. gery

    gery Registered Member

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2008
    Posts:
    2,175
    definitely you need a firewall
     
  18. firzen771

    firzen771 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Oct 29, 2007
    Posts:
    4,815
    Location:
    Canada
    beta 5 of pc tools firewall i find to be very good, pc tools firewall is one of my fav firewalls, pc tools firewall and comodo firewall would be my suggestions.
     
  19. gery

    gery Registered Member

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2008
    Posts:
    2,175
    I had PC TOOLS FIREWALL 5 in my laptop but comparing it to ZA pro it is heavier and it caused slow browsing . As far as protection i think it is very well protecting a machine]
     
  20. firzen771

    firzen771 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Oct 29, 2007
    Posts:
    4,815
    Location:
    Canada
    really? thats weird on a clean PC ZA was also quite heavy on resources and slowed browsing much more than pc tools, hmm maybe just me. ive never personally liked ZA firewalls, they always seem to be a bit too bloated for my taste.
     
  21. gery

    gery Registered Member

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2008
    Posts:
    2,175
    What do you mean bloated? it is a legend. It os not heavy and really fast browsing and goes very well with Avg paid.
     
  22. firzen771

    firzen771 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Oct 29, 2007
    Posts:
    4,815
    Location:
    Canada
    well last time i tried ZA it sure wasnt, i think it was ver. 7 or somethin
     
  23. nhamilton

    nhamilton Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 31, 2007
    Posts:
    61
    PCtools have released a new beta v5.0.0.25 that is meant to fix the problems they had with the enhanced security option.

    http://www.pctools.com/forum/showthread.php?p=195512#post195512
     
  24. doktornotor

    doktornotor Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2008
    Posts:
    2,047
    It actually made those issues lot worse for me, had to uninstall PCT FW 5.0.0.25 in safe mode, otherwise logging in resulted in a frozen system, couldn't even get far enough to be able to disable it in configuration, unlike with .19.

    The ESV features is plain broken and should be disabled by default.


    EDIT: Scratch the above. Nice waste of time with reinstalling the old .19 version - because providing installers with filename reflecting the version is apparently too difficult for some vendors so you end up downloading outdated stuff from outdated mirrors... :thumbd: :mad: o_O

    Don't feel like messing with this any time soon again. Grrrr.
     
    Last edited: Nov 17, 2008
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.