Should I change my browser or my firewall?

Chrome has a PDF reader also? I did not know that. I will remove pdf reader and flash player in my win 7 pc and try out Chrome. But cannot use it in 1gb RAM xp netbook. Chrome uses too much RAM. The poor netbook gasps for air whenever I try out Chrome.

 

I am a fan of HIPS, Amit. That's one of the main reasons I like OA so much. But if I have to exclude Chrome from OA in order to get the browser to work, then something had to go, and I decided OA was the one leaving.

So yes, I like Comodo's HIPS. I haven't ratcheted it up to Paranoid Mode yet. Getting to know my way around the UI first, and trying out some things, then I'll opt for the full max level to see what I have waiting for me.

I have enabled the sandbox... I wonder if that might be troublesome. 3 sandboxes. SBIE, Chrome and Comodo. At least SBIE popped up right away upon installation of Comodo and asked me if I wanted to include Comodo in the Sandboxie configuration. I'm thinking that they work well together.

 

Yeah me too.

Hmm...that does seem very unfortunate.

I like my HIPS maxed out.

Maybe this will help.

Nope no problem. I've used the combo before and faced no problem at all. Layered approach truly is enforced in this combo.

Yes sbie does the Software Compatibility prompts quite well. Now that Comodo has been added in the Software Compatibility, you can rest assured that the two will work seamlessly. For example, EAM detects malware insided sandbox and along with OA protects the sandboxed browser from MITB or MITM type like attacks. But WSA is not included in the Software Compatibility. Tzuk has yet to make sbie compatible with WSA. As a result WSA does not work in the sandboxed browser like the Identity Shield does not protect me from MITB and MITM attacks in the sandboxed browser.

They sure will. You can have a peace of mind now Page.

 

And doesn't it ultimately come down to that?
It's what we are looking for!

 

Absolutely true my friend, absolutely true.

 

I think that's your best bet. I envision you as someone with a clean box, so I'd recommend setting the HIPS to "Clean PC Mode" for now. Give it about a month to learn your apps and it'll set rules automatically for them... no annoying popups. Then after pretty much everything you'll use on your computer has been used, and those rules set, go in there and clean/tidy some of them up as you see fit and switch it up to "Safe Mode" anyway. Paranoid is your call.

And delete that blasted trusted vendor list awhile (vendor.n). With that gone the only difference between Paranoid & Safe Mode seems to be that in Paranoid it won't remember any new rules you set that aren't already in your policy. Like if you get a popup, even if you tick the box to remember it, it won't. You have to actually go into your policy to set the rules there, or no dice. In Safe Mode it will still create rules for new apps, or modify existing ones, if you tick the boxes for it to do so.

The Chrome sandbox sounds awesome. Even sandboxes each individual tab I hear? I probably wouldn't use any other one if I ran Chrome (for the browser). I'd still use Sandboxie for other things though. I just disable the Comodo one.

 

That might be the part of this dilemma that I did not emphasize enough... how much I like Chrome. And Sandboxie too. I think that each of them, individually and in tandem, are more important than a firewall selection. But I am still at a stage where I value a firewall too.

Flash and PDF reader bundled in Chrome are huge advantages as far as I'm concerned.

 

I'm trying hard to see the diff between Safe Mode and Clean PC Mode, but even after reading the description in the UI, they seem so similar.

I'd better watch out, or I'll take the thread OT by asking too many Comodo questions. But at the same time, a lot of this stuff has to come up when attempting to address the original question.

Appreciate your input, as always, luciddream.

 

@ Escalader...
Thanks for the input. I like when a person breaks a problem down to its simplest components. I didn't follow your advice, but then again, I can't follow everyone's advice, can I?

 

Happy to report that an Emsisoft employee has stated,

 

Ah that's great news. Why don't you ask them to release the solution in the beta update for the mean time? I mean the EAM prob I mentioned in post #8 that got solved was released in the beta update immediately by Fabian Wosar.

 

The honest truth is I am in no rush to get back to OA.
Comodo Firewall is doing very nicely as a replacement.

 

I have used for years Look'n'Stop firewall mainly for its outbound monitoring. About a year ago I started to experience BSODs once or twice a week. After several tests somehow the blue screens stopped after uninstalling Look'n'Stop. Obviously there was some kind of conflict with what I was running.

I have used Windows firewall in its default settings without any problems ever since, no more BSODs, my computer boots faster and I'm behind a router.

Given the fact that Vista and Win7 have good firewalls integrated with Windows, outbound monitoring can be put under the umbrella of Sandboxie (Restrictions/Internet Access), making the installation of a third-party firewall redundant especially for people like me who are completely ignorant about creating rules or reading logs.

 

Hi Osaban,
Real glad you brought that up, because it is the opposite of what I would have guessed about Sandboxie... and I am a big fan of SBIE, as you probably know. But I would have guessed that to use Sandboxie as a firewall would actually require MORE knowledge about rules and logs and stuff, and that is why I am always so thankful to have a great firewall handle the duties for me. I must totally be missing the boat on this.

 

I have Chrome on my netbook XP Pro SP3 1GB RAM (Intel Atom 1.6 GHz), and an old laptop XP HOME SP3 1GB RAM (Intel Pentium M 1.6 GHz). They are both very fast indeed, although they have only Sandboxie and Chrome running real time, Avira and MBAM are on demand only.

If I were you I'd check the rest of your security for impact on performance. As long as the memory used is below 1GB of RAM, there shouldn't be any noticeable slow downs on your system when browsing.

 

Hi Page,
When I was using Look'n'Stop I often had a prompt when installing software informing me that it wanted to connect home (always a legitimate connection with good software) which I would invariably allow to the point of being annoyed by it.

If Sandboxie is configured to allow access to the Internet only to a list of programs of your choice, it will achieve the same results of outbound monitoring by firewalls, using a default deny policy.

 

Oh okay. At least if and when you try OA again you'd know there would no problem.

 

Thanks for the assurance and sharing your experience buddy. I'll try your advice.

 

well ive used OA and chrome before without any issues at all.
And as for comodo dragon well that is just a dressed up chrome anyway so i believe firefox is the best browser around at the moment.
Just my few thoughts on this subject.

 

Of course there is no "best", its user preference. But why do you say that since dragon is a dressed up chrome that firefox is best? Does that mean if dragon was not so dressed up that it would be ok? And if so, then wouldn't chrome already be ok? I don't get the association you create there

Sul.

 

As noted here 10 days ago, Comodo FW D+ is serving me well.
I have Chrome browser running as I always wanted, and Sandboxie is ever-present.
All is good for me, and as far as this thread goes, I would consider it closed.