Which firewall to choose

Hi all

I need a bit of help to choose a Firewall for Win7 32bit. I want one that doesn't need a lot user interaction and doesn't slow down the system. I've tried Comodo, but it wasn't very easy to configure, it also slowed down my pc. PC Tools was good but after some hours I couldn't use the internet. Outpost didn't install correctly. So I'm a bit confused what Firewall to choose.

 

If you don't want a lot of user interaction, you could just use the built-in Windows firewall. There are mixed views on the use of third-party software firewalls anyway, and many people who never get infected just rely on the combination of a router and the Windows firewall.

 

Windows 7 firewall is said to be a big improvement on previous efforts. Or I can
recommend PrivateFirewall (build-7.0.20.33, from privacyware.com) as being
free, effective, compatible with W7 and also easy on resources and not too
complicated.

 

If you want two-way control, Win 7 firewall + Free Sphinx Firewall Control will give you an excellent, light setup. No slowdowns whatsoever.

 

id use the built in Win7 FW (which i am using) but if u want a 3rd party one, the best one for your needs id say is PC Tools FW and if u want it to be quieter, disable ESV (i think its still called that in the options)

 

Thanks guys for the replies. I'll see what suits me best.

 

You can disable the HIPS component in all the top rated 3rd party Firewalls - using them for packet filtering, and less the interaction hassles.

 

I was using Windows 7 Firewall and Win7 Firewall Control. It was light, but didnt offer the protection or the ease of use I was looking for. The free version allows you to only set apps to be allowed on public profiles. If you are on a private network and have set it as such the firewall will only allow items that have a rule for a private network and this issue blocks those apps.

Ive moved to PC Tools FW. Its light, yet offers some of the best protection possible according to Matousec.

 

Yes, I'm considering to either use Comodo and disable defense+ OR use PC Tools and wait for a fix to 'the system lacked sufficient buffer space' Bug.

 

You could try ZoneAlarm. I like it on my Laptop simply because its easy when it comes to switching Wifi networks constantly.

 

Try disabling Defense+ from Comodo and use only the firewall, only needs btw 3 AND 8 mb of RAM

 

cuz RAM really matters... unless his comp is 10 years old, its not an issue...

 

CIS (without AV) needs 8Mb
Outpost Pro (without the Anti Spyware component and web filtering) needs 30 Mb or more

Maybe 30 Mb of RAM is not vey important but for me is good in order to see how efficient is the software and how good are the programers.

 

well thats not completely true, DISPLAYING low memory usage isnt a good or efficient program, being effective is (that isnt targetted towards any one product) but memory usage can be disguised. for example, KIS is pretty good but its not exactly light.

 

KIS is very light. One of the lights security suites available.

 

O.O...

 

Or just how good they are at hiding it, frankly my solution eats about 20 megs. I honestly don't care, I like the way the program works.

 

Let's get one thing straight - you say you actually judge the level of programmers' expertize by looking at the amount of RAM used by the app?
Jeez. Every now and then there comes a comment that really makes me ROFL. This one may be my all time fav.

 

lol have to agree with u ther

 

This I would actually have to agree with. Which is odd for me as I agree with nobody normally.

 

Well, if a Firewall or any orher program uses abnormally large amount of memory then it's a bug and should be fixed, but I have plenty of RAM so that's not a problem. For some users Firefox consumes a lot of memory but almost only those who don't have enough RAM will abandon using it, others like me won't.

My concern about Comodo is it slowed my pc down when I used it under XP, boot time was terrible, I don't know if disabling Defense+ would help. I need to do a fresh install and test Comodo again....

 

well i cant think of ANY that use Abnormally large amount, some use more than others, but nothing ridiculously more.

 

@ALL

I said that IMO Comodo need less RAM, Its faster, less lag, and do not slow down my pc as much as outpost.
IMO the hips component is much better and the firewalls do the same so if need less RAM and is better maybe the Comodo code is more efficient.
So because it is a bit better and faster I normally use Comodo.

@Seer: Your are taking my words out of context I dont judge a software ONLY because the amount of MB, its only one of the things of dozens that I take into account, but in my opinion both do the same more or less so I take into account the RAM and how faster the software is.
Please dont put in my keyboard things that I didnt write.

Anyway Its a normal way to think:

Both softwares do the same, but one of them is better have less bugs, no slow downs, and havent blue screens on win7 x64 each time that I open a full screen application and they uses 2 months for fix the issue, so the programers of the good one are worse? or maybe they are less


How wrote the software? a programer... so IMO if a software is better than other maybe the programers behind this software have better skills or they company have more programers working on the software.

Anyway maybe the programers are not better or worse simply Comodo have more resources than Agnitum.

I had hurry so maybe I should explained a bit more and not only say that is just for the amount of RAM.

PS: Sorry for my english.

 

Win 7 FW very strong you can make it even stronger to suit your needs.
UAC, DEP and MSE is running here.

 

Exactly guest,

I've seen people recommending security tools because they never consumed more than 100kB, yet they never consumed less than 60% of CPU cycles......