So just for giggles I installed Privacyware PFW on my 8.1 x64 and as usual after a reboot it complained on not being able to WHATEVER (ThumbsDown and over) So done with them. I installed the free Jetico Firewall since I seen a few forum members showing some good results with it and wouldn't you just know it, it toasted my Network Connection even though I entered it as a Trusted Adapter. And it was a royal pain to uninstall that piece of crap. It left so much stuff in the registry that I literally had to take PC Hunter 64 (to rip out the guts) and use RegCrawler just to locate then delete all that static cling. I don't know who suggested to me RegBak some time ago (I already backup the reg with Tweaking.com) but I had to use it to restore the registry and settings so I wouldn;t have to restore an entire image. It's like the more the years wear on the WORSE these firewalls are and then when after they screw up those delicate network connections AND IF you're lucky enough just to uninstall the thing, they leave a crap load of their feelers stuffed all inside your registry. Which leads me to this now. Is there ANY windows firewalls left anymore that might be light and at least streamlined enough that they don't have to act like old Norton's AV to remove out of your system if you decide that it's not to your expectations? Ransomware doesn't panic me near as much as these billboard softwares that claim the moon but need to throw everything into your computer but the kitchen sink just to function. And good luck yanking out the leftovers.
honestly i gave up on Firewalls; i now only use Windows built-in one with advanced settings , set to block everything inbound and outbound. If i need a rule, i create it on the fly. Sure it doesn't have fancy features, is very inconvenient, take long time to be set, subject to errors, but i never get any connections issues since. and at least i learn about windows i don't advise beginners to do as me, for them, you have tools like Binisoft WFC and similar that simplify all this.
I think Zone Alarm and Comodo (old versions?) are the only ones left that doesn't use WFP,if this is what you mean by 3rd party fw.
sphinxsoft Windows 10 Firewall control v8. but i never had that trouble with jetico. maybe wrong rule design. it works different from others.
Good question. Not entirely sure actually, basing this off of the last time I used CF which was a while ago. Thinking about trying it out again.
There aren't that many third party firewalls nowadays. My advice would be to use WFC which is front-end for the Win Firewall, and if you really want to have simple third party firewall you could check out SpyShelter. You could also check out ZoneAlarm and Comodo, but personally I have a feeling they are not worth it. Too bloated. http://www.binisoft.org/wfc.php
There is outpost but of course support ended on 9th jan 17. Paid for, so i dont know how you would get a licence
It shouldn't hurt to try out some of those suggested. I appreciate the throw outs to give a whirl. Already took it on the chin with the Jetico surprise so maybe the worse came first this time. After Tall Emu's Online Armor sold the firewall/HIPS combo and it got absorbed by Emsisoft it sort of fell out of favor. For some odd reason that major transition from 32 to 64 bit systems caused many a good HIPS and FIREWALLS to take a major dive.
I am still using it on 4 Windows 7 computers and it seems to work fine. License MAY be gotten from a friend who has one.
if you don't need extra features (like IPS/IDS, the placebo "stealth mode", etc..) but only alerts for outbound/inbound connections, just use a Windows Firewall 3rd party GUI , you have plenty mentioned in the previous posts. Before ditching all of them and only using my customized WinFW , i used to use Binisoft WFC, it does the job done and enough flexibility in the rules management. HIPS-based FW are PITA , too many issues for the common users (not saying kernel security reduction), that is why Emsisoft ditched the concept for their actual suite. (i'm still missing Online Armor Prem.)
I ALWAYS make an image of my system disk before trying security apps. In my experience, restoring an image is the best way to erase bad experiences. An earlier poster mentioned Zone Alarm. Me, too. And the best of British luck to you!
SpyShelter Firewall is able to use both WFP and TDI drivers. Even while TDI is outdated, it still runs on my Windows 7 machine. Anyhow, for me there is no need to run TDI, as SSFW WFP and Windows Firewall play along nice, on Windows 7 and Windows 10.
my beloved outpost security suite as well as OPFW pro stopped working with last fall's win10 anniversary insider build (won't reinstall driver & service). tried binisoft's win firewall controller is good if you are looking for freeware. tried comodo & most of the other frees. tried kaspersky, eset. too many oddities and irritants. finally settled on bullguard's suite. they used agnitum's outpost as their firewall core, so their is a bit of continuity there. it's a paid version tho, i did get a good xmas deal on it. i miss OSS and OPFW tho. they turned off the main lights last year, but left a night-light on. won't be much longer before they turn that off as well.
Have you checked out SpyShelter? Together with Comodo it's the closest thing to old skool HIPS with firewall. You could also check out this one: http://www.fortknox-firewall.com/
the nightlight is the users over on the outpost forum - we do have a facebook page after they turn off the server for the forum.
OK...I don't do FB. Will OP, although not updating, continue to function? I feel as you concerning it's demise.