Pc Tools Firewall

1.Someone using it?it is good or bad??
Cause im searching for one free firewall that is user friendly,cause comodo is not the best for my family with the D+maybe in future when it will be in my language
2.and another question what is SPI? stateful packet inspection?i read it in online help but i dont understand that:-/

 

It depends on your expectations. Maybe you could give a little more information about what a firewall should be capable of in your view. In any case PCTools FW+ is not the worst and worth trying.
Simplified, stateful packet filtering means that only connections are allowed that are requested or expected by a program that you allowed before in the application rules. For example, if you use eMule and allow it to have access to network and then a client from outside tries to connect to you, this is usually allowed because eMule expected incoming connections.

 

Maybe you should check out the two stickies at the top of the firewall section.

SPI= stateful packet inspection, which is good, but it's not 'all'. I'm not an expert, but I read that there is something to be said for a proxy firewall (that's something different than just using a proxy to connect to the internet). I believe I read something about 'DEEP stateful packet inspection' ?

If you really want to understand firewalls it's going to take some time and effort !

There are some useful threads in the firewall section.

Don't you have a firewall that's part of a suite ? You don't necessarily get the best firewall that way, but things tend to be more integrated that way, fewer conflicts, easier to use. In general.

I don't know Pctools' firewall, I read someweher here that it's based on another firewall, if you can track that ('search' ?) you may have more information.

But beware of Pctools, I consider their business behaviour unethical. And they tend to subscribe you to their 'auto-renewal' plan.

 

I have used it. It runs light and is easy to use. It has adequate notification even almost HIPs but is not over obtrusive. I would say you should try it out. It is based on Look N Stop but has been developed further by PC TOOlS I really am not sure as to the differences.

 

I used PCTools firewall a bit, it seems to work very good.

Can you tell us what do you consider to be unethical about PCTools firewall ?

 

It's not the firewall that the poster deems unethical. PC Tools has a practice of automatically renewing the subscriptions of their paid for (Spyware Doctor, Registry Mechanic) software.

 

Most Current subscription type business have similar policys. Anyway the firewall is free>

 

Agree-they expect you to cancel prior to the renew date,but whats that got to do with the firewall,which is a great product based as it is on LooknStop.
The only reservation was it was easy to terminate last time I tried it,but seemingly this wont effect its overall capabilites.

 

The problem with it is that nobody gets to know of what's new when it's updated.

 

They do if they look in the right place:
http://www.pctools.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=30



Very helpful place, they just don't keep a presence here at Wilders

Ian

 

Today i start up my pc and cpu usage was so high that i cant do anything!!!Looks like that firewall still needs some work on it.So i manually shut down my pc and than uninstall Pc Tools Firewall and pc is again working OK.But now i need firewall again!!

 

It's not the firewall that's unethical, it's the company !

But I think you already knew that.

 

What kind of PC do you have ? (age, CPU, memory)

You could try the Webroot Desktop Firewall.

It should be free.

http://www.webroot.com/En_US/consumer-products-desktopfirewall.html

But I understand there is a learning curve, my guess is that a beginner could use it, but it will take some effort. From a review I recall that a part of the firewall (that gives you many pop-ups ?), probably the Systems Anomaly Intelligence, can be turned off.

Why don't you try it and tell us how it goes ?

If you want a PCMAG review (I know PCMAG is not 'elite' enough for many here, but I'll give a link anyway):
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2214210,00.asp
It also mentions the antivirus and the antispyware software, and I'm not sure about the versions, but I suggest you check out the Webroot link I gave.

I don't know any (other) free, good, and easy ones.

 

There is a lot more that's unethical. Dumping a very bad beta of the Spyware Doctor (version 5) as the new official release on people's computers, which has cost many a lot of time and frustration. Not to mention the stream of 'improvements'. If you weren't there, you wouldn't believe how idiotic it got.

 

I wonder what this about?

http://www.pctools.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=957&d=1207658593

 

It's ironic how its flagship product is its worst and stupidest product. In contrast, ThreatFire is nothing short of a market leader, the antivirus is improving very swiftly, and the firewall is the only third-party one that I consider useable (thanks but no thanks to the gazillions of redundant popups that others offer).

 

There has been a whole thread about this one,which is an excellent wall,if you do a Forum search.
OK for beginners,but the HIPS component,Dynamic Security Agent,can be hyperactive for a while.
The free ones to consider are PC Tools, ,Online Armor,Webroot,or simpler, Filesclab.
Dont let any doubts put you off testing PC Tools Wall

 

I used PCTools Firewall Plus V2 (with avast! antivirus), but dropped PCTools Firewall Plus when V3 came out. That was awhile back, so perhaps V3 is now up to snuff.

For me the hardest part about trying out firewalls was getting them uninstalled. Many require some additional work beyond the simple Add/Remove Programs of Windows.

Be sure you have a good backup (that you have sucessfully tested restoring) before installing any firewall.

But try them, there is really no other way to know if they are to your liking or not.

 

A good disk image application makes that a non-issue. One of the best
investments of $50 I ever spent.

The last version of PC Tools FW I tried (3.0.1.9) did not automatically
recognize local proxies - they needed to be set up manually,
which made it cumbersome if you use more than one.

 

Hence, my next statement in the same post you quoted.

 

Absolutely agree. I was attempting to endorse your comments.

 

No worries, I was agreeing with your agreement!

OT a bit, but I've been taking my full weekly backup on Sunday and am considering changing to Monday night so that I always have a fresh backup prior to the second Tuesday Microsoft updates without having to perform another backup.

 

Well, maybe it's not so free after all

 

BEWARE all companies who have you hooked up to them. The trend is to have small print that allows them to re-up you to their services without your affirmative OK !!! Thus their default is to charge your credit card/debit card at the end of their contract!!!

 

There is a simple solution: Use one of those pre-loaded, disposable debit cards for these sort of purchases. They have a fixed amount on them and often expire. Even WalMart has them these days. The trend recently is to issue rebates using them, so there's another source.