free decent firewall for friend's desktop?

hi folks,
it's been a long time since i stopped using fw, so i've not been able to keep up w/ all the latest trends w/ fw sw's.
a friend o'mine asked me to recommend her a fw sw. here's what i'm looking for:
free, with an ip block list feature as in outpost fw, hips or bb (preferrably hips), as minimum popups as possible.
and last but not least, please don't "comodo" me. never used it myself & never will. so i can't recommend it to others since i, myself won't even let it near my system more din a thousand miles.
thanks.

 

Privatefirewall or Online Armor are good bets, I guess.

 

Online Armor Free.

 

I would also recommend OA.
I use the Premium version on my windows partition and I can confirm it does have the feature for the paid version. As far as the free version having a blocklist feature I don't think so.
For ip blocking you could try peerblock.

 

You haven't mentioned what operating system, so if Windows Vista or Windows 7, I'd go for Windows Firewall with Advanced Security. There is a thread explaining how to create rules, and you could even use Windows Firewall Control app to help assist you creating the needed rules, then just uninstall it.

IP Blocking capabilities, you could make use of portable version of PeerBlock, along side Windows firewall.

As for HIPS/BB, you could give a try to AVG AV Free and just install Identity Protection component.

With this, no alerts would be given, unless Identity Protection would find suspicious behaviors occurring, which most likely would be malware. It doesn't give annoying alerts as most HIPS and other behavior blockers do.

You could try this combination and see you would like to deploy it to your friend.

 

I get tons, i mean a LOT of popups with OA, more than with comodo or any other firewall, I think privatefirewall is the better mix of user friendly and efficiency right now.

 

I don't think the FREE OA is worth having as it's missing too many important security features that only the PAID OA version has.

FREE Zone Alarm is better and can do everything the PAID OA can.

 

This is true only when ( at least from my experience ):
1. Install software and you do not select Install mode
2. Install software that have some type of modular installation...like a software that installs a number of other applications in order to work or launches additional installers ( in silent mode or not ). An example is the case of some multimedia converters that install a ton of codecs, apps or codec packs.
3. When OASIS has not the latest updates and I have to admit that OASIS is not the most updated database in the world.
4. During windows update if OASIS or OA itself does not digest a certain update.

 

The built-in Windows Firewal should suffice, especially if you don't want to bother with pop-ups.

 

You still didn't said what features are you talking about!!!

 

Fort Knox.

 

What version of Windows are we talking about? Windows does come with it's own firewall.

Also if you really wants things to be less of a hassle then dealing with a software firewall then cough up a few bucks and buy an inexpensive 4 port firewall router from Netgear.

Here's a Netgear router with a firewall for $50; ( Click Product Specs - Security- Double firewall protection (SPI and NAT firewall) )
http://www.netgear.com/home/products/wirelessrouters/simplesharing/WGR614.aspx

SPI means 'Stateful Packet Inspection' if you care to learn;
http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&...1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&pbx=1&fp=fb2dfe7cd7c58161

What that means for you, is that's GREAT to have SPI in a $50 firewall!

For less hassles, when compared to a software firewall, you can't beat a simple hardware firewall like this! Plus for every computer you plug into with a cable or uses it wireless will also be protected!

As inexpensive hardware firewalls are these days, everyone should be sitting behind one as their first line of defense and a software firewall second.

 

Outpost FREE is worth a go

 

PrivateFirewall has both HIPS and an IP block list feature. Whilst there are popups - inevitable with any HIPS - my impression was that there were less than when using Comodo with Defense+ enabled. For a hassle-free experience, it's also a good idea to enable the training mode while it is learning the system.

 

I would recommend OA, As OA's alerts are much easier to read and understand.