Lightweight FW

Looking for a nice lightweight firewall to run along side Emsisoft AM v6 in real time. I dont want a HIPS or something overly complicated like LnS. I have a lifetime license to LnS and have uninstalled it due to complexity configuring rules for my applications.

 

I trialed ZoneAlarm free, both v.9 and v.10 for a few
weeks each on my Win7 x32 ASUS notebook, 1.8Ghz CPU, 2 gig RAM.
Don't recall the memory stats, - it ran about as fast as when
using the Windows firewall. Boot up was a few seconds slower.
But I just couldn't stand the weekly advertising pop-ups,
so, as usual, I'm back to the Windows fw.

However, it is a nice, no HIPS fw program. It auto detects
just about everything - programs, connections, etc. I'm not
familiar with Emisoft AM, so don't know if there would be conflicts.

If you install ZAF & don't like it, be sure use the
ZA Clean uninstaller. Then go through HKCU, HKLM, and all
the user app files to clean out the stuff it still leaves behind!

 

. Windows Firewall Control - [Win 7]

. Windows 7 Firewall Control - Version 5.0 Beta available for free (Plus Edition), stable [Win XP- Win 7]

> Both are easy-to-use, enough to control outbound connections of applications.​

> Native Windows Firewall doesn't need to be disable with any of these two firewalls.​

 

Those arent firewalls. They are just GUI's for the built in Windows FW.

 

I am thinking about donating the $10 for wfc and setting up some rules with it, it seems solid. Is windows 7 firewall control just as good? I was surprised to see that Win 7 FC even works on XP. If you are on vista/7 and don't need HIPS I see no reason to go outside of windows firewall.

 

I tried W7FC free version on my old XP Home SP3 system, decided
it was unnecessary, and when I uninstalled it, it took out
the Windows firewall/ICS service. I got the "cannot start"
message. Fortunately, I had imaged C: before installing, so
a messy repair was unnecessary.

 

well I guess I won't be trying that one on xp at least then. Have you tried it on Windows o7? I installed WFC but haven't donated $10 yet to really unlock it and utilize it. If Windows 7 Firewall control works just as well on Win 7 I may just try that instead but I am under the impression the regular WFC is better.

 

I have tried it both on my W7 x64 desktop and my
W7 x32 notebook, and it installed and uninstalled
without difficulty. The free version does not control
anything that executes in C:\Windows outside of System 32.
It lumps all of those in a "System" zone. You need
the paid version for full granular outbound control.
They explain that in their FAQ. So if you are concerned about
bad stuff sending your bank info out to the dark side, then
it's of limited value. I took it off my x64 machine yesterday,
and may start writing outbound rules for the native firewall
as an educational exercise.

 

Windows firewall - it's the lightest FW

 

Yep and the free Windows firewall notifier also. How light do you want to have it? Only a GUI add-on to the build in FW? What can be lighter?

 

What Kees said. Also consider no third party firewall bugs or conflics with other third party security that may be installed on the system.Windows firewall just works plain and simple.

 

I'd be interested to know what you mean by "lightweight". Do you mean a FW that handles outbound connection requests automatically?

 

Have you ever considered Phant0m's ruleset for LnS -http://www.mntolympus.org/

 

. Firstly Windows FW is in fact (it's not a name only) a Firewall. To use A GUI could be VERY useful (e.g. oubound connections control more easy; close any connections, etc.). If someone doesn't like GUI's can use native firewall and manage by itself.
. Windows 7 Firewall Control isn't "just GUI's for the built in Windows FW": "The both products work independently entirely. You can switch the Built-in Firewall ON or OFF at your option due to complete product independence".

. I'm using it in a XP machine; it works very well.
. Using Version 5.0 Beta available for free (Plus Edition), very stable; thus I'm using it with all Plus features for free. The beta free version has a very useful warning:

Both these Firewalls allow to disable all connections when user wants.

 

I have considered it, but its still going to require some configuration. Ive considered using it to just block/allow certain applications.

By light weight I mean low maintenance, easy to configure, and light on system resources.

 

Rising FW.
http://www.rising.com.cn/free/index.html

 

Windows Firewall from Vista and up is very good although sometimes it doesn't recognize a rule anymore until I restart the computer.

 

Refuse to use something from a company that openly gets caught and denies creating malware to make a profit.

 

I've been trying out Tinywall (the beta version, haven't tried the stable) for a couple of days and so far I'm impressed. It's being discussed on this thread: https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=309739

It uses the Windows FW for Vista and 7 but I like it better than the other Windows FW controllers.

 

Why do you think this is a better choice than other solutions that work also with Windows Firewall ? Thank you.

 

To be honest it's been a while since I tried another one, but when I did it seemed to be just an interface to more quickly access the Windows firewall, then you had to have a good idea of what you were doing in setting up rules. Not much different than going directly to the Win firewall and trying to figure it out yourself. I never tried a paid version. But reading some of the comments helps convince me I'm better off with TinyWall.

Tinywall, at least in my case, seems to have been pretty much preconfigured, and it makes it easy to add exceptions for other programs it doesn't recognize. It doesn't give pop-ups asking me to allow/block all kinds of services that I have no idea what they are.

As always, YMMV. Many people here probably know more about firewalls, setting up rules, and what to block or allow, and would rather have something more configurable. I just want something fairly simple yet effective.

 

Went with my LnS subscription and paid for the Phant0m ruleset.

 

Privatefirewall from privacyware.com

 

The free versions are useless, they don't provide System/Core application protection.

 

Useless, doesn't provide proper protection.