Can anyone recommend a good firewall?

Look'n'Stop! If you already have Nod32, then just take MVPS hosts file and Opera or Firefox for a browser. That's all you ever need.

 

How about Sygate - that is still floating around an I always liked it. Any problem with still using it on an XP machine?

 

http://www.untangle.com/

 

My vote goes to Sygate as well. It doesn't use too many resources and it provides great protection. And personal edition is free

 

I third Sygate - the best thing to hit Windows... in the firewall dept...
Mrk

 

Sorry, but i totally disagree with you on that one. How can ZA screw up your computer? Perhaps not uninstalling the previous version properly and then installing the newer version of ZA when the older version was NOT properly removed in the first place, in reference to old registry keys/files, etc. Then YES, you will have problems, but if it was done properly in the first place, there should be NO problems.

 

ZA can screw up any computer. Have a look at the survey ZA Forum is running to gather up all their issues, there are 100's if not more posts on ZA issues there and here.

You are dead right about not properly uninstalling their product, but why would the poor user be subjected by CP to such complex steps to delete? They assume programmer level skills exist in their user base!

 

Escalader beat me on posting. Make no mistake about it ZA is to hard to uninstall completely. My problems have been rare but I have followed well documented step by step proceedures. In comparison to most other firewalls I think it is to much of a risk of going wrong in the unistall.

I have also at times in the long past had true vector break and show no protection X in the icon tray.

 

I think that if anyone wants to install ZA, they should install FDISR first and make a secondary snapshot labeled "ZA eraser". Then they can install ZA worry free and upgrade without fear. Then when the inevitable bad upgrade affects them, all they have to do is boot to the secondary snapshot and copy the secondary to the primary snapshot and poof it's like ZA never was there.

 

Hi twl845:

Until the call home is independently proven to be gone and we can deal with the ZA application itself in control monitor and stability is proven, IT will NEVER be on my PC.

So I don't need to worry about bad upgrades. A vendor with bad upgrades? Why use their products at all? There are alternative FW's that don't have these "features". This forum is loaded with information on other FW's.

 

I have been pleased with both LooknStop, and Kerio 2.1 5. I never had a problem with either, and they were not overly intrusive.
Currently I am using KIS 7 on both of my computers so do not have another firewall.

If I were to go back to KAV or any stand alone AV I would first trial Online Armor. If I did not like it I would go back to LnS or Kerio. Kerio is free, and LnS is a one time cost.

Regards,
Jerry

 

Hi Escalader, I think you know I will never use ZA again. My post was tongue in cheek for those who will need to deal with the clean uninstall. How are you liking CFP? I think it's great and I am patiently waiting for Ver.3.

 

I fourth Sygate - IMO simply the best if you have massive connections due to filesharing, and the price is right. As for the outbound leaktests, you can always use other programs for hips, it is only recently that these functions are being built into firewalls.

Get Sygate:
http://www.savefile.com/projects/1045215
Archived by red_jack former moderator of sygate forums

Your best bet is probably 5.5.2710 if you want xp security center to recognize it use 5.6.3408.Debug This was the final build made public. On the Sygate forums it was recommended over 5.6.2808 and 5.6.2818

 

To say the least, there is no shortage of these "What is the best firewall?" threads. Take a look at: this,

this, this, this, or this.

I am only scraping the tip of the iceberg

 

It's very obvious you don't understand how to follow easy instructions how to uninstall Zone Alarm, because in your words, "CP to such complex steps to delete"

Here are the steps to uninstall Zone Alarm.

I suggest a 'clean' uninstall of your Zone Alarm firewall followed by a fresh install. Here's how you do a clean uninstall. Go into the start menu locate the zonelabs entry and right click on the uninstaller and select properties. Now in the target box you must add a space and then /clean to the end so that it looks something like this "C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm\zauninst.exe" /clean click apply and then OK. Next open ZA and turn off the load on boot option, then reboot and then run the uninstaller.This should get rid of all of ZoneAlarm. Now go to your windows temp folder and delete everything. Find the folder named Internet logs and delete it then empty your recycle bin. For Windows XP: clean your C:\WINDOWS\Prefetch folder. Clean the history in Internet Explorer or your current browser, clean the cookies. Then empty your recycle bin. ZoneAlarm should be gone. Now download and install a fresh copy of Zone Alarm.

What is so hard about these instructions?

 

Although I believe this uninstall procedure is usually ok for a ZA re-install, you will likely find additional hidden files and folders, and registry entries remain after performing it.

The procedure I have been forced to use in the past includes searching through hidden files and folders along with some registry edits to remove remaining entries. These additional steps can be daunting to computer novices. For complete details see:

http://forums.zonealarm.com/zonelabs/board/message?board.id=AllowAccess&message.id=103

Your mileage may vary of course.

 

I just paid for Online Armor after running the trial for the past 27+ days.
I also renewed my NOD32 with the Blackspear settings. Everything is running very fast and smooth as silk.

This is an excellent forum with many great members. In just a few short weeks of "lurking" I have learned a lot and have a lot more to learn.

My vote for a firewall companion to NOD32 would be Online Armor....
Give the free trial a spin a decide for yourself....

 

I have just changed from Comodo FW to OA Personal firewall with hips,its running very lite on my system and with my AV DR.Web.Very easy to install and configure.Any pop-up you receive is in plain English, very easy to make a decision. Allow or Block.Super program.
Badcompany.

Ps. Excellent Support.

 

One click is all any user should be asked to do.
The steps you listed make the point for me. TY

 

Thanks shep, the matter is closed, it should be easy for all, one click no registry entry work! Take it easy.

 

Yes, I knew Just rode in on your post!

 

IMHO, OA2+AV is the greatest. The firewall in advanced mode is very customizable, yet still very efficient in default mode. The AV is compatable to run alongside NOD32 and adds another layer of protection. I uninstalled ZA Internet Security Suite after using it for years. As with ANY layered software approach, your surfing habits will greatly dictate how safe you are. Virtual machines or sandboxes can also help.

 

Multi Talented,
Those would be the step by step instructions for getting rid of ZA.

As to your comment about the complexity of those instructions.... you are joking right....

What software maker would put a user through all of that version after version after version without an improvment (I do assume it is still that way as I have not used ZA for years and gave my key and download to vintage last 4.5 Pro version away to a family member after getting it up and running for her. She needed something simple effective and free and makes no changes as long as everything runs smooth. And even then would call me.)

 

Hi again twl845:

Sorry, I missed your question on how I like cfp!

Take a look at my last few posts in the CFW 2.4 learning thread when you have time.

But my answer is I liked it, with a big BUT I removed it since it kept scrambling my rules and I wasn't interested in scripts for backing up and then restoring getting a scramble and then backing the scramble up etc etc.

I probably mess more with rules than other posters and if I didn't care about rules and controlling outbound packets to bad sites so much I would just have left it there and waited for V3 like you.

I will revisit when V3 is released to the masses.

 

I'd have to recommend Outpost.
Though it costs, I'm sure you'll be satisfied with your purchase.

From my experience... it has a Clean interface, it's "light-weight", and it's user-friendly. As well it passes all leak-tests as far as I know.

I've been using it for 4 weeks so far (I was testing between firewalls for quite a while, back then.) and haven't looked back to any other.

I was a Comodo user before, and I'm still interested in seeing the final v3 however.