Privatefirewall causing sites to load slowly

OS>XP-SP3: I've had pfw installed since earlier this yr after i read about it on here. I recently performed a clean install on xp. When its set to "filter all traffic", any site i click on is taking anywhere from 15 seconds to 1 minute to load. Never had any problems with pfw or pages loading very slowly before reformat. I posted on some different forums about it & someone suggested i go to "pingtest.net" & post results. I did & the first time it wouldn't work saying that my firewall or av was blocking it. I disabled the av, set pfw to allow all traffic, & the test was successful giving me a grade "A". Long story short, i forgot to reset them & clicked on some sites, & the pages loaded quickly again. It wasn't the av causing this it is pfw. Obviously i can't leave it on "allow all traffic" all the time, so i need help in configuring it with it set to "filter all traffic" so i won't have the slow loading pages anymore. If i have to install another firewall i will, but i like this one. I know "bellgamin" really likes this firewall, so i'm hoping he reads this...or someone. If you need any more info, i'll check back during the day for a reply. THANX for your time/help anyone.

 

maybe check some of these
http://www.privacyware.com/pf_tutorials.html

 

Just an observation or 2.

1) Try to ensure that your security SW AV and FW etc exclude each other.
2) Note some recent updates to pw
3) If your FW AND your AV (which one do you have?) don't both scan files in real time, this is duplicate HIPS.

Hopefully, bellgamin will chime in more specifically on pf

 

No slowdown here. I cannot replicate the issue. Ergo, I am sadly unable to help.

I suggest Landcruiser to submit a support ticket to PFW support. Be sure & give all the info requested by the ticket format. I further suggest you also include (a) which browser you are using, (b) whether you are on virtual or sandbox, and (most importantly) (c) any other firewalls or HIPS that you have had installed on this same computer PAST OR PRESENT.

NOTE1: If any remnants of prior FWs or HIPS were not FULLY cleaned up, it could cause the slowdown. Outpost & Comodo are examples of programs that sometimes do not uninstall cleanly.

NOTE2: The fact that your surfing speeded up when PFW was on "allow all" doesn't necessarily mean that your antivirus is not involved in the slowdown when PFW is set to "filter". If your AV & PFW are both trying to sift the same stuff at the same time, this can cause a slowdown -- especially if your AV includes a sandbox (e.g. Avast) or behavior blocker (e.g. Norton AV, Panda Cloud, etc).
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Afterthought: Did you try setting PFW's Process Monitor to "Off"? Doing so might help you determine whether or not PFW's HIPS is involved in the slowdown.

 

THANX for the reply bellgamin & others. I've been surfing this site for a few yrs now & like getting info from folks who are light years ahead of me in computer knowledge. I started using pfw earlier this yr mainly because of your opinions/facts about it. Previously had OA, it wouldn't remember settings once in awhile, got tired of resetting, so i dumped it. I was using pfw along with avast, malware defender, spyshelter, geswall, prevx safeonline, sandboxie, returnil, & some on demand scanners with no conflicts/problems. Only using geswall,sandboxie,sypshelter right now.

Decided to reformat instead of a repair recently, too much to explain why, so any remnants of pfw or oa were wiped. Had a BSOD first time avast installed, got it working, tried to reinstall after reformat, another BSOD, gave up. May have something to do with my OS, who knows. Read about others on avast forums getting BSOD'S too. Currently using Panda Cloud Pro free from link on wilders on facebook which might explain this because of what you posted in your reply. I disabled it, set pfw back to filter, unfortunately it didn't help.

I set the process monitor to off like you suggested, unfortunately it didn't help. I'm submitting a ticket to support today, hopefully i'll get some help there. I don't want to have to use another firewall, pfw is not a resource hog & works great. Would changing any settings in the "internet/network security" section possibly help? THANX again for the help.

 

Hi bellgamin!

So here you are !

Just a comment on uninstalling Outpost as I just did it to tweak my UNCERTAIN partnership twixt Nod32 and OP in another thread just posted (1 minute ago in ESET forum) .

To properly uninstall OP users MUST do that in safe mode using the specialized unintaller in programs folder for Agnitum called

unins000.exe


Take care.

 

Not to minimize your frustrations, but IF I was you I would run the specialized Avast uninstaller and ALL other security programs for the moment defrag reboot and see what your site loading speed is with nothing but windows FW active. ( are you behind a router?)

Before proceeding take a backup on dvd/usb of ALL user files you need.

This speed matter MAY be unrelated to software completely and have more to do with hardware or your ISP service.

We have been assuming that pfw is the issue

 

To be honest, it's surprising you haven't got more problems with that much security software installed, and it's not really fair to ask PFW support to investigate when you have so much potential sources of conflict. Try stripping everything back to just PFW and see if the problem is still there. If it has gone start adding apps back in until the problem reappears.

 

As Scoobs noted, there are some possible points of conflict in your set-up. Geswall is a policy-based HIPS with aspects of a sandbox as well. Spyshelter is a HIPS/keylogger that puts MANY hooks into the kernel in its XP version.

You didn't say which (if any) AV you are running now. If it's Avast, I'm sure you already know that Avast also has a sandbox as well as a behavior-blocker-type HIPS. If running Avast it is important to list ALL other security apps in Avast's exceptions lists.

Speaking of exceptions -- check to se that you have listed PFW as an exception on each & every one of your other security apps. After checking for that, I suggest you shut down all other security apps. Once you have done that, load & execute each security app, one by one, to check PFW's response thereto. If you get a PFW on any of those other security apps, I suggest you respond by clicking on "Training" (provided, of course, that you fully trust the security app which caused PFW to pop an alert).
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I'm glad you asked PFW for support. Since it's the weekend, you will probably hear from Greg (PFW's support ace) o/a Monday.

PLEASE keep us posted. We are all here to help each other and to learn from each other. What little I know about PFW I learned from the community of PFW users right here at Wilders.

Be sure & park your Landcruiser here often. Good luck!