Should I change my browser or my firewall?

As I noted in this thread, after a recent update Chrome stopped working with Sandboxie in Win7. I soon discovered that Online Armor was one of the conflicting softwares, and a viable workaround was presented... exclude Chrome from OA's coverage. That I did, and Chrome once again was able to run in Sandboxie. But I'm not comfortable with this arrangement, so I need to make a change. Question is, which app do I change out?

Of the three programs involved (Sandboxie, Chrome and Online Armor Free), the only one I am not willing to get rid of is Sandboxie. Sandboxie must remain.

So that leaves Chrome browser and Online Armor Free. I need to change one of them because it's not optimum to exclude a browser from my firewall. I like them both very much, but I'm leaning towards Chrome as a favorite over OA. But I'm not sure, and that's where I can use some help.

What would you guys do?

Swap out firewalls, maybe try Comodo?
Give Dragon a whirl and see how that runs?

What are your suggestions?

 

Your question is difficult to answer since a browser and a FW are so very different apps. I'll have to split my opinion over two scenarios.

1 Considering a FW is both more complex and more important security-wise than a browser I would stick with the FW.

2 But... if the browser was FF, which versatility I couldn't live without, I would swap FWs.

So... how important is Chrome to your browsing habits?

 

I would try Dragon, I use it and it works great.However,I have not tried OA with Dragon so can''t comment how it works but if it does work well,then there is no lose of a secure browser and your security software.

 

If it were me, I would ditch OA ASAP. Sandboxie is everything you need for browser security, and in my opinion, 3rd party firewalls offer nothing more then the Windows 7 firewall offers, to the average user. If you are behind an NAT router firewall, and you set Windows 7 to public (if you don't share files or print ect..) that will be all that you need. Some users like the feeling of an overly chatty 3rd party firewall because they "know exactly what their machine is doing, and who it's talking to", but I'm not one of them.

NAT firewall, Windows 7 firewall, Sandboxie, Chrome = no more conflicts <priceless>

 

Google Chrome + Windows Firewall with Advanced Security.

If you don't feel in the mood to learn WFAS, there are third-party applications that extend WFAS by prompting the user.

 

Change to both of them.Comodo FW and Dragon.That's what i would do.At least for tryin'.

 

If it was me, I would drop OA, and switch from Chrome to Firefox.

Firefox and SBIE are working very nice on my W7.

Bo

 

You should change neither of them.

I would post the problem in Emsisoft Forum right away and ask for help.

Go and ask for help in the Emsisoft forum. Either Fabian Wosar, GT500(Emsisoft employee) or ctrlaltdelete(Emsisoft employee) is sure to help you. They always provide rapid solution. I got one of my problems solved pretty quickly. Here is a an example of my solved issue. I hope this will get you kick in. Good luck.

 

I would do the same. I would try to resolve problem with OA support.

If there would be no solution to this problem, I would remove OA.

 

I would switch to Firefox if no solution is found as sbie would protect at top-notch protection. And I'd still get top-notch firewall protection as well.

 

I have definitely been checking in on the Emsisoft forum, and I learned that this has been a known issue with OA since a year ago.
They claim to have fixed it once, but they say Chrome broke it again with a recent update.
An Emsisoft employee is testing this now.
I'm not too confident that OA will straighten this out, given that there are two other softwares involved, and they basically feel that the whole situation is a case of stacking too many like-kind applications on top of each other... a premise which I must admit could very well be legitimate.

 

Hmm... then I think you could follow post #10

 

If the collision cannot be fixed, then you weigh your "desires".

You don't really need either of them, as you have plenty of alternate choises.

I suppose I would ask myself, which of the two is going to offer me the most security/convenience for my system overall. For me the browser would have much more weight as I use it quite a bit and my firewall (when I used one) was only really used to control what programs were going outbound - and that got old because I never had programs asking that I did not want to allow.

Things change of course if you are on a LAN with foreign computers or you have a WAN IP without a router.

Sul.

 

Yes, I have a NAT router.
For now I have decided to remove OA and go with Windows firewall.
All of your responses helped me to sort it out.
Thank you.

 

Wise decision.

Bo

 

Depends on how comfortable you are with your browser. If it were me, as much as I like Comodo FW, Firefox is the last thing in my setup I'd part with. I'd even sooner drop Sandboxie. When you really become accustomed to a browser, it's like falling in love.

 

Your problem is easy from my point of view. Your FW can't play with Chrome that is very bad as that is the prime access to the www.

So scrap that browser that is easy. Uninstall it.

Pick one that OA can work okay with.
I know first hand it is okay with Firefox and IE.

 

The man from Tucumcari speaks the truth!

 

I would do the same

 

I agree..

 

I'd keep Chrome, it's part of my security. I think it was Kees1958 who once posted about Chrome's sandbox reinforcing the security that Sandboxie provides. It's also what I use for Flash and for a PDF reader. And so far on my computer it seems that the combination of a router and Windows 7 x64 firewall is secure enough, there haven't been any problems in more than a year.

 

I guess the operative phrase was "for now".
I wanted to stick with WFW, and even installed Windows Firewall Control, but I didn't feel like paying 10 bucks right away in order to unlock things like Learning Mode.

So, I have installed Comodo Firewall, and so far (10 minutes) I like it.

I also like that I can keep Chrome (big plus for me), keep Sandboxie (bigger plus) and I don't have to exclude the browser from the FW like I had to with OA.
And this little sojourn into the Comodo realm may prod me into trying Dragon.

 

I think FW's like Online Armor and Comodo are best installed last. They have learning modes and should automatically whitelist sandboxie & chrome if you installed it right.

I wouldnt' ditch OA

 

I respect your opinion about keeping OA, but since encountering this problem, I've learned that it is a known issue with OA since a year ago.
They claim to have fixed it once, but they say Chrome broke it again with a recent update. Order of installation probably isn't enough to fix this situation.

 

Comodo Firewall is awesome. So tell me Page, how do you like the HIPS and sandbox feature in overall? Have you set HIPS to max?