So W7's firewall is really good or useless!

Discussion in 'other firewalls' started by ratchet, Oct 4, 2013.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. ratchet

    ratchet Registered Member

    Joined:
    Feb 20, 2006
    Posts:
    1,988
    I was always a big firewall guy. Firewall this and then firewall that and then tinkering with all the different settings. However, since building this x64 W7 SP1 PC in May of 2012 I've only used W7's, never touching any settings. I have never heard one word from it. I have never had any malware issues either so I guess it works fine!
     
  2. Seven64

    Seven64 Guest

  3. J_L

    J_L Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 6, 2009
    Posts:
    8,738
    First you should understand the difference between inbound and outbound firewalls. Windows 7 has capabilities for both, but disables outbound by default. You can enable that through advanced settings, but it may be hard to configure compared to software like TinyWall.

    Also, HIPS and other componenets are included in most third-party firewalls, but not Windows Firewall.
     
  4. micafighter

    micafighter Registered Member

    Joined:
    Sep 30, 2013
    Posts:
    59
    Location:
    Hungary

    Since windows Vista, Microsoft doesn't let 3rd party software mess around with firewall & drivers. So Vista and up ALL Firewall applications use the same API, which is provided by Microsoft. This means that traffic control is done by Microsoft's Windows Firewall anyway. So if you have a Firewall application, with no extra features other than controlling trafic, it is basially a windows firewall, with a different UI.

    There are 2 reasons to install a firewall application vista and up: 1st is UI: some firewall applications have easier control over the firewall rules, but it doesn't add finctionality to the windows firewall, its just a different UI.

    2nd There are some firewall applications with added features: For example Comodo firewall (which is free btw) is including HIPS, Sandbox, and File Rating.

    So bottom line: Vista and up, network traffic is always controlled by: the API provided by Microsoft (=windows firewall)
     
  5. The Red Moon

    The Red Moon Registered Member

    Joined:
    May 17, 2012
    Posts:
    4,101
    Sorry to be slightly off topic but i wonder if when people use 3rd party firewalls do they simply turn off the windows firewall or disable it completely within windows services.?
    Thanks.
     
  6. fax

    fax Registered Member

    Joined:
    May 30, 2005
    Posts:
    3,899
    Location:
    localhost
    Normally it's enough turning off windows firewall as some third party firewalls need the service to work correctly. In any case, third party firewalls take care of disabling the relevant components in the OS. So, you are not supposed to do anything. :)
     
  7. RealNature

    RealNature Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2013
    Posts:
    34
    Hmm OK can you provide a link or something in this matter? Thx
     
  8. Shiri

    Shiri Registered Member

    Joined:
    May 11, 2013
    Posts:
    55
    Location:
    USA


    Here's some info what Win7 firewall does with MSE..

    "..When Security Essentials launched, many pundits heralded it as the end of paid security software. Not unsurprisingly, this doom and gloom was a little off the mark, but Security Essentials proved to be a very adept program.In fact, in the entire testing period, Security Essentials missed only four unique files, putting it ahead of even AVG’s offering.

    We also looked at other aspects of the new Security Essentials offering. The latest version of the software monitors the Windows firewall, and when we installed it on our test system it applied settings that prevented our attacking PC from connecting or extracting any information.

    To read the full review get the May 2011 issue of PC & Tech Authority on sale from April 6..".

    Article-

    http://www.westcoastlabs.com/realTimeTesting/article/?articleID=1#item4









    :)
     
  9. ams963

    ams963 Registered Member

    Joined:
    May 3, 2011
    Posts:
    6,039
    Location:
    Parallel Universe
    Windows Firewall is enough for most people. :thumb:
     
  10. pajenn

    pajenn Registered Member

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2009
    Posts:
    930
    a lot third party firewalls have (advanced) options to allow port stealthing, ARP protection, fragment blocking, some offer DNS protection, phishing blocking, IP spoofing protection, etc. Now I'm not sure what most of that means or if it's even necessary, but I assume Windows default firewall doesn't do it.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.