Will this cause a problem? - ESET Antivirus used with separate firewall

Hi,

I was just wanting to clarify or check whether there would be a problem if I were to purchase and run the Eset Nod32 Antivirus program and also install and run a separate firewall program.

I know that Eset offer a full security suite program which includes a firewall program but I'd rather just pay for the antivirus program (I'm not entirely convinced I need a separate firewall program since I have the in built Windows firewall and there's a good firewall installed on the main PC which is used to control the home network, its attached to the router I believe, if that makes any sense(?) but I'd like to know anyway).

I'm aware that there are some firewall programs which are free and work well, so I just wanted to check whether there would be any problem if I were to purchase and run Eset Antivirus while also installing and using a free firewall program by another company? would this cause a bad clash which would cause problems at all, or should it not be an issue? I was just curious, thats all, since I might want to try one of the free firewall programs alongside Eset Antivirus, if it won't cause any problems then it might be worth a shot, if it were to make my PC more secure then why not but I don't particularly want to pay more just for that...

Thanks in advance for any help/advice etc. and I apologise if this has already been covered elsewhere.

 

I'm running Comodo Internet Security 3.5 (Just the Firewall & Defense+) with NOD32. No problems.

Just be aware that the browser web protection in NOD32 means that some traffic (port 80 HTTP etc.) goes thro ekrn.exe (NOD32) so the firewall cannot distinguish what application it is necessarily from, e.g. IE, Firefox etc. Everything else is monitored correctly however, and I've not had any issues as anything going through ekrn.exe is being scanned anyway.

 

I use comodo firewall with nod32, works like a charm

 

Thanks for the replies however I have more of a general problem now, as judging by reviews I've read online, the Vista versions of Comodo and ZoneAlarm (well basically all the well known free firewall programs) are basically not very good, really slowing the system down or giving the blue screen of death etc etc. and my laptop runs Vista, so, guess I'll be giving it a miss for now... but im not convinced I really need one anyway, it was just a thought.

Thanks for the info. though

 

I've had no problems using the latest version of Comodo Internet Security V3.5 (3.5.54375.427 to be exact) which has superceded Comodo Firewall Pro, nor any problems with the last few releases of Comodo Firewall Pro (version 3.0) before that, all used with Vista Home Premium 32bit (with and without Service Pack 1).

No blue screens and I've not experienced any notable slowdown.

Perhaps your info is a little out of date. I know early versions of Comodo Firewall Pro v3 were a little flaky with Vista, but that doesn't apply now.

 

Ah ok, well thats good to know, thanks. It was download.com's entry for the main Comodo Vista compatible program that had reviews complaining about it... I didn't check the date of the reviews though...

 

I just had another quick look at the reviews, they really are quite dire for Comodo Firewall Pro, see:- http://www.download.com/Comodo-Firewall-Pro/3000-10435_4-10460704.html?tag=mncol&cdlPid=10849947
:-/ it sounds like its ZoneAlarm thats bad for blue screen of death on Vista but it sounds like ZoneAlarm might be better... hmmm... oh well, I'll try something in the next day or so and see what happens

 

I'm trying the free online armor firewall, it seems to be ok so far, with better reviews... hopefully that will be all I need

 

I've just read some of the user reviews on the download.com website. I have to say that I've not experienced any of the issues with the versions they mention.

The Defense+ feature is a bit too overkill sometimes, but it can be run in Training Mode, which I did for some time before reviewing what policies it had set up for programs to make sure nothing strange appeared there, then gradually ramping up its strength until finally reaching Safe Mode. This has resulted in much less popups.

However, I can see that the average user will find Defense+ too annoying, especially along side Vista UAC. It can be turned off, however, which doesn't impact on the firewall protection at all as that has seperate settings.

Anyway, good luck with your choice of firewall, it may be ample for your needs.

Depending on what you do with your PC, as you say, you may not really need a firewall, other than either the built-in Windows firewall, or maybe another simple one. It all depends on the level of risk. If you just use email and surf websites, then the risk isn't that high, especially if you're behind a router.

 

It can be confusing, trying to figure out what will work and what won't, software wise, when on some sites you can find some pretty awful reviews and on others there may be more positive ones that say it works fine, so it is pretty confusing... perhaps it depends on if they have Vista SP1 installed or something(?) I really don't know...

Well the firewall I downloaded appears to be running alright, so im happy thanks for the replies/info.

 

I run NOD32 with Agnitum Outpost, let me put it like this, in an advert I heard on radio for something in no way related to computing =-

"Its the perfect combination"