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Which is the best Standalone Firewall?


KotaXor

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Surprise myself, after months of using Comodo I decided not to use it anymore......Its good, that I can't deny! But its irritating when it ask for permission when I tried to install anything...

Zone Alarm is much better, the basic version doesn't not care except when application tried to connect through the internet....which I think is much better as long as you know what you are doing!

Back to Windows Firewall......not a good choice but ..............as long as I know what I am doing...

In my opinion, no firewall is perfect, if you allow application to connect through the internet without knowing what the application is going to do....Its as good as having no firewall..

Unless it is a clear cut trojan, not many ppl know whether the type of process connecting to the Internet is genuine or not....

I think it is best if you know what are the processes that is running in your pc, and monitor it once a while to ensure what is running is not out of the ordinary.

This is just my opinion.....

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Surprise myself, after months of using Comodo I decided not to use it anymore......Its good, that I can't deny! But its irritating when it ask for permission when I tried to install anything...

Zone Alarm is much better, the basic version doesn't not care except when application tried to connect through the internet....which I think is much better as long as you know what you are doing!

Back to Windows Firewall......not a good choice but ..............as long as I know what I am doing...

In my opinion, no firewall is perfect, if you allow application to connect through the internet without knowing what the application is going to do....Its as good as having no firewall..

Unless it is a clear cut trojan, not many ppl know whether the type of process connecting to the Internet is genuine or not....

I think it is best if you know what are the processes that is running in your pc, and monitor it once a while to ensure what is running is not out of the ordinary.

This is just my opinion.....

Yes, I agree with you.

Only checking every IP attempts connection (by applications/processes/services) you can disguess and decide about it's safe or not (and you need know some about remote IP)... No firewall/AV/HIPS/Security program can do this work. (No program can know security about all IP's arround the world).

There are only aproximative solutions, IP's lists, malware list's, trojan usual ports, etc.

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Surprise myself, after months of using Comodo I decided not to use it anymore......Its good, that I can't deny! But its irritating when it ask for permission when I tried to install anything...

Zone Alarm is much better, the basic version doesn't not care except when application tried to connect through the internet....which I think is much better as long as you know what you are doing!

Back to Windows Firewall......not a good choice but ..............as long as I know what I am doing...

In my opinion, no firewall is perfect, if you allow application to connect through the internet without knowing what the application is going to do....Its as good as having no firewall..

Unless it is a clear cut trojan, not many ppl know whether the type of process connecting to the Internet is genuine or not....

I think it is best if you know what are the processes that is running in your pc, and monitor it once a while to ensure what is running is not out of the ordinary.

This is just my opinion.....

Yes, I agree with you.

Only checking every IP attempts connection (by applications/processes/services) you can disguess and decide about it's safe or not (and you need know some about remote IP)... No firewall/AV/HIPS/Security program can do this work. (No program can know security about all IP's arround the world).

There are only aproximative solutions, IP's lists, malware list's, trojan usual ports, etc.

ESS firewall is a good implementation of Windows Firewall. You see Applications, services, ports, local, remote, IP, resolved DNS names, changed (Md5 checksum) applications, rules, advanced rules, outgoing & incomming traffic..... all this without an intrusive manner. You can decide all at your own risk! (But with information).

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well I have been running Vista since it hit the shelves in 07. I have tried most of the firewalls and the best one I can find for this piece of junk is "Vista Firewall Control" by Sphinx Software.

It turns Vista's default Firewall into a user friendly program and allows you to stop outgoing/ingoing just like all of the mainstream firewall versions. When you combine it with the Default vista firewall it makes your system as tight as a drum and runs without any conflicts at all. It is a tiny program and uses hardly any recourses because Vista already supplies all of the main parts and "Vista firewall control" just gives it a logical brain.

You can get a version for XP too.

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Tested ZoneAlarm for a while now........user friendly and not so annoying as Comodo! So far so good!

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Righto, I agree with you - ZoneAlarm is among the most user-friendly firewalls. Comodo pissed me off, too - with all those endlessly irritating pop-ups (they're planning to make these pop-ups less noisier in the upcoming releases.) I guess Comodo is the most effective one . . . . . . today (but hateful.)

BTW, I just uninstalled my trusted ZoneAlarm Pro today - so that I could test the much lauded # 2 firewall, Online Armor 2.1.0.131 (Free Edition) Would love to have the full featured paid version - hope somebody can point me in the right direction to the 'fix.'

Wish somebody would come up with a truly granular firewall - no HIPs, no anti-spyware, no anti-virus, no anti-SPAM, no anti-privacy, no anti-theft, no blah, blah & some more blah . . . . . . . . . . but just pure unadulterated packet auditing piece of traditional software known as a firewall.

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Righto, I agree with you - ZoneAlarm is among the most user-friendly firewalls. Comodo pissed me off, too - with all those endlessly irritating pop-ups (they're planning to make these pop-ups less noisier in the upcoming releases.) I guess Comodo is the most effective one . . . . . . today (but hateful.)

BTW, I just uninstalled my trusted ZoneAlarm Pro today - so that I could test the much lauded # 2 firewall, Online Armor 2.1.0.131 (Free Edition) Would love to have the full featured paid version - hope somebody can point me in the right direction to the 'fix.'

Wish somebody would come up with a truly granular firewall - no HIPs, no anti-spyware, no anti-virus, no anti-SPAM, no anti-privacy, no anti-theft, no blah, blah & some more blah . . . . . . . . . . but just pure unadulterated packet auditing piece of traditional software known as a firewall.

Hahaha....How about trying Sygate Personal firewall.....going to try it out on another PC!

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Yeah the last version of Sygate (before it got bought out by Symantec was what I used to use). It was a very capable firewall, and aside from the popups here and there was extremely good at it's job. I'm now using Comodo (firewall only) and find this just as good, with a much better interface.

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Hahaha....How about trying Sygate Personal firewall.....going to try it out on another PC!

Do let's know of your experience with 'Sygate Personal firewall,' I certainly try it out, too once you find it worthwhile.

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Hahaha....How about trying Sygate Personal firewall.....going to try it out on another PC!

Do let's know of your experience with 'Sygate Personal firewall,' I certainly try it out, too once you find it worthwhile.

Yeah, as what Samurai said, don't like the interface but so far its OK.....slow down my internet speed though, don't know yet if its because of Sygate, will continue to test for the

next few days....

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Sygate:

Nothing special, not very user friendly......went back to ZoneAlarm Pro

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Sygate has been bought and killed by Symantec because the free Sygate version was killing the market for their own Norton firewall. Even if the Norton firewall was for free, I personally still prefer Sygate! You can still download Sygate Personal Firewall from one of the mirrors of www.simtel.com (turn off the update function, you won't need it).

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  • 1 month later...

Uninstalled 'Online Armor Personal Firewall 2.1.0.131 (Free Edition)' last week - guess, I got fed up waiting for somebody to come up with a crack for the 'full-featured but . . . . . . paid version.' I did find 'Online Armor Personal Firewall 2.1.0.131 (Free Edition)' to be comparable in performance if not better than my favourite user friendly firewall, 'ZoneAlarm Pro 7.0.473.000.'

After kotaxor's report on 'Sygate Personal firewall, ' decided against installing it - instead tried out 'Comodo Firewall Pro 3.0.25.378' after following up the latest ratings at the following Firewall Testing Site:-

http://www.matousec.com/projects/firewall-challenge/results.php

Preliminary Finding:-

It was a pleasant surprise to experience that with this release, the pop-ups have been reduced substantially - in fact, I came across much less pop-ups with 'Comodo Firewall Pro 3.0.25.378' than any other firewall I've ever used in my life (kotaxor & Donaldo, believe it or not.)

Please note, the installation was done in default and the HIPs component was opted for and duly activated - will check out this version more extensively and report back soon.

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not to make you paranoid or the go crazy....but...how do you know your firewall is really working, i mean really...if someone broke in past your firewall how would you know. As Lite as said many times in the past, your best defense is your brain....and may I add the following....Don't throw your blind trust into something or someone.Even if you are running a hardware firewall and a software firewall you still have the need to use common sense( your brain) to keep an eye on your system.

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(kotaxor & Donaldo, believe it or not.)

sure we believe you noddy and thanx for the tip

downloading comodo now with excitement

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not to make you paranoid or the go crazy

'Paranoia' is a very subjective term (what is one man's wife could be another man's Concubine) - however if using a firewall is seen as being paranoid, I would rather be called that than be swindled of my hard earned bank balance by some hacker.

....but...how do you know your firewall is really working

I use 2 laptops in a 'Corporate Network' consisting of hundreds of other systems on the LAN - both my systems remain invisible to other PC Users on the network hence my files & folders are not shared whereas I have access to all their folders and/files. I keep a regular check on my invisibility.

As Lite as said many times in the past, your best defense is your brain....and may I add the following....Don't throw your blind trust into something or someone.

Believe me, without a firewall - one's helpless brain will not get the foggiest idea whenever one's applications / programs try to phone home. The AntiVirus & AntiSpyware utilities that make most people go ga-ga are just secondary lines of defence - the primary line of defence is always a firewall (and the latest feature addition of the HIPs component has made it appealing even for a internet non-user to use a firewall.)

Even if you are running a hardware firewall and a software firewall you still have the need to use common sense( your brain) to keep an eye on your system.

IMHO, keeping the hardware as well as software firewall running together is overkill as this slows down the internet bandwith significantly - some folks may even point out to you that this is paranoia (anyways, this boils down to individual preferences)

BTW, using a firewall is not in the domain of the average Joe - one needs more than a sprinkling of common sense to operate one.

Footnote:- My dear friend dMog, I remember when I was on the verge of quitting this forum your kind words stopped me. Please don't believe everything what others write (not even me) - just try out a firewall and judge for yourself. Guys like kotaxor, Donaldo, Shought, Marik, etc. are really appreciated for willing to try just about anything. Understand, it would pain us to learn that you venture out into the CyberWorld without adequate protection.

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exactly...you said a lot..i was not trying to be mean spirited.... hope it was not taken that way...

No i am not paranoid...people really are out to get me :dunno:

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Hey dMog, I know you meant to be good spirited - hence I tried to reply in a constructive manner (though long-winded.) I'm still concerned - hope you'll try out some firewall . . . . . . . any firewall.

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Hey dMog, I know you meant to be good spirited - hence I tried to reply in a constructive manner (though long-winded.) I'm still concerned - hope you'll try out some firewall . . . . . . . any firewall.

I do have a software firewall

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For the past one month since I started using ZoneAlarm Pro...everything seems to be working nicely.

Do not just depend on Firewall to guard against your system, common sense is the best!

But at time, common sense do make mistake...I know as I made my fair share of mistakes!

You will learned more as you make these mistakes but tried not to make to many mistakes....hahaha!

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