What is the lightest Firewall?

By NeHoMaR
in Smart Home, Network & Security

 Share

Recommended Posts

Rising Star

NeHoMaR

Posted
Posted

What is the lightest Firewall? Less use of RAM, less stupid and useless options, less use of CPU, etc. And working perfectly with P2P applications.

I use ZoneAlarm Pro, and it's very good. The problem is when I use a P2P (peer to peer) software, the memory used grow an grow, no stop, never, and I need restart it every day or two days (My PC is ON, ALWAYS, 24h, for months) ZA start using 4MB, and 48 hours later, it's using 40MB :x (Never tried, but maybe if I don't restart ZA on one week, it will be using more than 150MB of RAM or more) :x

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/171963-what-is-the-lightest-firewall/
Share on other sites
Grand Master

configure Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted
ZA start using 4MB, and 48 hours later, it's using 40MB  (Never tried, but maybe if I don't restart ZA on one week, it will be using more than 150MB of RAM or more)

It seems like ZA, in your case, is having trouble freeing the ram which, ofcourse, isn't normal.

Mentor

dreamthief

Posted
Posted
No, I have version 4.5.530.000, and reading the ZA changes history, today, I don't see any of fixes or new features, solve the problem.

Why you ask? :huh: Do you know this version solve something?

Try upgrading to the latest version to check whether the same problem is still there.

Sometimes fixes like this might not be listed in the change log.

Rising Star

NeHoMaR

Posted
  • Author
Posted
i supppose ICF in XP Pro/Server 2003 is fit for ur requirement. ;)

Do you know if ICF (WinXP standard firewall) is a GOOD and secure firewall? I think isn't :wacko:

My GOD, a lot of recommendations that confuse me :huh: Two people say Kerio Personal Firewall 2.1.5 is good, but I see latest version is 4.0.16 :blink: (Somebody say me that Kerio is difficult for configure) :pinch:

About last version of ZA Pro 5.0..., it's a bug version (read official forum) :shifty:

Mentor

bush

Posted
Posted
What is the lightest Firewall? Less use of RAM, less stupid and useless options, less use of CPU, etc. And working perfectly with P2P applications.

I use ZoneAlarm Pro, and it's very good. The problem is when I use a P2P (peer to peer) software, the memory used grow an grow, no stop, never, and I need restart it every day or two days (My PC is ON, ALWAYS, 24h, for months) ZA start using 4MB, and 48 hours later, it's using 40MB :x (Never tried, but maybe if I don't restart ZA on one week, it will be using more than 150MB of RAM or more) :x

windows firewall in up-coming sp2 will be perfect for you

Grand Master

PseudoRandomDragon

Posted
Posted

ZoneAlarm Pro isn't the litest and there are memory problems when running software like eMule, though DC++ works just fine. ZoneAlarm 5 does not solve this problem, so don't bother with the upgrade.

If you are running Win98SE/ME, it is possible to run vsmon (the security engine) without the GUI, freeing up some resources.

Grand Master

Fred Derf Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted
What is the lightest Firewall? Less use of RAM, less stupid and useless options, less use of CPU, etc. And working perfectly with P2P applications.

Umm. A NAT? It uses zero of you PC's RAM, zero of your PC's CPU and generally has less stupid and useless options (well that's debatable).

I'd use a hardware-based NAT as my first line of defence and then consider ICF in XP SP2 if you need something more robust.

I don't currently use a software-based firewall because

a) XP SP2 isn't yet official (when does it ship, kidz?)

b) I don't have any state secrets worth stealing

c) I don't engage in high risk behaviour (on my PC anyway)

That's actually not true either. I do have ZoneAlarm installed on this particular box but it's always one step away from being uninstalled.

I just quit it and gained 11MB. Hmmm. Maybe I should trash it now...

Rising Star

NeHoMaR

Posted
  • Author
Posted

The BIG problem with firewalls is that applications are TOO advanced. I don't need popup blocker, or parental control, or privacy bots, or email/web filters, or ad/banner block, or big log files, or cache/cookie cleaner, or integrated antivirus, or $%&/$% :sleep: ... I ONLY need a easy to use FIREWALL protecting my PC :pinch:

Community Regular

Nimdock

Posted
Posted
The BIG problem with firewalls is that applications are TOO advanced. I don't need popup blocker, or parental control, or privacy bots, or email/web filters, or ad/banner block, or big log files, or cache/cookie cleaner, or integrated antivirus, or $%&/$% :sleep: ... I ONLY need a easy to use FIREWALL protecting my PC :pinch:

Sygate then, just a firewall.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Posts

    • Win11Debloat 2026.06.14

      By Copernic · Posted

      Win11Debloat 2026.06.14 by Razvan Serea Win11Debloat is a lightweight, easy to use PowerShell script that allows you to quickly declutter and customize your Windows experience. It can remove pre-installed bloatware apps, disable telemetry, remove intrusive interface elements and much more. The script also includes many features that system administrators and power users will enjoy. Such as a powerful command-line interface, support for Windows Audit mode and the option to make changes to other Windows users. All changes made by Win11Debloat can be easily reversed, and most removed apps can be restored via the Microsoft Store. A full guide on how to undo the changes is available here. Win11Debloat features: Below is an overview of the key features and functionality offered by Win11Debloat. Please refer to the wiki for more information about the default settings preset. Remove a wide variety of preinstalled apps. Click here for more info. Disable telemetry, diagnostic data, activity history, app-launch tracking & targeted ads. Disable tips, tricks, suggestions & ads across Windows. Disable Windows location services & app location access. Disable Find My Device location tracking. Disable 'Windows Spotlight' and tips & tricks on the lock screen. Disable 'Windows Spotlight' desktop background option. Disable ads, suggestions and the MSN news feed in Microsoft Edge. Hide Microsoft 365 ads on the Settings 'Home' page, or hide the 'Home' page entirely. Disable & remove Microsoft Copilot. Disable Windows Recall. Disable Click to Do, AI text & image analysis tool. Prevent AI service (WSAIFabricSvc) from starting automatically. Disable AI Features in Edge. Disable AI Features in Paint. Disable AI Features in Notepad. Disable the Drag Tray for sharing & moving files. Restore the old Windows 10 style context menu. Turn off Enhance Pointer Precision, also known as mouse acceleration. Disable the Sticky Keys keyboard shortcut. Disable Storage Sense automatic disk cleanup. Disable fast start-up to ensure a full shutdown. ...and more. Once you’ve downloaded the Win11Debloat file (Get.ps1), just follow these quick steps: Locate the Get.ps1 script file. Right-click the file and select Run with PowerShell from the context menu. If prompted by User Account Control (UAC), select Yes to grant the script the necessary administrative permissions. Win11Debloat 2026.06.14 changes: This is a minor release that hopefully addresses the false positives in Windows Defender and Bitdefender that prevented users from downloading and/or running Win11Debloat. Refactor Get-RegFileOperations.ps1 to address false positives by @Raphire in #626 Add logging around WinGet app retrieval and increase timeout to 20s by @Raphire Download: Win11Debloat 2026.06.14 | Open Source View: Win11Debloat Home Page | Screenshots 1| 2 Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • what other retro software do yall use

      By C:Amie · Posted

      Still using Microsoft Money 2005 in 2026 here!
    • what other retro software do yall use

      By +Eternal Tempest · Posted

      I have a couple to mention, and they still run great on Windows 11 Adobe Lightroom Version 2 Alcohol 120% CLZ Book, Comic, Game, Movie, & Music Collector (PC - No longer sold / Grandfathered in - now mobile apps/online only) DVDDecrypter ISO Buster Pro version 1.9.1 (Still supports HD-DVD too) Nero Burning Rom 8 (Only the burning software, no backup, media converter, etc)   OpenAL (Runtime) - GuildWars 1 Reforged still uses it for 3d headphone audio PowerDVD 12 Ultra SPTD (SCSI Pass through Direct Driver) UltraISO Windows Media Encoder 9 WinImage You can tell I still sport an optical drive    
    • Linux 7.1 arrives with an NTFS overhaul and major hardware performance boosts

      By zikalify · Posted

      Linux 7.1 arrives with an NTFS overhaul and major hardware performance boosts by Paul Hill The founder of the Linux kernel has just announced the availability of Linux 7.1. This is a stable version of the kernel that will now be tested by various Linux distributions before it is shipped to users through update managers. Some users, like those on Debian, for example, might not get it for a long time, if at all, while Fedora users can expect it in the near future. With Linux 7.1 out on time, the merge window for Linux 7.2 is now open, giving contributors the opportunity to send in major new features that have been waiting for the last two months. Torvalds warned that he is currently travelling and will be in another timezone, so timing for the merge window may be irregular due to timezone differences and limited internet access. Torvalds said that he has already fetched early pull requests to allow him to do some offline work, but the travel could still cause disruption. Right now, he is not planning to extend the release, but did consider it. He said he might later regret not extending, though. In terms of this last week of development for Linux 7.1, Torvalds said there were no major or alarming changes. This week consisted mostly of smaller driver updates to GPU, networking, and sound, networking fixes, trace tooling fixes, and misc minor fixes. The shortlog this week lists fixes for driver bugs, memory leaks, I/O and USB fixes, networking and RDMA fixes, DRM/graphics fixes, and tooling and verification improvements. Specific fixes include USB series heap-overflow and buffer overflow fixes, and multiple use-after-free, memory-leak, and refcount corrections across subsystems such as i2c, zram, gpio, and net. There are fixes for graphics drivers, including amdgpu, i915, and virtio, as well as hypervisor and virtualization tweaks affecting mshv, vmbus, and hyperv. According to Phoronix, anyone running Linux 7.1 should look out for the new NTFS driver, Intel FRED for improved performance on Panther Lake and future CPUs, faster graphics with Intel Arc Battlemage, and improvements for older AMD Radeon GPUs. If you are running Linux on your computer and everything is fine, then you don’t need to worry about updating to Linux 7.1 as a priority; just wait for it to be pushed to you. If you have tried Linux on hardware but it didn’t work properly, trying again with a distro that uses Linux 7.1 could cause Linux to work on your machine, thanks to the new hardware support.
    • Microsoft hides these secret Windows 11 performance boost settings available on every PC

      By contevo · Posted

      you can also do this with this tool: PowerSettingsExplorer made by mbk1969 at 3dguru forum.. I found it by accident researching on modern standby and annoying quirks of it in 2022

  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      Jeroen Wilms earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Week One Done
      rolfus earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Leroy Jethro Gibbs earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Conversation Starter
      flexorcist earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • One Month Later
      AndreaB earned a badge
      One Month Later

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      508
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      197
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      139
    4. 4
      ATLien_0
      90
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      81
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!