wrack Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 I have been using ZoneAlarm Free Firewall with XP and Vista and stuff but I can't install that on Windows 7 yet. Is there any alternative to it which is free and good firewall. I would really like to find out as my sister is crying out loud to get the Windows 7 on her laptop after seeing that my brother and I have been using it. But I seriously don't trust her to use it without a firewall. Cheers :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9UnknownMen Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 http://personalfirewall.comodo.com/ Heard good things and they have a free basic version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
x3lumin8x Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 Why do people still use software firewalls? That is so dumb. Router/switch is a far superior way of protection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9UnknownMen Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 Edit: NVM. My warning is high enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrack Posted May 23, 2009 Author Share Posted May 23, 2009 Yes I have a router with NAT and all the stuff setup but she has proven to be more resistive of those things and besides I want few programs on her laptop have internet access blocked on certain ports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kris Kris Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 How about the integrated firewall of Windows 7? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soonerproud Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 I have been using ZoneAlarm Free Firewall with XP and Vista and stuff but I can't install that on Windows 7 yet. Is there any alternative to it which is free and good firewall. I would really like to find out as my sister is crying out loud to get the Windows 7 on her laptop after seeing that my brother and I have been using it. But I seriously don't trust her to use it without a firewall.Cheers :) The Windows Firewall is every bit as capable as Zone Alarm and other software firewalls. Don't be fooled by marketing gimmicks trying to sell you on outbound protection. WF has that feature, but is disabled by default because it is no big deal for malware to disable outbound protection on software firewalls. All outbound protection does is create hastles for the end user and offers no real protection. Since you are behind a NAT firewall, you have nothing to fear and WF is very effective with no extra over head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrack Posted May 23, 2009 Author Share Posted May 23, 2009 Thanks :) A quick question then, can Windows Firewall block certain network PCs? e.g. We have 5 laptops here and we want to make sure that 3 of them can access each other but not the other 2. And also other 2 can access each other but not the other 3. I know we can do this all by setting up home group and stuff and also by setting up proper user name and password security on shared folders. I just don't want to be able to explain everyone at home the changes in W7 at the moment. After they get used to the new stuff, I will slowly phase them to use the new stuff but until then I prefer some protection that I can setup and then forget about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrack Posted May 24, 2009 Author Share Posted May 24, 2009 Ok I had a quick look at the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security, I must say it's much better than the firewall in XP. I will give it a crack and see how it stands. Apologies for asking a question assuming Windows Firewall sux. I come from XP where Windows Firewall is a joke! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragon2611 Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 Why do people still use software firewalls? That is so dumb. Router/switch is a far superior way of protection. Which is fine if it's your desktop and you 100% trust your network. However for machines such as laptops that will probably end up on an untrusted network at somepoint or if you don't 100% trust your network it's still sensible to have a software firewall. They are also handy to have to see what is trying to connect out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fix-this! Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 comodo works fine and is the best IMO. Why do people still use software firewalls? That is so dumb. Router/switch is a far superior way of protection. if it's "so safe" then why do people "still" run windows firewall or comodo in combo with them then? the point is there is nothing wrong with a software firewall, a good one i mean. some people don't have the $$ for a router or switch, unless you feel generous enough to buy us all one! ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soonerproud Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 Which is fine if it's your desktop and you 100% trust your network.However for machines such as laptops that will probably end up on an untrusted network at somepoint or if you don't 100% trust your network it's still sensible to have a software firewall. They are also handy to have to see what is trying to connect out. Windows Firewall can do all of that so there is no good reason to install a third party firewall for the average consumer, including those who take a notebook on the go. It is unneeded over head when the built in firewall is just as good and has the same capabilities. WF in both Vista and 7 has outbound protection too, but as I previously posted, malware can easily disable it and have free access to the net. Why deal with the hastle when it doesn't really offer much more protection than the default settings? comodo works fine and is the best IMO.if it's "so safe" then why do people "still" run windows firewall or comodo in combo with them then? the point is there is nothing wrong with a software firewall, a good one i mean. some people don't have the $$ for a router or switch, unless you feel generous enough to buy us all one! ;) The one built into Windows Vista and 7 is just as good, if not better than the third party ones. The third party ones just disable Windows Firewall for you because they would conflict. You are wasting resources by running a third party firewall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
excalpius Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 If you have a hardware router/NAT you don't need ANY software firewall. Period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soonerproud Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 Ok I had a quick look at the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security, I must say it's much better than the firewall in XP. I will give it a crack and see how it stands.Apologies for asking a question assuming Windows Firewall sux. I come from XP where Windows Firewall is a joke! You have nothing to apologize for. The only dumb question is the one not asked. Cheers! :pint: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mduren2445 Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 hardware firewalls provide great protection but as we all know there are way too many people with too much time on their hands and if something gets thru then a software firewall will offer more protection. Also a software firewall will provide inbound and outbound protection were some hardware ones (the cheap ones) provide only oneway protection. I have had the greatest success by running both and I advise people that you cannot put too many walls between you and the internet :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
protocol7 Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 Comodo is broken right now and has been since 3.8. Unfortunately, 3.5 doesn't work in 7 but they're aware of the problem so hopefully it'll be fixed soon. You can still use it (I am) but you'll need to reboot when the DPC latency starts lagging the system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fix-this! Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 Comodo is broken right now and has been since 3.8. Unfortunately, 3.5 doesn't work in 7 but they're aware of the problem so hopefully it'll be fixed soon. You can still use it (I am) but you'll need to reboot when the DPC latency starts lagging the system. hmmm, funny because im running the newest build right now with no issues in 7 ultimate x64 build 7100. :blink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
protocol7 Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 Either you're not putting it under much load or you're one of the lucky ones. After a few hours use the DPCs start building up and audio starts to break up necessitating a reboot. It's happening in Vista too, so it's not a 7-related issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
th3rEsa Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 Oh well... people using hardware firewalls and installing IP-based packet filters ("software firewalls") to feel "more secure"... *head -> wall* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrack Posted May 24, 2009 Author Share Posted May 24, 2009 Wow, didn't realize I opened a can of worms!!! I installed Comodo on a virtual machine first to test it out. Guess I like the inbuilt firewall in W7 better as it's already there. I will have to give my sister and other new users of W7 a normal restrictive user account then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windows7even Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 firewall built into 7 is as good as any paid firewall out there...you have full control over what comes and goes but a router running tomato/ddw is your best friend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Ba'al Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 How about the integrated firewall of Windows 7? It only provides marginally better protection than a piece of cardboard :x firewall built into 7 is as good as any paid firewall out there No, not even *remotely* close :no: Just look at this firewall test. Comodo and Outpost 2009 are doing great, especially considering they're free. Also notice that ZoneAlarm Free fares pretty bad. Then scroll down to the very bottom (where it says "62 tests") to find OneCare as one of the worst :x It's the very same firewall as included in Vista nd Win7, just a little prettified and packaged so it's also able to run on XP. http://www.matousec.com/projects/proactive...nge/results.php Of course, a hardware firewall will still be your best bet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehtro Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 The windows firewall is actually pretty awesome. Once you figure out how to use it, it pretty much makes the other software firewalls obsolete. Atleast for me, works just as well if not better, takes less system memory, blocks the applications i don't want to have net connection. And blocks unwanted incoming/outgoing IPs. http://www.sphinx-soft.com/Vista/index.html Use the free version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragon2611 Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 comodo works fine and is the best IMO.if it's "so safe" then why do people "still" run windows firewall or comodo in combo with them then? the point is there is nothing wrong with a software firewall, a good one I mean. some people don't have the $$ for a router or switch, unless you feel generous enough to buy us all one! ;) I said a software firewall, I didn't say it had to be a 3rd party one ;) Windows firewall is still software. One could argue that even the firewall in the router is a software firewall seeing as the routers firmware is afterall software to control the router, but that is being rather pedantic. A lot of people will tend to have at least a basic router thesedays (well here in the UK anyway). Most of the ISPs send out a wireless router when you signup to their internet service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaborka Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Without application control, apps have a lot of undesirable behavior. For example, the Macrovision Flexnet Licensing Service that installs with Acrobat and other Adobe apps will write all over the registry, dozens of CLSID keys. In XP, using CFP, I can set the behavior rules for this process to deny access to protected keys. I don't want to use Acrobat in W7 until I have this level of control. The Sphinx VFC sounds good for outgoing leaks, though, and has a W7-x64 beta. Is there a good tutorial anywhere for configuring the built-in firewall's outgoing rules? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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