What free firewall program do you all recommend?

richc46 · 19 Aug 2012

richc46 said:

I cannot and will not speak for Greg, but I will say that with all the BSODs that I have done, many were caused by Firewalls and A/V, but never by MSE or the Windows Firewall. BTW, that is what I use, plus Malwarebytes for scans.

And lets not forget this in addition to the other reasons.

ickymay · 19 Aug 2012

Layback Bear said:

1. Microsoft operating system
2. Microsoft firewall
3. Microsoft anti virus
4. Microsoft defrag
Microsoft works well with Microsoft.
They work great for me and millions of others and they are FREE.

what he said

A Guy · 19 Aug 2012

I'm not saying there will never be a problem, but I have personally never had a problem with Comodo. Not only does it also monitor outbound connections without having to manually configure rules, or use a 3rd party program to do so. It has Defense+, and a sandbox should you choose to use it (I don't personally use the sandbox). To be honest, most users probably don't even need a firewall, and the Windows firewall will suffice. A Guy

SIW2 · 19 Aug 2012

Too much hassle to configure it to block all outgoing - then go back and allow each you want one by one.

I have got better things to do with my life.

Windows7FirewallControl: Sphinx Software

Free version does the job.

Lady Fitzgerald · 19 Aug 2012

Layback Bear said:

My Windows 7 built in firewall has outbound rules.
Go to Start and type in firewall and take a look see.

Once I finally found where the outbound rules are supposed to be, all there was was a blank page. How the heck am I supposed to know what to put in there? Zone Alarm makes it easy. When something new tries to "phone home," ZA gives a popup telling me what is trying to "phone home" and I can decide whether to block or allow it and whether it is to be just that time only or permanently. Easy peasy. If I block or allow it permanently, ZA doesn't bother me again.

Does Win7's firewall check downloads to make sure they are safe and, if a download is suspicious or unfamiliar, check it in a sandbox for you?

Alejandro85 · 19 Aug 2012

gregrocker said:

There is no reason to run a third party firewall when Win7 has perfected it's own firewall as long as all Updates are kept current by setting to Automatic.

There is a reason why most experts here and elsewhere recommend Microsoft Security Essentials
with the Win7 firewall.

I have to disagree with all this. The built-in Windows firewall is nice and all, but from a technical aspect is an inferior choice to most third party firewalls out there. It's better from what XP had, but still lacks in some aspects:
-It doesn't blocks outgoing connections by default.
-It doesn't shows any message when an outbound connection attempt is made (contrary to some third party programs)
-It's possible for other programs with admin right to add exceptions at will, which should be made only by the user.

Many says others firewalls cause lots of BSOD. Really, outside of this forum I NEVER heard anything like that. It's possible, but not an everyday thing and most likely an exceptional cause, if ever..............
If an expert really recommends MSE + MBAM + Windows Firewall, I would doubt of him being an expert in the first place. It has its uses, but saying that combination is THE best thing to secure a system, is a little too much.
Again, outside of SevenForums, I NEVER, EVER had heard anything like that.

A Guy · 19 Aug 2012

Alejandro85, you must remember Seven Forums has a very busy, dedicated BSOD forum. And many of our members have analyzed a significant number of said BSOD, so they will certainly see more caused by firewalls then most

A Guy

DBone · 19 Aug 2012

If the OP is behind an NAT router firewall, then it will do most of the heavy lifting anyway. If the OP likes the 'feeling' of control that a chatty 3rd party firewall gives, then I would say Comodo would be my choice. That being said, I recommend the built in W7 firewall set to public (if printing and sharing files isn't needed).

Layback Bear · 19 Aug 2012

First I don't have programs calling home because they don't run until I tell them to. For those that want to spend the time setting every rule to a firewall then Windows 7 firewall might not be for you. For those that want a firewall that does the job without bothering you all the time, well Windows 7 works just fine. Firewalls are not the end all to security what ever one you use. It's just another layer of protection.

gregrocker · 19 Aug 2012

Ich said:

gregrocker said:

There is no reason to run a third party firewall when Win7 has perfected it's own firewall as long as all Updates are kept current by setting to Automatic.

There is a reason why most experts here and elsewhere recommend Microsoft Security Essentials
with the Win7 firewall.

Interesting comment greg, can you enlighten me as to why MSE & the Win 7 firewall are recommended in preference to third party Av & firewall apps? Thanks. Ich

For those of us who've been with the OS since before it's release in earliest beta, the Win7 firewall has proven more than adequate and indeed now looks to be perfected as long as it is kept up to date.

While we once co-equally recommended Avast and MSE, gradually we have come to the conclusion that MSE causes less problems and is adequate protection. No company has more at stake than MS with protecting Win7, for which they spend with no limits.

Granted we may be leaning toward performance based on what causes the least problems and allows Win7 to run least encumbered, however the protection also seems to be adequate except for those Typhoid Mary's of the web who should probably consider MBAM real time protection. ESET is great protection if you really need to pay.

There have been enough threads here about the AV ratings that I think most of us know not to trust them, but go with our gut after long experience helping tens of thousands of users.

If you have any further questions you'll get excellent support in our Security forum.