Which Firewall is better, Avast's or 7's ?

Hello all

Recently I have been using Avast's free Anti-Virus/Malware program and am very very impressed.

Never before have I had a program that uses such little resources and completely and fully blocked all attacks.

For a firewall though, for now I have been using Windows 7's and for e-mail spam, Thunderbirds stock one, but I figure if it is better, for the firewall I would like to buy the paid version of Avast but only if it is better.

As well the same question applies for the spam filter.

So if anyone has a opinion on this please feel free to chime in.

Thanks.

Windows 7 Firewall works without a problem. No need for any 3rd party application.

JonM33 said:

Windows 7 Firewall works without a problem. No need for any 3rd party application.

"You took the words right out of my mouth......"

hi !

JonM33 & Father Jack:
yes, of course W7´s firewall works.
but, it doesn´t block OUTGOING connections (by default).
other firewall likes fx. Online Armor blocks, and also has better protection as it also has HIPS.
read fx. the sticky thread above, and also do a search, there are lots of information in all those firewall-threads...

hackerman1 said:

hi !

JonM33 & Father Jack:
yes, of course W7´s firewall works.
but, it doesn´t block OUTGOING connections (by default).

Actually, it does, and out of the box, blocked Trillian, providing me a notice and the option to unblock it.

With all network types, by default the Windows 7 firewall blocks connections to programs that are not on the list of allowed programs.

The above quote is from a nice article by Microsoft MVP Deb Shinder, What's new in the Windows 7 Firewall?.

hackerman1 said:

hi !

JonM33 & Father Jack:
yes, of course W7´s firewall works.
but, it doesn´t block OUTGOING connections (by default).
other firewall likes fx. Online Armor blocks, and also has better protection as it also has HIPS.
read fx. the sticky thread above, and also do a search, there are lots of information in all those firewall-threads...

Are you downloading illegal software? If not, you have nothing to worry about with outbound connections.

hi !

Corrine: according to what i have read both here on sevenforums & other forums, it does not block outgoing connections (by default).

when i tested different firewalls with Comodo´s Leak-Test (CLT), W7´s firewall had lots of leaks, it didn´t block those tests from connecting to internet.

i don´t know what settings you use, but i suppose you must have changed something....

but now you woke my interest in running some tests on W7´s FW, and double-check myself.
actually i have already planned to test the new version of Zonealarm some rainy day, so i can test W7´s FW too.

might be interesting...

hackerman1 said:

when i tested different firewalls with Comodo´s Leak-Test (CLT), W7´s firewall had lots of leaks, it didn´t block those tests from connecting to internet.

You don't need to worry about outbound connections if you do not use illegal software (keygens, cracks, etc).

What about (compromised) websites installing malware that call home?