Is Windows 7's built in firewall any good?

Hi,

I'm currently using the built in Windows 7 Firewall (in conjunction with Avast Free 6). I was wondering if there are any better alternatives out there or if the built in firewall is fine. Which ones would you recommend?

If you need out going notification, then you might like a 3rd party FW. But if you're like the vast majority of people that don't want to be bothered by a notification that says, "System wants to connect to the internet, do you want to allow?", then the W7 FW is for you. :) If you are behind a router NAT firewall, it does most of the heavy lifting anyway. I use the W7 FW set to public because I don't share files or print, and it is plenty strong. Ultimately it's up to you, but most every 3rd party FW that I have tried just notifies the user more, and always seems to irritate me at some point in time.

Thanks for your replies p5bdkw and DBone!

I'm going to give Comodo firewall a try and see how I get on.

Make sure you do a custom install or the standard installer will install GeekBuddy, and I don't think you will want it. On the installer's first page, there is an option at the bottom that says "options" or "custom", or something similar, choose that and uncheck GeekBuddy.

Thanks for the tip DBone!

For Windows 7 OS the Windows Firewall is recommended as being appropriate.
{Used here on all computers}

No firewall can protect you absolutely if you DON'T surf sensibly staying away from sites known to cause problems.
NEVER randomly click on things you know nothing about.

In addition -
ALWAYS use
* Anti Virus plus Anti Malware software,
* have a router plus firewall,
* keep all relevant programs updated & scan on a regular basis for infections.

I am using Win 7 since 2 years.
Not a single alert..

But my virusscanner and Trojanremover software have rescued
me several times.

I still bother to update defender database ...but it is like whistling
in the dark in order to frighten aggressors

Thanks for all the help guys,

I promptly uninstalled Comodo Firewall. I felt that it was over complicating the job that Windows Firewall does just fine. I'm sure it's a very good and useful program if you need all those features, but for now I think I'll stick to Windows Firewall.

lol I was wondering how you were getting along with Comodo! It certainly has its places, but for the average user, it is just overwhelming.