EST free firewall for win 7 home

I guys. I've looked around the net but only to read contradictory info. Some sites swearing on win firewall, others really not!

Any suggestions for a free, decent firewall for win 7 home (sp1)

Thanks

Win 7 has an excellent firewall already and I recommend most users to stick with it. I used to recommend Zone Alarm Free to people who would know which transmissions to allow and which to block but I had a problem with a recent update so I'm waiting to see if that gets ironed out.

I would vote for the Windows Firewall myself too. Despite its disastrous default configuration, it's very capable once you learn how to use it. Just give it a try, go directly for "firewall with advanced security" control panel and investigate a bit about its rules and learn how to block and allow specific programs/ports/protocols, etc.

Its most important drawback is the lacking of outgoing block notifications, which makes troubleshooting network problems a bit harder. A few third party programs attempt (without great results) to give those notifications.

But other than that, I find it to be a surprisingly good piece of software, so far it hasn't turned me down.

Lady Fitzgerald said:

to people who would know which transmissions to allow and which to block

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If people don't know even basic network management, it's better not to have a firewall at all. It's a good tool and all, but without proper knowledge it will just get in the way and will fail to give any protection.

Many have referred to Windows 'firewall' as being more of a 'wide open door'...

I never had a Windows Firewall warning....one wonders just what sort of things it will actually block by default.

Personal Firewall 7.0, on the other hand, has a learning period after it's intial install, but, seems quite adept at initially blocking almost everything 'new', but, prompts you for permission (block/allow), with ability to trust assorted signed publishers. I don't mind the occasional 'block/allow' popup, I'd rather have that than 99.99% of malicious stuff allowed through by default!

Thanks for the replies guys. Back in the day it was almost standard to install zonealarm, (that is, the 32 bit days) but I'm quite surprised-at least on a net search- that more peeps are OK with win 7's own firewall. Got decent enough antivirus so probably gonna stick with what I've got for now.

Cheers

Few complain about the WIndows Firewall, as it never mistakenly blocks anything....; sometimes I wonder if it blocks anything at all, good or bad, by default.

mdd1963 said:

Few complain about the WIndows Firewall, as it never mistakenly blocks anything....; sometimes I wonder if it blocks anything at all, good or bad, by default.

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What firewall are you using? How is that going for you?

Private Firewall (7.0)...

privacyware dot com

It will ask permission at almost anything new/unknown, so, if you are an active downloader of new applications, and dislike the occasional security popup, this is NOT your product. On the other hand, if you accidentally install something, then it is indeed your fault, as the Firewall feature will indeed ask "Block/Allow" for pretty much everything new..

The default setting for Windows Firewall is to block inbound connections, but allow ALL outbound connections.

I use a third-party GUI app for Windows Firewall and have changed settings so it blocks outbound by default. This is what happens when I for example start CCleaner and I haven't allowed that app:


This is a good example why I don't allow all outbound connections. I've configured CCleaner to not check for updates, but it still wants to create connections every time I run it and I have no idea what it sends or receives as it's encrypted (port 443).

Tookeri said:

The default setting for Windows Firewall is to block inbound connections, but allow ALL outbound connections.

I use a third-party GUI app for Windows Firewall and have changed settings so it blocks outbound by default. This is what happens when I for example start CCleaner and I haven't allowed that app:
View attachment 344261

This is a good example why I don't allow all outbound connections. I've configured CCleaner to not check for updates, but it still wants to create connections every time I run it and I have no idea what it sends or receives as it's encrypted (port 443).

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I'm intrigued by Windows Firewall Control. How does it work? I'm using Zone Alarm's free firewall right now but ran into an issue with a recent update and I'm considering switching. Does Windows Firewall Control "train" itself by, every time an application tried to send or receive a transmission, posting a popup that asks you if it is to allow or disallow a transmission either permanently or this time only?

Lady Fitzgerald said:

I'm intrigued by Windows Firewall Control. How does it work? I'm using Zone Alarm's free firewall right now but ran into an issue with a recent update and I'm considering switching. Does Windows Firewall Control "train" itself by, every time an application tried to send or receive a transmission, posting a popup that asks you if it is to allow or disallow a transmission either permanently or this time only?

Click to expand...

Windows Firewall itself can notify when a program is blocked, but only for inbound connections. If you're behind a NAT router then you'll probably only see alerts from other local devices.


With WFC the alerts are for outbound connections. There's no learning mode but there are other useful modes, for example Notifications = Low, that will allow signed programs.


If you use the recommended Medium you need to check the logs for any svchost and System blocked connections. Or set Notifications = High. Besides that you need basic understanding of local and remote ports and protocol so you can configure the rules properly, for example that the local port will change between connections but not the remote one, that many programs uses not one but many remote IP's so it might be easier to allow all remote IP's.

You can allow temporarily for X no of minutes, or permanently. But it's not as "user-friendly" as some other products. There's a demo here: Windows Firewall Control 4 - YouTube
At 05:00 the product is activated so the notifications will show. But watching all you'll get to see the different windows, alerts, rules, logs. And different ways to allow a program.