Solved Which free firewall?

[ish4d0w]

Hi,

I'm looking for a free firewall.
Which one should I use? ZoneAlarm free vs Comodo Firewall vs Outpost?

This would be used on a family computer so I need it to be as user-friendly as possible and possibly not many question popups. I tried Comodo already, it's great and advanced (I like the way I can have a in-depth look what's going on), but since we're now talking about a shared family PC, giving too much alerts might be an issue.

I also used Outpost Firewall in the past (on XP and Vista). I also liked that. I see they now have a freeware version, too. But since it's a 2009 version I'm not sure if it's fully compatible with Windows 7.

UPDATE:
For anyone reading this topic I'm leaving this here for reference, I hope this information will be useful for anyone looking for Outpost Free Firewall.

It seems that Outpost Free Firewall is now integrated into Outpost Security Suite Free. (AntiVirus is included too but if you have a different AntiVirus installed, Outpost will detect it and install as Firewall-only so they can work together!) I tested it with Kaspersky installed and it's OK. It's compatible with Windows 7.

 

[Bongo]

What's wrong with the built in firewall?

Jerry

 

[Layback Bear]

The built in Windows 7 Firewall works for me. Of course it free.

 

[Alejandro85]

From the two, I prefer Comodo for the same reasons as you, it's greatly configurable and I like the alerts as they're informative of what's going on. ZoneAlarm is much more restricted in configuration, I tested but discarded in favor of the Win7 built in one. Have yet to change again for Comodo.

The Windows Firewall may be good for your case, since you don't want alerts. The advanced configuration panel provides a great deal of control and it works well. Most important for you, it has NO notifications when it blocks something. The only popups it shows are for listening programs on unauthorized ports, which rarely happens (I only faced it with a few games). Be sure to configure it though, as the default setup is very insecure by default.

 

[Roderunner]

Hi ish4d0w,

I like this. Outpost Security Suite FREE — The first Free Complete Internet Security Suite

 

[ish4d0w]

As for Windows Firewall:

[...]

The Windows Firewall [...]
Be sure to configure it though, as the default setup is very insecure by default.

This is what I'm worried about. I'd feel safer with a third-party firewall from a trusted brand even if I can configure the Windows Firewall to be safer.

Hi ish4d0w,

I like this. Outpost Security Suite FREE*— The first Free Complete Internet Security Suite

That's great! I see this one includes antivirus too.

How powerful is it's AV? I originally wanted to choose just a firewall to use together with Avast free antivirus, but I might go this way if Outpost AV is just as powerful too.

UPDATE: I read some reviews, it's AV seems OK, but it's a good thing that I can use it with any AntiVirus software (like Avast, Kaspersky etc.), Outpost will then work as firewall-only.

Thanks for the great idea about this software!

 

[Roderunner]

A

Hi ish4d0w,

I like this. Outpost Security Suite FREE*— The first Free Complete Internet Security Suite

That's great! I see this one includes antivirus too.
How powerful is it's AV? I originally wanted to choose just a firewall to use together with Avast free antivirus, but I might go this way if Outpost AV is just as powerful too.

I use the paid for version. Never gave any trouble.

 

[ish4d0w]

I'm currently looking for free solutions so I'll use the free version of it.
I just installed it. We'll see. I like it so far.

Thanks everyone.

 

[Roderunner]

Here are a few tips tony77.

To install NEW programs, right click the Outpost icon in the taskbar, select 'Rules Wizard'.
Then right click it again and Enter Auto-Learn Mode for 1 Hour.

When installed programs get an update on my pc, I always right click the taskbar icon for Outpost and select 'Exit' to shut down the FW, as it protects certain files. This way the update is installed correctly. When the update has been installed, I restart Outpost, put it into 'Rules Wizard' mode and reboot, then reset Outpost to my setting 'Block Most'

 

[robinb9]

yes, what is wrong with windows 7 or windows 8 firewall, I do not like third party firewalls because they tend to break other things and most people do not know what to allow in or out. What hapens is something pops up and most people have no clue whether to allow it in or out and will click NO, then they find either a program stops working or worse they cannot connect to the internet.
With the built in one you can set up rules and Microsoft knows which ones should go out and in most of the time.

 

[M1GU31]

If it has to be one of those then I would suggest comodo firewall. There firewall from my experience is the best one but atm I recently went back to use window firewall and mse. Was using comodo Internet security for a while then was with a kaspkrey trial for a while but just went back with mse. Works fine so far with the windows firewall. My pc passes the shields up test with the windows firewall, all you have to do is setup your routers firewall and you past the test. Just had to set up my router not to respond to pings and changed the router from wpa to wpa2.

 

[ish4d0w]

Thanks everyone.

 

[edee]

I would tell you to stay with the built in Windows Firewall, this is more than sufficient for normal "home" traffic.

BUT if you must have a third party firewall I would tell you to use Outpost out of all the free firewalls I have found Outpost is about the easiest to configure and use.

I've never been a big fan of Commodo products, their antivirus will pick up completely legit programs as viruses and trojans and their firewall will nag you to death about incomming and outgoing traffic it can be a real pain in the a$$ sometimes.

 

[ish4d0w]

That's the one I chose. I'm currently using Outpost.