Recommended 2 way firewalls for 64 bit W 7 ?

[Jeff]

I'm accustomed to having a 2 way firewall in XP. Which free firewall is
recommended instead of W 7's built in firewall?

I've used Zone Alarm Free in XP but was thinking of switching to Comodo.
Do these work well in W7 Home Premium *64 bit*?

Other suggestions?

Thanks, Jeff

 

[Conor]

I'm accustomed to having a 2 way firewall in XP. Which free firewall is
recommended instead of W 7's built in firewall?

I've used Zone Alarm Free in XP but was thinking of switching to Comodo.
Do these work well in W7 Home Premium *64 bit*?

Other suggestions?

Thanks, Jeff

Use Windows 7 built in one. There is an advanced configuration interface
for it which will give you all the control you will ever need in a
firewall.

 

[Thip]

I'm accustomed to having a 2 way firewall in XP. Which free firewall is
recommended instead of W 7's built in firewall?

I've used Zone Alarm Free in XP but was thinking of switching to Comodo.
Do these work well in W7 Home Premium *64 bit*?

Other suggestions?

Thanks, Jeff

In spite of Comodo's claims, I've found it doesn't always play nicely with
W7 64-bit. PC Tools comes highly recommended. You might want to check
here:

http://www.matousec.com/projects/proactive-security-challenge/results.php

And with W7's firewall you can implement your own rules:

http://www.brighthub.com/computing/smb-security/articles/38834.aspx

 

[John Smith]

Use Windows 7 built in one. There is an advanced configuration interface
for it which will give you all the control you will ever need in a
firewall.

Not a good advice.
Windows built in firewall is weak, could be disabled by a small hack and
is usually the favorite target for malicious software and hacker wannabes.

I heard all sorts of good things about PC Tools firewall, didn't try it
personally though.

 

[Jeff]

Use Windows 7 built in one. There is an advanced configuration interface
for it which will give you all the control you will ever need in a
firewall.

But it is all incoming. I need both in and outgoing.

 

[Jeff]

In spite of Comodo's claims, I've found it doesn't always play nicely
with W7 64-bit. PC Tools comes highly recommended. You might want to
check here:

http://www.matousec.com/projects/proactive-security-challenge/results.php

And with W7's firewall you can implement your own rules:

http://www.brighthub.com/computing/smb-security/articles/38834.aspx

Thank you. I also heard from a friend that Comodo did not work well on
his 64 bit W 7 system which is why I asked. I'll check out the links.
PC Tools is not free however. Do you know if Zone Alarm plays nicely in
W 7 64 bit?

Jeff

 

[Seth]

But it is all incoming. I need both in and outgoing.

The Windows 7 Firewall will do both ways when you access the advanced
functions.

 

[Guest]

PC Tools is not free however.

Huh?
http://www.pctools.com/firewall/
Best of all it’s FREE. No catches, limitations or time-limits.

Download PC Tools Firewall Plus Free Edition

Download the latest version of PC Tools Firewall Plus and activate
complete network protection for free!


http://www.pctools.com/firewall/download/
You need to look harder.

 

[chrisv]

Not a good advice.
Windows built in firewall is weak, could be disabled by a small hack and
is usually the favorite target for malicious software and hacker wannabes.

Can you give a cite? I've never read a review saying it's weak.

 

[chrisv]

Can you give a cite? I've never read a review saying it's weak.

*plonk*

 

[John Smith]

Can you give a cite? I've never read a review saying it's weak.

http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-firewall.htm
http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/307

The fact that it could be disabled with a small registry hack means that
you should avoid using it if you are considering real protection.

 

[XS11E]

But it is all incoming. I need both in and outgoing.

First, you do NOT need incoming and outgoing but if you believe
you do look here:

http://www.techtalkz.com/windows-7/515977-how-configure-windows-firewall-windows-7-a.html

And here:

http://www.sphinx-soft.com/Vista/order.html

The free version is all you'll need.

 

[chrisv]

http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-firewall.htm
http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/307

The fact that it could be disabled with a small registry hack means that
you should avoid using it if you are considering real protection.

??? Neither supports your assertion.

 

[Charles Tomaras]

http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-firewall.htm
http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/307

The fact that it could be disabled with a small registry hack means that
you should avoid using it if you are considering real protection.

Well, the techsupportalert site says nothing about the Microsoft Firewall
that ships with Windows 7, and the security focus article is from 2005 and
has absolutely NOTHING to do with the Microsoft Firewall that ships with
Windows 7. What registry hack are you talking about?

 

[Al Smith]

Thank you. I also heard from a friend that Comodo did not work well on
his 64 bit W 7 system which is why I asked. I'll check out the links. PC
Tools is not free however. Do you know if Zone Alarm plays nicely in W 7
64 bit?

Jeff

I'm running ZoneAlarm Free 9.1.007 on Windows 7 x64. It has caused
no conflicts at all. I do question how secure it is -- some
programs seem to be able to go right through it from my harddrive
to the Internet. For example, when I updated Windows Defender, it
didn't even elicit a blip out of ZoneAlarm, it just updated. A
couple of other programs I've installed have been able to contact
home base without me ever allowing them to communicate through the
firewall -- maybe they are doing it through the browser channel, I
don't know. But other than this concern, this version of ZoneAlarm
causes no conflicts or problems of any kind.

-Al-

 

[Conor]

But it is all incoming. I need both in and outgoing.

IT IS BOTH IN AND OUT. Instead of posting about what you think it
doesn't do, WTF don't you actually go take a look first?

 

[Thip]

I'm accustomed to having a 2 way firewall in XP. Which free firewall is
recommended instead of W 7's built in firewall?

I've used Zone Alarm Free in XP but was thinking of switching to Comodo.
Do these work well in W7 Home Premium *64 bit*?

Other suggestions?

Thanks, Jeff

I uninstalled Comodo this morning and am now running PC Tools alongside the
built-in firewall. It's been great so far. Comodo blocked some older apps
and games than ran beautifully in Compatibility Mode before I installed
Comodo. PC Tools is very easy to work with, even in Expert Mode, and is
unobtrusive. I recommend it (and I'm also running 64-bit).

 

[Death]

*plonk*

Uhmmm ... you plonked yourself

 

[Guest]

I uninstalled Comodo this morning and am now running PC Tools
alongside the built-in firewall. It's been great so far. Comodo
blocked some older apps and games than ran beautifully in
Compatibility Mode before I installed Comodo. PC Tools is very easy
to work with, even in Expert Mode, and is unobtrusive. I recommend
it (and I'm also running 64-bit).

Thank you very much.
Will probably do the same.
Jeff

 

[Guest]

IT IS BOTH IN AND OUT. Instead of posting about what you think it
doesn't do, WTF don't you actually go take a look first?

Don't be angry. I've just moved to Windows 7 from XP where the firewall was
just one way.

WTF don't you actually go take a look first?

There are a million new things to research when moving to a new OS including
not knowing where to look for setting panels, etc. and one has to sometimes
go with what one knows from the past. I had no way to know that Windows
decided to change their built in firewall to make it go both ways.

Try to be helpful and put yourself in the other's place. We're not all W 7
gurus or we would not be asking.

Peace.