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Best Freeware Firewalls


Icedrake

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My parents don't have a firewall and they're aren't exactly computer experts so does anyone here know of a free, non-intrusive (without pop-ups about different stuff, like settings etc.), good firewall I could install on my parents' computers?

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From all my reading, Comodo appears to be the best free Firewall. However, I'm not really sure how intrusive it is because I've never used it. I was concerned about the same issues for my daughter that you are with your parents, so I ending up installing SUNBELT KERIO PERSONAL FIREWALL on her computer. When you download it, it's full-featured for 30 days -- at which time some of the features are disabled and it runs strictly in "free" mode thereafter. I'm not sure how good it is, but it's probably better than nothing.

 

Sunbelt Kerio Link

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Comodo can be configure to be a pure firewall, meaning to say disabling the HIPS part can be big bonus to unobtrusiveness. Online Armor Free provides good outbound protection with high leaktest results. I don't know the inbound capabilities of the two.

 

There are still installers of the free Kerio and the good ol' Sygate. I suggest you gear up their computers first so they won't carry the hassle of configuration. If possible, you can buy them a hardware firewall.

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To be honest if your parents aren't great with computers and dont care about learning then your better off just keeping the windows firewall on and installing a good AV program. Then of course switch their browser to firefox+adblock+ site advisor. Tell them to stay off "red" sites and they should be good.

 

Comodo is terrible about giving pop ups about every little thing(even with the hips turned off) and its also very buggy. Just look at all the releases they have for fixes and how bad the bugs they are fixing are.

 

Online Armor while better still isn't going to be painless.

 

In the past I would install ZA on machines that I had just cleaned up. Then I would train it for a few hours and then the person would only get pop ups if they got a virus or installed something new. I dont even do that anymore because it just isn't worth the hassle or the bugs that most software firewalls have.

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Free, non-intrusive (without pop-ups about different stuff, like settings etc.), good firewall I could install on my parents' computers?

Inbound firewalls doesn't alert too much or doesn't alert at all. Some or most firewalls can be configured not to check outbound connections so they won't ask the user everytime if application X is hooked to application Y and wants to use the net etc etc. One firewall would be Windows XP's firewall. It is near to absolute unobtrusiveness.

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Yeah thats what I use and I love it.

Can you tell me more about Online Armor? I'm currently using Sunbelt Personal Firewall and like it a lot, but am looking for something a little lighter weight (ie less memory and system resource usage). Obviously I don't want to give up any protection or effectiveness either.

 

Any info anyone can give on the free version of Online Armor is appreciated.

Dell Latitude D600

Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit SP1

 

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Info on Online Armor here

 

http://www.tallemu.com/free-firewall-prote...n-software.html

 

It turns off windows firewall on install.

 

Run the wizard and set to 'allow' programs you want to run.

 

After wizard reboot right-click and choose trust for any programs you know are okay and then you will get no popups for.

 

Any popups you do get, tick 'remember my decision' and then you won't be asked again.

 

Task manager typically shows 8mb each for the 2 OA services

 

Support contact

https://support.ccleaner.com/s/contact-form?language=en_US&form=general

or

support@ccleaner.com

 

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Info on Online Armor here

 

 

Info on Online Armor here

 

 

Info on Online Armor here

 

Heard you the first time Hazel. :lol:

 

Triple posting, that has to be a first

 

How did you manage that? Couldn't have been easy. :D

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Just luck I guess Dennis :lol:

 

The extra posts have gone now, taken by the post fairy.

 

Installed a load of new things this morning so not really sure if it was the result of a sneeze, hiccough, ichy finger or just the gremlins. :rolleyes:

 

Support contact

https://support.ccleaner.com/s/contact-form?language=en_US&form=general

or

support@ccleaner.com

 

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To be honest if your parents aren't great with computers and dont care about learning then your better off just keeping the windows firewall on and installing a good AV program. Then of course switch their browser to firefox+adblock+ site advisor. Tell them to stay off "red" sites and they should be good.

 

Comodo is terrible about giving pop ups about every little thing(even with the hips turned off) and its also very buggy. Just look at all the releases they have for fixes and how bad the bugs they are fixing are.

 

That's because they decided to upgrade the firewall to a newer version (who knows why). Also, if you configure it correctly, you shouldn't have so many pop-ups annoying the crap out of you. Then again, if you're not willing to configure a firewall Comodo can be very annoying. The newest version seems to be stable, and not as retarded as the Beta version they released some months back.

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To those who have used Online Armor, is it anything like Jetico Personal Firewall? Jetico uses complex "rules" settings that I found confusing and needlessly complex for my needs. I want something simple like Zone Alarm, Sygate, Sunbelt etc, but that takes up fewer system resources. According to screen shots of Task Managers I've seen, Online Armor looks very light on system resources, but I want to make sure its not anywhere near as complex as Jetico before I use it. Thanks!

Dell Latitude D600

Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit SP1

 

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According to screen shots of Task Managers I've seen, Online Armor looks very light on system resources, but I want to make sure its not anywhere near as complex as Jetico before I use it. Thanks!

If you don't want complexity there's always Windows Firewall. Sure the argument is that it doesn't have outbound filtering however if passes inbound probes by GRC ShieldsUp, McAfee HackerWatch.org Firewall Tests, and PC Flank Internet Security Tests. At this point I really don't see the need for third-party firewalls especially if one has a clean PC to start with it's rather easy to keep it that way - even when using Windows Firewall.

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Interesting idea, but the machine in question is running Windows 2000 so that isn't an option. I would really like something with outbound protection, and the XP firewall's lack of options/customization doesn't appeal to me anyway.

 

Right now, Sunbelt Personal Firewall's three processes (according to Task Manager), are using 9000k, 9000k, and 17000k. 35MB of RAM used is a bit much than I'd prefer for an app that runs 100% of the time. I'm hoping Online Armor uses less, while not being hopelessly complex like Jetico.

Dell Latitude D600

Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit SP1

 

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Well I went ahead and tried it, and am very pleased. Online-Armor is very lightweight and only takes 16-17 MB to run. The program control is very effective, and it is the only free firewall I know of with HIPS included. I've only been using it for about 30 mins, but so far I give it a big thumbs up.

Dell Latitude D600

Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit SP1

 

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Comodo's "Defense +" is a HIPS system but its quite honestly one of the most annoying things you could ever install.

I tried online-armor for a little while but decided I just didnt need/want it. I've been keeping an eye on it though.

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Can you explain exactly what HIPS is? I've read about it, but can't quite get my mind around it. Online Armor has program protection that control which programs run and which programs access the internet, but every firewall I've used has done that...even those without HIPS, so it must be something else.

Dell Latitude D600

Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit SP1

 

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Can you explain exactly what HIPS is? I've read about it, but can't quite get my mind around it. Online Armor has program protection that control which programs run and which programs access the internet, but every firewall I've used has done that...even those without HIPS, so it must be something else.

Hi TeeJay3800,

Just to keep it to the most basic explanation of HIPS,it looks like a duck,it quacks like a duck,

it walks like a duck,it flies like a duck,then maybe it's a duck.The security program uses no specific

files about specific ducks or the names etc. It just uses Heuristic data about ducks,dogs,etc. to determine their "duckiness" or "doginess".Somewhere along the line it determines that this is very much a duck or dog and responds accordingly.

Now plug in the word virus,dialer,malware,worm etc for duck or dog and you get an idea what it does.

HIPS programs don't need daily updates,whitelists,blacklists or any data related to specific items.

It only depends on knowing the specific characteristics of the items.

Every now and then the HIPS program is updated because the characteristics change or better heuristics methods evolve.

That's about it.

To be more exact reqires some "searching" and reading in more technical forums.

Best Wishes,

:) davey

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