stuck in firewall purgatory....

[byte_king]

Hello all,

I've got an issue and I decided to come here since you guys have been so helpful in the past.

I'm trying to install a firewall on a 32-bit windows 7 system with Microsoft Security Essentials as an AV. Every firewall I have tried to install either bogs down my system badly (online armor 4.5), fails to initialize (PC tools free firewall), or works, but I'm dubious as to the protection it offers, not to mention it seems very choppy (Comodo free firewall).

Before I attempt a new firewall I do completely uninstall the previous one. I just want a user-friendly firewall that offers great proteection and dosen't slow things down too badly.

Sadly, I can't seem to achieve this. Anyone have any suggestions or ideas as to what the issue could be? Currently, PCTools is installed on my computer and its not initializing.

Thanks a bunch

[DarkSnakeKobra]

Hey Byte_King longtime no see.

Just a heads up PC Tools firewall has been discontinued. Under our hidy hole.

http://forums.malwarebytes.org/index.php?showtopic=61655

If Online or Comodo Firewall isn't working I'd try Privacyware Firewall. It can be a bit intrusive, but you can turn off the alerts.

[exile360]

I'm unfortunately in the same boat. I used to use Zone Alarm years ago, but then it got to be too chatty/resource hungry and failed to support x64 when I made the leap to Vista. Since then I've only used Vista Firewall Control by Sphinx (now Windows 7 Firewall Control), but that's just a front-end for the built in Windows Firewall that turns on outbound blocking and allows more granular control over how programs access the net (ie, trust levels etc), not a full-flegded HIPS-like firewall like ZA and the firewalls you mentioned.

[mountaintree16]

Hey Byte King, is PC Tools Still stuck? They actually just discontinued the free one

Here is a lengthy thread about the subject that I found in their forums if you want to check it out:

http://www.pctools.com/forum/showpost.php?p=233692&postcount=1

What I would recommend is sticking with the firewall that comes with Windows 7 and the Sphinx control. (Exile beat me to it!)

[DarkSnakeKobra]

Since then I've only used Vista Firewall Control by Sphinx (now Windows 7 Firewall Control), but that's just a front-end for the built in Windows Firewall that turns on outbound blocking and allows more granular control over how programs access the net (ie, trust levels etc),

I'm in a similar deal. Since I dropped Windows I've installed GUFW which is a front end to UFW(Ubuntu Firewall I believe). Allowing easier control to the firewall without the need for command line.

[byte_king]

Thanks you guys. What exactly is Sphinx and what can it do? I suppose I should google it.

[mountaintree16]

I am trying to find the link for you, stay tuned (I'll just edit it back into this post).

Edit

Here you go! Free version is on the left!

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