Filed under: Internet, Security, Windows, Freeware
Best free firewall for Windows? - Ask DLS
by Jordan Running Nov 6th 2006 at 1:30PM
So I'm sitting here on a brand new Windows install (more on that later) and thinking, "I have got to get a real firewall up." The trouble is, I'm extraordinarily cheap. For a long time I've been using Sygate Personal Firewall--so long, in fact, that in the time since Symantec has acquired Sygate and killed the poor thing off. It's still available elsewhere on the internets, but is there a better option out there? Tell me, dear readers, who is the king of the free firewall software for Windows these days?
I don't know if this is a labor of love or merely the brainchild of four very gifted games designers, but Level Up is a really weird mash-up of gaming elements that you have probably never seen in a Flash game before.
Let's start with the premise itself: Groundhog Day meets Memento. The game experience revolves around 'days': you explore the world and the clock slowly ticks towards the evening. You bounce around picking up gems and talking to the denizens of 'Level Upland'. Eventually you feel tired and head back to ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Sean said 1:46PM on 11-06-2006
ZoneAlarm (http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/catalog/products/sku_list_za.jsp?dc=12bms&ctry=US&lang=en&lid=nav_za) by Zone Labs.
Reply
Spenser said 1:52PM on 11-06-2006
I agree with Sean, ZoneAlarm is the way to go, unless someone will give me proof that something else is better, In which case I may just switch!
Reply
Proteo5 said 1:54PM on 11-06-2006
The best one is Kerio http://www.sunbelt-software.com/Kerio.cfm
Reply
Steve from Yellowstone said 2:02PM on 11-06-2006
Sygate all the way. Find that last free version (its worth it). ZoneAlarm is a bloated memory hog. Sygate is nice and compact and won't steal too much from free resources.
Reply
Jordan Running said 2:02PM on 11-06-2006
Proteo5: I used to use Kerio, but now that Sunbelt owns it some of its features go away after 30 days unless you pay up. How does the unregistered, feature-limited version compare to the full version?
Reply
Bill said 2:06PM on 11-06-2006
Sygate, although no longer available as free from their site. :(
The last time I saw Zone Alarm, it seemed cartoony compared to Sygate.
Reply
nosh said 2:10PM on 11-06-2006
Since you have been using SPF for a long time I'm assuming it's protected you well. So why would you want to try something else now? :)
Its job is to protect you and it's doing it perfectly. And the 'advanced rules' make it very flexible.
Why would you want something MORE from a firewall? That's just my way of looking at it.
It would be nice if people actually mentioned a feature or two they like about their firewall of choice rather than just mention its name.
- Sygate Loyalist
Reply
techturtle said 2:11PM on 11-06-2006
Give Comodo firewall at http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/ a try. It's free for life, and is tremendously configurable.
Reply
Jason Clarke said 2:16PM on 11-06-2006
It's been years since I've used SyGate, but to be honest I'm not sure why I left it for ZoneAlarm. I recall that ZA did better on some firewall tests, for example those at www.grc.com (the SheildsUp! tests).
That being said, I can't say I'm a happy ZA user. Too often they have issues with their updates, I've had the ZA process go crazy eating up CPU, and it's not small. So I'm tempted to go dig out an old version of SyGate...
Reply
will said 2:19PM on 11-06-2006
I did like Comodo, but when I tried it a couple of months ago, it didn't support Fast User Switching in Windows XP - pretty crucial if you want to protect your PC under any account that is logged in.
I'm still using ZoneAlarm just because I haven't found something better. I'm not crazy about it, so perhaps I'll try one of these other recommendations until Comodo support FUS.
Reply
Peter said 2:23PM on 11-06-2006
I would seriously consider if you really need one or not.
If you use the built in Windows firewall and are behind a NAT router the likelihood of someone getting to your machine from the outside is slim.
As a DLS worker I assume you install a lot of unknown apps. If you are concerned about outgoing traffic, you really would be better served by installing those apps on a VM, which would make the outbound traffic issue moot.
Most people would have no idea how to respond when the firewall popup question appears (so they usually just allow everything so the app works). Being smart about what you do and where you go online is at least as important as having a FW in place.
Reply
Ali said 2:30PM on 11-06-2006
Folks, The GUI is not the main point when you select a firewall. Zonealarm firewalls are NOT memory hog as I am using them for more than a year on my slow pc (the famouse memory hogs are norton products!), they were quite effective and buzz free for me. I agree that the security suit included antivirus and antispyware are weak. I usually use PC magazine reviews for my selection Go to the link below read the reviews and decide for yourself.
http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,1874,4829,00.asp
Reply
Ryan Carter said 2:47PM on 11-06-2006
Another vote here for Zone Alarm, but the reason I like it is that it is very simple (read: good) for newbies who don't know what a firewall is. They can read the pop-ups and I train them a bit to know which programs are okay, and what the hacking attempts look like. The more advanced ones just make it hard for these folks, but ZA is fairly simple.
Reply
Owen said 2:54PM on 11-06-2006
Zone Alarm - interface is silly but perfectly usable - and since you almost never use it - the whole point is set and forget - why would that matter?
Bottom line is 1) it works really really well - never one problem in >2 years. 2) installs easy. 3) easy to turn on and off for complicated and weird apps 4) it IS a pain about updates - either turn them off and do a manual every couple of months - or set it to just do them and be prepared for weekly slowdowns and restarts while it updates.
I don't switch because it really works
Reply
Steven said 2:52PM on 11-06-2006
I agree with Peter and was going to say the same thing. My windows box doesn't run a firewall at all...why? I've got it on a gigabit lan with 3 other machines...all behind a router. It's a pretty good guess that most people with broadband have a router and that their machines are NATted and nothing can get to them anyway.
I have exactly one port forwarded to the windows box, and it's autoforwarded by uTorrent. I use RDC, but only from inside the network or over an SSH tunnel with a linux box.
Reply
My2cents said 3:49PM on 11-06-2006
Just one remark.. Windows Firewall is a one-direction firewall (inbound). I would really only use a product that allows Outbound scanning as well. Just to be sure that all the apps we find at DownloadSquad are not 'calling home' without permission. :-)
Been forced to use the Norton products for to long and now really happy to have switched to latest McAfee product. Not free i know, but I am willing to pay for some peace of mind.
I can not stand walking around with 1400+ laptop, having usd 350+ spent on Office software and then do the most important thing (security) as cheap as possible. If I would, ZoneAlarm would be my choice.
Reply
Alex3305 said 3:30PM on 11-06-2006
Just the built-in Windows XP SP2 firewall and ofcourse a hardware firewall built in my modem/router. It's good 'nuff :)
Reply
Brian said 8:46PM on 11-06-2006
I'm in the ZoneAlarm group. I haven't tried other ones but I like the way it works and have heard great reviews of it.
Reply
colin said 3:52PM on 11-06-2006
what about for 64 bit windows systems? Zone Alarm free doesn't work with the 64 bit version of Win XP Pro.
Reply
blanko said 4:42PM on 11-06-2006
What peter says.
Reply