need a free firwall - XP

[chronodekar]

I'm looking for a free firewall for an XP system. The folks who are going to use the system need it to be simple. I've tried ZoneAlarm and it ... has issues while playing games. Something that works is comodo free firwall, but it's too complicated to setup. It pops up too many messages.

Any other suggestions?

-chronodekar

 

[corkyg]

XP uses Microsoft's firewall - built in. That's a good start.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/security/winfirewall.mspx

Then download and install Microsoft Sesurity Essentials. They work well together in XP. All free.

 

[lxskllr]

I used the built in firewall in XP. If you really want outbound filtering(I don't see the point), Sygate worked well up until SP2. I don't have experience on SP3. Development has long ceased on it, but since it's a dead product, security vulnerabilities probably aren't exploited. If you wanted to try that, I think I still have a copy on my drive, but you should be able to find it around somewhere.

 

[chronodekar]

I've had an attack while using the default windows firewall. And since then, have lost all faith with it. But, Security Essentials - does it have a firewall? I always thought that it was just some malware/spam-filter of sorts.

-chronodekar

 

[lxskllr]

Here's my copy of Sygate if you want to try it...

http://ubuntuone.com/p/DZq/

And here's Kerio...

http://ubuntuone.com/p/DZr/

Both are older than dirt, and I don't know if they're the absolute latest before development stopped, but it's worth a try. Of the 2 I preferred Sygate.

 

[Ken g6]

I used to use wipfw. Only try it if you really like using the command line. It's close to the polar opposite of user-friendly. But if you know what you're doing, you'll know exactly what it's doing.

 

[Auric]

Check out Privatefirewall and PC Tools Firewall Plus. Both are free and also compatible with W7 x64 (handy for future transition without having to learn another firewall).

For 2000/XP 32-bit though I really liked Kerio Personal Firewall 2, apart from the occasional buffer overflow (despite adjusting size via registry).

 

[PowerRanger]

I used to use Comodo back in the day, not sure how it is these days though.

 

[lowrider69]

Sygate 5.6(that was the last version) for XP, it works with SP3, or PC Tools Firewall Plus if you want something up to date. Both are good choices if you want to use a 3rd party firewall. Just keep in mind as the guy mentioned above that the Sygate firewall is old, the last version came out in 2005 I think.

Being behind a router is a smart idea also.

 

[chronodekar]

Thank you for all the replies guys. I think I'll try out PC Tools Firewall Plus.

-chronodekar

 

[Rottie]

i vote comodo firewall pro

 

[Auric]

I have since read that PC Tools Firewall Plus development has ceased. I did use KPF2 for years after same but it's still a factor to consider.

Another idea is to get a license for Kaspersky Internet Security. They are often free after rebate or otherwise cheap via ebay.

I was unimpressed with Comodo 2 but may give 4 a looksie.

-
Comodo 4 installs by default to:

\Program Files\COMODO\COMODO Internet Security\COMODO\COMODO Internet Security

So that's really confidence inspiring.
And as usual with such tardery, even choosing to change the install folder to \Program Files\ still results with the superfluous \COMODO\. And are all caps really necessary? Fail.

 

[lowrider69]

I have since read that PC Tools Firewall Plus development has ceased.

Development has not ceased, they're coming out with version 7 probably by next month going by what I have read on their support forums.

edit: They were going to stop development but they have decided to continue with it.

 

[alkemyst]

I liked SFC...it's still out there however Norton took the project over and it's not available through their site.

 

[vailr]

Online Armor FREE

http://www.online-armor.com/