I like zonealarm but youŽll need to spend some time to configure currectly but after this i will work 100% ok. If your internet knownledge is not very good i advice you to use microsoft newer tool " windows bit defender" its free and you only need genuine windows.

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Use this:

BlackIce firewall

or

McAfee internet security suite
or
McAfee firewall

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You know...payed firewalls aren't exactly the "best". I use AVG Free Edition, and trust me, it was WAY better than the Nortorn Anti-virus I used. I also use Spybot S&D, and Ad-aware SE Personal. With these three programs, my computer is actually pretty safe. Not the safest, but remember, I never even payed for these.

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William91,

Try using hacker smacker pro. Not just it is lightweight firewall, doesn't consume much resources, but can block all unwanted traffics. I was using zone alarm pro since a couple of months. Who says it is uncompatible with AVs and softwares? If you get some errors, just place that software or network card in safe or trusted zone. Why you want to use NOrton (its piece of crap) or McAfee (too much load on resources). Use NOD32 instead. I am sure you will never experience any slowdown of PC with its default settings. Its virus database is one of the vast available.

 

 

 

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Let me tell you my experience. If you are running on Microsoft Windows XP professioanal or Home operating system why not use the Firewall that comes with this windows itself. It is quite good. Sometimes ago, I was using firewall by Alexa but they themselves seem to collect some information from my system. So, I stopped using them.

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It's quite good, but can never be trusted. The firewall provided by Microsoft is still in beta. Attacks from the internet still stand a high chance of invading your computer if you use Windows Firewall. What I suggest is to disable the Windows Firewall and get a dedicated Firewall software that handles the firewall tasks itself.

You can also get a list of free security software tools from this thread.
http://www.trap17.com/forums/page-»-t34146-s10.html

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I use McAfee because I do not like Norton. Norton always freezes up my computer. So, I got McAfee to replace it. Also this is a great utility that includes a firewall. I have not purchased it yet because of $$$, but the reviews look great.

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Seeing many good testimonials about Outpost Firewall, I decided to give it a try after formatting my computer 3 days ago. I downloaded the free version, called the OutpostFree Firewall. Indeed it was quite easy to use. Just set it to the Wizard Mode and the software that is connecting to the internet will be prompted by Outpost for access from you.

The problems come when I am connect to the internet. The Wizard Mode blocks everything still. In it's documents, the Wizard Mode suppose to prompt me a question whether or not to allow the program to access the internet. It did prompted, but it is not working as expected. In Wizard Mode, it's default mode, suppose to only allow those that I've set to access the internet, didn't work. Only when I set "Allow Most Mode" then all my applications starts working again. I don't quite trust that mode because I won't know which programs are accessing the Internet. Previously I was using Norton Internet Security, it kept pestering me if the application is allowed to connect to the internet, and it worked as promised, though taking alot of memory and resources. So in the end, I've had no choice but to set to "Allow Most Mode" so I can use the Internet, or I'm blocked behind my own firewall.

Other than that, I've also got frequent Blue Screen of Death from Windows XP, and the message in the BSOD prompted an error with "filtnt.sys" and regarding to the matter "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL". I've searched the Internet and found out that many people using Outpost firewall has similar problems. I've never had a BSOD on my notebook, since I bought it 3 years ago. Since many Outpost user had similar problems, I've to certainly assume that the BSOD comes from Outpost. In Outpost forums, it's support were weak and disappointed. Many had their questions unanswered, and the Admins seemed to care less about it and pushed the problem to Microsoft. Certainly that isn't right. We all aren't computer idiots. Windows users who seldom had BSOD suddenly had such thing appearing frequently after installing Outpost. Then later, Outpost released a new version to a bug fix to this filtnt.sys and the BSOD crash problem. That only applies on the paid version I suppose. Because I'm using the free version of Outpost, I'm still having the BSOD. Now I'm getting bad thinking about Outpost. Can any one let me know of you are having the same problem?

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zonealarm has always worked for me as well as Mccaffee's firewall and norton internet security. I liked the syngate firewall but its no longer free.

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I used to have Symantec's Norton personal firewall but its license expired, then i installed Sygate and Zonealarm (2 heads are better than one). Zonealarm was the flashy one while Sygate i thought did the real work. But now Symantec has bought Sygate also, whioch means i can no longer get updates to it. So Zonealarm is my last hope( BTW it released a new version just 4 days ago, update your firewalls ).

Another firewall i have used is the McAfee one, but after i installed it it corrupted my scripts, i could no longer use my HP print software, so i stopped using it.

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