Any good free firewalls (other than Zone Alarm)?

JayC · Sep 2, 2005

I was wondering if anyone knew of any good free, downloadable firewalls. I really liked Zone Alarm, but the latest version (6.0) is really starting to annoy me. I have Windows XP Pro with SP2. There are two accounts set up. If I log off and either log on again or log on to the other account, Zone Alarm pops up and says System Error: Please Reboot. So, I shutdown Zone Alarm and start it again. I did some checking on the ZA forums, and I guess I'm not alone. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif I'd just like something better if it exists.

Boomerang1 · Sep 2, 2005

My XP Pro came with a firewall but I use Zone Alarm without any problems. If you had an older version of Zone Alarm (version 2.x - version 5.x) and upgraded to version 6, you must completely remove all of the old versions and then reinstall v.6.x Hope this helps.

JayC · Sep 2, 2005

This was a clean install to version 6. I had to reinstall Windows a few weeks back (that was a BIG pain /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif ). A short while later I installed Zone Alarm.

Jimbrown · Sep 2, 2005

Zone Alarm caused me lots of problems I like this one better

http://www.kerio.com/kpf_download.html

There are several verisons so you might want to look for the one you think is best. Many people prefer the older versions.

JayC · Sep 4, 2005

Thanks. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif I'll check it out.

froggy · Sep 4, 2005

Take a look at Sygate:

fire wall

jim_wilson · Sep 4, 2005

Neither one of these are free but I have been running both for about 5-6 years now with pretty good success:

I use Winproxy as a firewall/proxy server-
Winproxy firewall

and BlackIce for intrusion protection:
BlackIce firewall

I actually went for a few years without even updating my virus protection and did not have any problems running this combination of software. Depending on what version of Windows software you are running another way you can make your system more secure is to shutoff access to TCP/IP ports that you don't need. This is available by selecting the ethernet port that connects to the internet (the one hooked to your cable or DSL modem) and going to the Advanced -> Options tab -> TCP/IP filtering -> Properties

Alan L. · Sep 5, 2005

The only problem with shutting off ports, is that I wouldn't know which ones I need and which ones I don't need. And the firewalls don't really tell you much.

I have the regular XP firewall on my laptop (both directions on SP2). I put Sygate on Mrs. Alan L's computer which as Windows 2000 and it seems to work fine. I also put it on my Mother's computer and it works but seems to decide to block things like McAfee from updating from time to time even though I have told it to allow it.

Alan L. · Sep 5, 2005

I had so much trouble with ZA on my wife's Windows 2000 laptop I had to take it off. And that was no small feat in itself. After struggling with it for a day I started getting on various forums and the advice I got was to reformat to get ZA off the machine. Luckily I didn't have to do it, but it really caused trouble.

I suspect that part of it was my ignorance, but I don't have much patience with something that is not user friendly. Sygate makes me cuss too, but its working so far.

Jim57 · Sep 5, 2005

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I was wondering if anyone knew of any good free, downloadable firewalls. I really liked Zone Alarm, but the latest version (6.0) is really starting to annoy me. I have Windows XP Pro with SP2. There are two accounts set up. If I log off and either log on again or log on to the other account, Zone Alarm pops up and says System Error: Please Reboot. So, I shutdown Zone Alarm and start it again. I did some checking on the ZA forums, and I guess I'm not alone. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif I'd just like something better if it exists. )</font>

First of all the SP2 is part of your problem. It messes with all computer systems. I would reload and NOT install SP2 all upgrades except SP2.

Then PCcillin is the one I have had the best luck with. Priced reasonable and you can download free 30 day trial first.

Here is the link. Trend Micro™ PC-cillin™ Internet Security 2005 Give this a try... I think you will like it very much. It automatically updates as well for one year. I highly recommend it and I think you will as well after you try it.

Jim