Firewall (software) Recommedations

[plex03]

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone could make some recommendations regarding software based firewall programs.

My Norton subscription has expired and having spent a lot of time reading about and researching different security software products over the past year or two, I've become more and more weary of Norton's products. I had to learn the hard way at how inefficient and incomplete their Anti-Virus program is and as a result have the same concerns about their Firewall products ever since installing "ASquared" and having it catch trojans that NIS didn't.

Is there better out there and if so, what are some of the better ones? I've heard great things about Kapersky. I'm not a fan of Zone Alarm at all.

I'm on cable and running Windows XP Pro, SP2

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[mark_W]

Try Kerio personal firewall!

- Mark

[lighter]

Tiny Firewall

[mark_W]

In terms of anti-virus I would say Avast (www.avast.com) is excellent!

- Mark

[iluminatae]

Antivirus
http://www.grisoft.com/html/us_index.htm

Firewall
http://smb.sygate.com/products/spf_standard.htm
http://www.kerio.com/kerio.html

[iluminatae]

In terms of anti-virus I would say Avast (www.avast.com) is excellent!

- Mark

Thanks for the link, this is going in my important stuff folder

[mark_W]

Lol....I am very impressed with it! Especially since its free to!

- Mark

[cfm]

I still recommend ZoneAlarm, unless you're running remote access or server software on your machine. After that, I'd recommend Kerio, and then Sygate; I've used all three extensively and like all of them.

Off Topic:

At some point, I'd be interested to hear more about your distrust of Norton AntiVirus. I've used it for years without any trouble, and it's saved my bacon more than once; a highly experienced IT friend of mine has said the same.

[iluminatae]

I still recommend ZoneAlarm, unless you're running remote access or server software on your machine. After that, I'd recommend Kerio, and then Sygate; I've used all three extensively and like all of them.

Off Topic:

At some point, I'd be interested to hear more about your distrust of Norton AntiVirus. I've used it for years without any trouble, and it's saved my bacon more than once; a highly experienced IT friend of mine has said the same.

I tied both norton and mcafee for a couple of years, they both do what they are supposed to, but my biggest complaint with both apps is they are extremely resource heavy aka bloatware...and both caused me more headaches than it was worth. I thought of them as purchased viruses...

I currently use AVG free version - it is extremely resource light, doesn't install alot of uneccesary garbage into you computer, updates automatically and scans email both incoming and outgoing. It's free too.

I will never go back to norton or mcafee antivirus.

If you want to pay for an antivirus scanner then nod32 and kasperky get high marks every time it is tested and is resource light as well.

Even if one doesnt have the "best" antivirus program but practices intelligent internet use these free apps do the trick.

[James L]

Whats wrong with Norton? I use internet s 2005, it seems to work flawlessly. It is also rated top by many reviews I have seen.

[Virakor]

I use NIS 2005 and am very happy. I do not what you mean by bloatware that they package a lot of their "System Works" packages with.

You just have to know what you want and do a custom install and unselect any parts of the program you don't want.

[megamanXplosion]

My recommendations...

Firewall: Zone-Alarm or Kerio.
Anti-Virus: Kaspersky Anti-Virus or Nod32.
Spyware: Spybot Search & Destroy and Adaware.
Defragmentation: Built-In Windows Defragmentor or O&O Defrag.

[KLB]

I personally use ZoneAlarm, but I do have one word of warning about it. If you use any application that makes constant internet connections (e.g. P2P or server software) expect to reboot every few days (even under WinXP). If you don't your system will crash because of memory leaks in ZoneAlarm. While I use Norton Anti-Virus and ZoneAlarm, I think both programs are too resource intensive and I don't like ZoneAlarm's memory leaks.

[KC]

I use ZoneAlarm Pro which works for my needs and Norton Antivirus 2004.

Personally I have never used Norton Firewall so I'll refrain from making judgements about the software. But Norton Antivirus has never let me down.

Fwiw, Norton Antivirus integrates well with the latest version of Zone Alarm Pro.

[truelysam]

zone alarm is the best i hav ever heard of