Need Easy to Use Firewall

Hi All,

I could use some help locating a free firewall that will be easy to use. The only experience I've had with firewalls was TPF. That one was from a few years back and I had help using it.

Any suggestions? I need it urgently because I have a new box with only the XP Firewall on it which I know doesn't stop the computer from sending out information.

 

Zone Alarm has a free version that is good. Not real easy to set up but not horribly difficult.

Kerio is also free and good.

 

Here is the link for the free ZoneAlarm firewall.

 

Hello Ann,

I need it urgently because I have a new box with only the XP Firewall on it which I know doesn't stop the computer from sending out information.

Not the issue, your box always sends out information.

EDIT: This problem of "sending out information" is mostly a Browser issue. Any top tier firewall does the job, which after all is to block unsolicited packets. Its the Browser that "leaks" and that is what should be paid attention to.

The case for 3rd party firewalls are:

Application control of legitimate programs that want to check for updates at inappropriate times, at every net connection for instance, how of often does a program get updated? Outside of AV's, not many.

If malware got through, first clue may be wanting to connect.

Regards - Charles

 

The SP2 firewall does not block outgoing packets. You should either download and install the free version of Zone Alarm or Sygate OR opt for a suite such as the one my wife and I use from Trend Micro.

And as for browsers... man... I'd dump IE in a heartbeat and go for something like Firefox, Mozilla 1.7.5 or Opera (preferrably, Firefox).

Good luck.

 

Here are some links to Gibson Research Corporation pages that people may be insterested in. There is lots of interesting reading at this site.

ShieldsUP! Main Page:
http://www.grc.com/default.htm
This main page contains background information about several tools Steve Gibson created. These tools can be used to test for and "fix" certain issues in Windows. Scroll down to the "Your Three Musketeers" section for info about some of Steve Gibson's utilities I have found useful ( "UnPlug n' Pray ", "DCOMbobulator ", "Shoot The Messenger "). These utilities can be downloaded and simply run from the location you download them to. No "install" is necessary.

Continue to scroll down the ShieldsUP! main page to the "Hot Spots" section and you will find the following links.

ShieldsUP! Test Start Page:
https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2
You can use this to test your computer's communication ports, browser header information, etc.

LeakTest v1.2 Firewall Leakage Tester Download Page:
http://www.grc.com/lt/leaktest.htm
You can download the leaktest.exe file and simply run it from the location you save it to. (No "install" is necessary.)

I expect the two links above are useful regardless of the operating system of the user's computer although I have never used them with OS's other than Windows. The "Help" buttons in the various downloadable utilities, such as LeakTest, also produce interesting information.