best free firewall

**wupwup** · April 18, 2010, 06:36 AM

seems windows firewall isnt good enough. it just let 6 spyware things through. what should i get to stop more? thanks

**karamazovmm** · April 18, 2010, 07:14 AM

might as well don't use the interweb.

its devils work I say.

being that much paranoid this is the best thing you can do. And FYI those 6 spyware might not be working at all.

and you can try to install comodo, it has paranoid levels

**Simetrical** · April 18, 2010, 01:20 PM

Firewalls won't necessarily stop malware. You need a full antivirus suite for that. (Or just live with it, if you prefer.) Firewalls only stop very particular behavior; and of course, once malware gets installed as admin, it can dodge the firewall if it wants.

**Freddie** · April 18, 2010, 01:52 PM

Install Spybot search & Destory and enable immunise and this cut out 98% of the crap

**Top-Tier-Tech** · April 18, 2010, 04:54 PM

Originally Posted by Freddie

Install Spybot search & Destory and enable immunise and this cut out 98% of the crap

Cnet gives it a bad rating.

Spybot - Search & Destroy has been in the antispyware game for a long time offering features we've come to expect in the best apps in the category, but bugs and false positives make it difficult to recommend.

Unfortunately, the program has the tendency to lock up at times and even during the install process for this review, we encountered several errors. The ambitious feature list and functionality make Spybot a good choice for those in search of a second antispyware program, and recent updates have made it run faster. It still makes errors in flagging spyware that isn't, and overall there are others in the category that do a better job.

**Top-Tier-Tech** · April 19, 2010, 09:31 PM

Originally Posted by wupwup

lol just ran a spybot search ad it found no less than 60 spywares lol. glad i got it now. how often should i run it?

Gee, I wonder why...

Originally Posted by Cnet

It still makes errors in flagging spyware that isn't

**Freddie** · April 18, 2010, 05:43 PM

I must admit I do basis my opinion on past performance but what I can say is once I enabled the immunize feature the amount of spy-ware that had built had reduced by a dramatic margin. Before I enabled immunize I would run Ad-Adware and Spybot to try and clear out all the crap that had built up over a weeks worth of web browsing eventually I got feed of all this manual scanning (as it took longer and longer) went through the immunize process. When I scanned my PC a week latter there was no spyware or adware on my computer then I left it for a full 6 months before my next scan and it found just one minor item hence why now I recommend to everyone.

The reviewer says it doesn't pick up everything which is true as Ad-Ware will find things SpyBot has missed and vice versa, he/she also mentions the installer freezing up during the installation process but a quick look through the first 12 pages of user user reviews in negative order there was no mention of installation freezing. Also in the video review the girl mentions how Spy_Bot is no longer as popular as it once was but when I checked to see the top 3 Spyware Removers SpyBot was number 3 (by downloads) so something must have changed. It does appear to have issues with Windows 7 with the administrator privileges and I'm surprised there has been no new builds since January of last year. Once final point the reviewer makes which I agree with says it makes a good app to run as a 2nd antispyware program so the OP might want to check one of these other apps as well.

**mrmouth** · April 18, 2010, 11:44 PM

The Win7 firewall was based off of McAfee's, which is writing the new baseline that the US government and military will use. It is supposed to be 'game changing'.

So the Win7 firewall is built on a strong foundation. But it is still only working incoming, and not outgoing. So if anything does get on your machine, it can still phone home. Same with all previous windows versions. If you are running a router (hardware firewall), there was a time when the general consensus was that was enough. Fundamentally, it should be enough. But the idea of a layered defense has taken over, and bolstered by the small size of today's free options.

I use Comodo, as it is a true 2-way. Maybe not something I would reccomend for extreme beginners, but it is fairly easy to use. And offers a ton of options for advanced users.

**Noble Savage** · April 19, 2010, 04:40 PM

Originally Posted by BarnabyJones

I use Comodo, as it is a true 2-way. Maybe not something I would reccomend for extreme beginners, but it is fairly easy to use. And offers a ton of options for advanced users.

I agree,probably the best if you can handle the huge amount of requests it asks you but for real peace of mind ,there's nothing better in the free range .

**karamazovmm** · April 18, 2010, 11:47 PM

chaob and freddie a compelling tale of love, with its beauty only being surpassed now that we have pride prejudice and zombies!

**wupwup** · April 19, 2010, 03:38 AM

thans guys. will get spybot because i remember it from a few years ago and it was great. is the general consensus a firewall isnt worth getting? i do also have avast antivirus.

**wupwup** · April 19, 2010, 04:12 AM

lol just ran a spybot search ad it found no less than 60 spywares lol. glad i got it now. how often should i run it?

**Argent Usher** · April 19, 2010, 06:13 AM

JFYI http://www.matousec.com/projects/pro...ge/results.php

Cheers A.U.

**Freddie** · April 19, 2010, 02:10 PM

Originally Posted by wupwup

lol just ran a spybot search ad it found no less than 60 spywares lol. glad i got it now. how often should i run it?

Just be sure to run immunize otherwise you will have to scan daily to stay on top of this crap.

**wupwup** · April 19, 2010, 04:29 PM

is it particulary dangerous?

**Simetrical** · April 20, 2010, 01:32 PM

All this anti-malware stuff is very dodgy. Its purpose is as much to convince you of how good a job its doing as to actually do anything useful. It's extremely difficult to evaluate how well any of them do: if they stop something (or claim to) you don't know if it was actually a problem, and if they let something through you chalk it up to "nothing's perfect". On the other hand, they tend to interfere with perfectly legitimate applications on a regular basis, and annoy you constantly with prompts.

Personally, I'd just stick to the Microsoft stuff, if I still used Windows. Other anti-malware doesn't guarantee you anything anyway, but it does ensure you'll face extra hassle. Keep backups of your personal files, and if you have to reinstall the OS once in a while, that's the cost of using Windows. The only Windows machine I operate is used solely for gaming, so as long as the game runs, I don't really care what garbage infests the thing. The worst case is I lose all my saves or whatever, I guess, but I don't use it for anything important. At least Microsoft has good reason to actually wipe out malware rather than merely appear to, and they don't have an incentive to make the software obtrusive.