Author Topic: PC Tools Firewall gone -- what others are good?  (Read 22504 times)

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Offline MikeBCda

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PC Tools Firewall gone -- what others are good?
« on: August 31, 2010, 10:02:40 PM »
It's official -- PC Tools Firewall Plus is "retired" as of today, with no hints that was coming (thanks loads, Symantec  :P ).

Which others (preferably freeware) are currently recommended?  I've tried (and ditched) both ZA and Comodo, and would like something that's a reasonable balance of security and user-friendliness.
Intel Atom D2700, 2 gig RAM, Win 7 x64 SP1 & IE-11, Firefox 51.0
(default). 320 gig HD, 15Mb DSL, Win firewall, Avast 12.3.2280 free, SpywareBlaster, MBAM Prem., Crypto-Prevent

Offline Pondus

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Re: PC Tools Firewall gone -- what others are good?
« Reply #1 on: August 31, 2010, 10:11:29 PM »
My favorit Outpost free http://free.agnitum.com/  almost fully automatic

Online DavidR

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Re: PC Tools Firewall gone -- what others are good?
« Reply #2 on: August 31, 2010, 10:44:47 PM »
It's official -- PC Tools Firewall Plus is "retired" as of today, with no hints that was coming (thanks loads, Symantec  :P ).

The hint of it coming was it being bought out, this is common practice for Symantec, they buy something out and they have an additional customer base and then they merge any good bits of the product into their own equivalent.
Note in my signature Drive Image 7.1, this was the last version from PowerQuest before it was bought out and merged into Norton Ghost.

Which others (preferably freeware) are currently recommended?  I've tried (and ditched) both ZA and Comodo, and would like something that's a reasonable balance of security and user-friendliness.

Another vote for Outpost free I would be using that if I didn't have the Pro version. It is a good firewall with a light touch on the number of pop-ups you get.
« Last Edit: August 31, 2010, 10:48:48 PM by DavidR »
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Offline bob3160

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Offline Lisandro

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Re: PC Tools Firewall gone -- what others are good?
« Reply #4 on: September 01, 2010, 12:12:49 AM »
Well, another product that dies due to Symantec...
Of course, why to do competition to their firewall?
Comodo 5 (with the sandbox and Defense+ at Safe Mode) isn't a "noisy" firewall anymore. You can go with it.
The best things in life are free.

YoKenny

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Re: PC Tools Firewall gone -- what others are good?
« Reply #5 on: September 01, 2010, 12:17:59 AM »
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=47172.msg397268#msg397268

Quote
After an initial test and after the first reboot after install, I've removed it.
It tied my system into knots.  Everything crawled and it took forever to finally get it un-installed.
Now the system is back to normal (using the Windows 7 firewall).
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=47172.msg397605#msg397605

Well, another product that dies due to Symantec...
Of course, why to do competition to their firewall?
Comodo 5 (with the sandbox and Defense+ at Safe Mode) isn't a "noisy" firewall anymore. You can go with it.

I prefer not to have my operating system BSOD with additional software.

Offline Lisandro

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Re: PC Tools Firewall gone -- what others are good?
« Reply #6 on: September 01, 2010, 12:37:39 AM »
I prefer not to have my operating system BSOD with additional software.
Why do you use avast then?
It also BSODs... and have memory leaks...
The best things in life are free.

YoKenny

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Re: PC Tools Firewall gone -- what others are good?
« Reply #7 on: September 01, 2010, 12:47:04 AM »
I prefer not to have my operating system BSOD with additional software.
Why do you use avast then?
It also BSODs... and have memory leaks...
I don't use Comodo Time Machine!

The last BSOD I had was on my XP Pro system with MBAM when avast V5 was just released and it was fixed quite promptly by AWIL support.

Offline Lisandro

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Re: PC Tools Firewall gone -- what others are good?
« Reply #8 on: September 01, 2010, 12:49:12 AM »
I don't use Comodo Time Machine!
Well, you're losing a terrific technology. Sorry you.
The best things in life are free.

YoKenny

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Re: PC Tools Firewall gone -- what others are good?
« Reply #9 on: September 01, 2010, 01:03:09 AM »
I don't use Comodo Time Machine!
Well, you're losing a terrific technology. Sorry you.
I have a secondary internal hard drive that I use Windows 7 backup that works great for me:
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/1838/using-backup-and-restore-in-windows-7

I use Acronis True Image Home on my XP Pro system:
Top 4 Backup Software Programs
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/maintenance/tp/backup_software.htm

Offline Simion

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Re: PC Tools Firewall gone -- what others are good?
« Reply #10 on: September 01, 2010, 01:31:20 AM »
I prefer not to have my operating system BSOD with additional software.
Why do you use avast then?
It also BSODs... and have memory leaks...
I don't use Comodo Time Machine!

The last BSOD I had was on my XP Pro system with MBAM when avast V5 was just released and it was fixed quite promptly by AWIL support.

Who's AWIL? Your service provider?

Offline bob3160

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Re: PC Tools Firewall gone -- what others are good?
« Reply #11 on: September 01, 2010, 01:39:37 AM »
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=47172.msg397268#msg397268

Quote
After an initial test and after the first reboot after install, I've removed it.
It tied my system into knots.  Everything crawled and it took forever to finally get it un-installed.
Now the system is back to normal (using the Windows 7 firewall).
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=47172.msg397605#msg397605
I'm still using it on my laptop on Windows 7 (32bit) and I haven't experienced any of the
complaints you're making about Privatefirewall 7.
Free Security Seminar: https://bit.ly/bobg2023  -  Important: http://www.organdonor.gov/ -- My Web Site: http://bob3160.strikingly.com/ - Win 11 Pro v22H2 64bit, 16 Gig Ram, 1TB SSD, Avast Free 23.5.6066, How to Successfully Install Avast http://goo.gl/VLXdeRepair & Clean Install https://goo.gl/t7aJGq -- My Online Activity https://bit.ly/BobGInternet

rdmaloyjr

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Re: PC Tools Firewall gone -- what others are good?
« Reply #12 on: September 01, 2010, 02:34:32 AM »
Cheer up guys & gals,

The best & most user-friendly free fw is still with us. 8)

http://www.filehippo.com/download_zonealarm_free/

Offline MikeBCda

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Re: PC Tools Firewall gone -- what others are good?
« Reply #13 on: September 01, 2010, 03:38:15 AM »
Thanks all.  Sounds like there was a teensy bit of "majority vote" for Outlook, so I've downloaded that and will give it a try soon's I get offline.  Hope the PC Tools one isn't too much of a headache to uninstall.
Intel Atom D2700, 2 gig RAM, Win 7 x64 SP1 & IE-11, Firefox 51.0
(default). 320 gig HD, 15Mb DSL, Win firewall, Avast 12.3.2280 free, SpywareBlaster, MBAM Prem., Crypto-Prevent

wls

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Re: PC Tools Firewall gone -- what others are good?
« Reply #14 on: September 01, 2010, 04:17:58 AM »
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=47172.msg397268#msg397268

Quote
After an initial test and after the first reboot after install, I've removed it.
It tied my system into knots.  Everything crawled and it took forever to finally get it un-installed.
Now the system is back to normal (using the Windows 7 firewall).
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=47172.msg397605#msg397605
I'm still using it on my laptop on Windows 7 (32bit) and I haven't experienced any of the
complaints you're making about Privatefirewall 7.

I uninstalled PCTFWP since the latest news and am currently using Private Firewall as well. I initially had problems with Avast automatic virus updates not connecting but went into Settings and Updates and down to "Update Parameters" and checked "My Computer is always connected to the internet" and also down to "Proxy Settings" checked "Direct Connection(no proxy). Now Avast updates automatically with Private Firewall...no problem.
 Yes I agree that Outpost free is another good firewall to use with avast. Have also used it in the past with avast with no problems.