Avast WEBforum
Other => General Topics => Topic started by: HyperGeek on July 05, 2011, 10:01:02 PM
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I wonder if anyone's used different firewalls with Avast AV Free to check which one is the best?
Names I have in my mind are:
.Zone Alarm Free
.Outpost Security Suite Free
.Online Armor Free
.Comodo Free
.Windows 7 Built-in Firewall
Any views are welcome... thanks!
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Best is subjective as it has to meet your needs and that will differ from user to user.
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I wonder if anyone's used different firewalls with Avast AV Free to check which one is the best?
<snip>
A recent thread on the same topic:
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=79655.0
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Windows 7 Firewall (Custom Rule)
Third party : Privatefirewall
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In my personal opinion:
Comodo (http://www.filehippo.com/download_comodo/)
Online Armour (http://www.tallemu.com/free-firewall-protection-software.html)
OutPost Free Security Suite (http://free.agnitum.com//)
Personal Firewall Tests & Results. Firewall rating:
http://www.matousec.com/projects/firewall-challenge/results.php
About the leak tests limitations: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=29259.msg247460#msg247460
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My favorite in an order is
Private Firewall
Online Armor
Comodo
Outpost
I would of gone with Online Armor as my top choice but it wasnt compatible with a program on my system, and ive never gotten Comodo to score high on the Leak Test from them even with suggested settings to pass it.
Outpost Seemed a bit heavier than i wanted as i game on my laptop and like to use as little of resources as possible.
Private firewall did well in all that i tested. Ram usage was less than others, and it got better scores than Comodo and Outpost did in Leak Tests.
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Here are some links.
http://download.cnet.com/Online-Armor-Free/3000-10435_4-10426782.html?tag=mncol;1
http://download.cnet.com/Agnitum-Outpost-Security-Suite-Free/3000-18510_4-75328020.html?tag=mncol;1
http://download.cnet.com/Privatefirewall/3000-10435_4-10371057.html :)
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I have used Online Armor
and now running Outpost Pro
latest release and both of them
run as smooth as a well oiled machine
compliment each other very nicely..no complaints at all ;)
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I'm taking FortKnox fw for a test drive.
http://license.netgate.sk/free_pl.php
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I'm taking FortKnox fw for a test drive.
Did you finally drop ZA..?? ;D
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No.
I'm taking FortKnox fw for a test drive.
FortKnox does have a cool tray icon. ;D
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No.
Pity..! ;)
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I'm taking FortKnox fw for a test drive.
Did you finally drop ZA..?? ;D
Asyn.........rdmaloyjr is doing way to much little chicken indian rain dance with ZA ;D and the trouble is he can't lay an egg cause it to hard to try it while standing up at the same time ;)
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Asyn.........rdmaloyjr is doing way to much little chicken indian rain dance with ZA ;D and the trouble is he can't lay an egg cause it to hard to try it while standing up at the same time ;)
ROFL ;D
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lol ;D ;D ;D
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Chicken Little can dance happily because he's well protected by avast! & ZoneAlarm!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPaUUs-URqs&feature=related
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Than try and lay an egg for the member of the ZA family if you know how to do it, while standing up doing little chicken indian rain dance at the same time and beside your head will explode ;D
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You're acting as though a piece of sky fell and hit you in the head. ROFL
You're the only mouse I know that can lay an egg. ;D ;D ;D
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Another good firewall i like very much is PC Tools Firewall Plus. They offer a good light firewall and a good hips based on signatures so you wont be asked everything that is trusted to run in your pc... ;)
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PC Tools Firewall Plus is bugware like OA fw. ::)
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Neither of the two mentioned above did never do anything to any users i know that use it...
They even are happy with both of their features and that light usage.
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PC Tools Firewall Plus is bugware like OA fw. ::)
Actually pctools firewall is very good in my trialing of it, standard install with nothing touched and it passed all my tests 100% and was probably the lightest firewall iv ever tried, is also now owned by Symantec.
The only person that would call OA bugware would be a zone alarm fanboy who obviously has no real idea about a good firewall, rdmaloyjr you praised ZoneAlarm to everyone and it was the best thing since sliced bread but now you've moved on to unrated FortKnox ::) ;D
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PC Tools Firewall Plus is bugware like OA fw. ::)
Actually pctools firewall is very good in my trialing of it, standard install with nothing touched and it passed all the known tests 100% and was probably the lightest firewall iv ever tried, is also now owned by Symantec.
The only person that would call OA bugware would be a zone alarm fanboy who obviously has no real idea about a good firewall, rdmaloyjr you praised ZoneAlarm to everyone and it was the best thing since sliced bread but now you've moved on to unrated FortKnox ::) ;D
I think Symantec will got a good partner with them.
Never known that its 100 % the test nice job from them then. ;)
ZoneAlarm alway require a registration for it so im like is it really needed for a firewall that is free... They could do like make an auto registration or like avast! on UI that you can register and its activate you automaticly... But that would be of course pure copy and maybe dissapointed from avast! or Zone Alarm customers.
I can say first view of PC Tools make me a very easy to setup, use firewall and very light.
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I should have mentioned that the tests i ran were shields up and the comodo leak test, percentage is not based on anything from matousec.
Yes that is the uncertain part as to what symantec are going to do with it, i did notice in the current release that there are some symantec files in the install so they have obviously added to it so hopefully they'll keep it going.
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Symantec file u mean in which release ? Beta/Stable/RC ?
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Symantec file u mean in which release ? Beta/Stable/RC ?
The stable 7.0.0.123, was looking through the files last night and seen some that belonged to Symantec, cant remember which particular file it was, in one of the sub folders of pctools firewall in program files as the ones in users roaming were just logs.
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Wow ok you are really good in this case craig i never known lol. Maybe that because PC Tools is good because Symantec aint bad at firewall too. I can say in movies alway in computer i see Norton Internet Security... lol. You should notice i dont know the movie name yet but it is mostly happening.
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Cant say that i like norton myself ( bloated crap ) ;D but hopefully they keep the pctools firewall up to scratch and dont run it down with bloatware.
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I hope and im maybe thinking to change my mind on that Avira i feel that it is going on a red way just to see i seem to like less now lol... Just by now i feel to just kill my computer and say no worry Avira wont get you... Omg.
If they dont make change until the date they said for SP2 French then im off of them so another customer they lose (no a big big fan but still a customer and hundred of them will do like me lol)
Edit : I hope anti virus and anti malware... will add Avira as Adware lol. Would be funny.
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I dont think norton is bloated. They arent partner with ask or uniblue at least. lol... Im now wondering who next will do like Avira... avast! ? I HOPE NO... Oh god i would kill my self just now lol. :(
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By bloated i mean big download and huge on the harddrive with lots of processes sucking up resources.
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I love more bloated than others like Avira is doing now lol.
My god... Just now we can see who the best. avast! and MSE. I hope those two will keep away of those ask toolbar and thing...
PS : Sorry if im being paranoid but now i look that Avira topic on wilders omg...
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PC Tools Firewall Plus is bugware like OA fw. ::)
Actually pctools firewall is very good in my trialing of it, standard install with nothing touched and it passed all my tests 100% and was probably the lightest firewall iv ever tried, is also now owned by Symantec.
The only person that would call OA bugware would be a zone alarm fanboy who obviously has no real idea about a good firewall, rdmaloyjr you praised ZoneAlarm to everyone and it was the best thing since sliced bread but now you've moved on to unrated FortKnox ::) ;D
craigb,
I haven't moved to FortKnox fw, I'm just taking it for a test drive. Maybe I will if I like it enough. ;) Sometimes I like to try out other software.
PC Tools Firewall Plus is the second most used by me. OA may be the third most used by me. I don't live in the past, sometimes I retry software that I've used before.
I liked OA, but it's just too buggy. I really liked Privatefirewall a lot. I hope they get it right.
If so, ZA will have some good compitition. Privatefirewall will have the upper hand as Privatefirewall has good support.
For now ZA is the best fw.
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In YOUR opinion. ;)
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PC Tools Firewall Plus is bugware like OA fw. ::)
Actually pctools firewall is very good in my trialing of it, standard install with nothing touched and it passed all the known tests 100% and was probably the lightest firewall iv ever tried, is also now owned by Symantec.
The only person that would call OA bugware would be a zone alarm fanboy who obviously has no real idea about a good firewall, rdmaloyjr you praised ZoneAlarm to everyone and it was the best thing since sliced bread but now you've moved on to unrated FortKnox ::) ;D
I think Symantec will got a good partner with them.
Never known that its 100 % the test nice job from them then. ;)
ZoneAlarm alway require a registration for it so im like is it really needed for a firewall that is free... They could do like make an auto registration or like avast! on UI that you can register and its activate you automaticly... But that would be of course pure copy and maybe dissapointed from avast! or Zone Alarm customers.
I can say first view of PC Tools make me a very easy to setup, use firewall and very light.
Mr.Agent,
ZoneAlarm Free doesn't require registration. I know, I use it.
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I did try Privatefirewall but manual manual manual its get tired for me to reinstall it lol. So my next choice was PC Tools and i hope they wont get it like Avira !!! If its that then Windows Firewall with Windows 7 Control is my next combo and its look just awesome that i would want to try out now LOL.... Im wondering does Windows 7 Control got auto updates ? *cross fingers*
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I liked Windows 7 Firewall with Windows 7 Firewall Control,
but ZA Free is so much more user friendly.
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I liked Windows 7 Firewall with Windows 7 Firewall Control,
but ZA Free is so much more user friendly.
If you know on Windows 7 Control plz reply to my topic on Question...
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Im wondering does Windows 7 Control got auto updates ?
No updates, but sometimes a new version.
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So how i update it ? Manually ? Does i just remove the old version and install the new ? (like privatefirewall) If yes then i might take a big look there lol. (another new firewall rofl)
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So how i update it ? Manually ? Does i just remove the old version and install the new ? (like privatefirewall) If yes then i might take a big look there lol. (another new firewall rofl)
Sorry, I don't remember.
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How you was installing a new version you then ? Remove the old and install the another ?
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How you was installing a new version you then ? Remove the old and install the another ?
Sorry, I don't remember. You can try installing new version over old, if that doesn't work...
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Edit : Never mind i will maybe try like as alway remove the old complety then reinstall the new one with the reboots of course. I guess that what i will do. Because i absoluty want to try this FIREWALL control omg. lol there something that tell me its so good... Im not fan of zone alarm but its look good too but as i want something that i know about it then Windows 7 Firewall with Control its might not be bad.
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Want to try FortKnox fw?
http://license.netgate.sk/free_pl.php
They have a browser, too.
It's called BlackHawk.
http://www.netgate.sk/blackhawk/help/welcome-to-blackhawk-web-browser.html
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I aim for free and fortknox is only ... PAID and there only 180 days or what for it. lol...
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Free for 6 months. ;D
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lol at least they give a free trial of 6 months. ;)
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question..I recently got avast!internet with the firewall and just notice that the windows firewall is still turned on????? I'm I suppose to manual shut this off? dont think you could use two firewalls at the same time. ???
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You can leave both on, avast! fw was designed to run in tandem with the windows fw. You can turn it off if you want though. I've been running it like that for quite awhile and i've had no problems(i mean i have both on). :)
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You can leave both on, avast! fw was designed to run in tandem with the windows fw. You can turn it off if you want though. I've been running it like that for quite awhile and i've had no problems(i mean i have both on). :)
Thank's Darth=Mikey..was about to have a heart attack :D didn't know you could run two at same time.whenever would download other firewalls the windows firewall would usually close on its own.computer technology changes so fast I cant keep up. :)
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Well you really don't want to run 2 firewalls as that could cause conflicts but the avast! fw is an exception to that. Like i said it was designed from the start to work in tandem with the windows fw(not any other fw, just the windows fw). Hope that makes it more clear.
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@ rdmaloyjr check this out http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=79655.msg657358#msg657358 ;D
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For now ZA is the best fw.
No.
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For now ZA is the best fw.
No.
+1
On a side note, personally i am more than satisfied with the avast! fw, talk about user friendly, it doesn't get more user friendly than avast! fw. ;)
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For now ZA is the best fw.
No.
+1
On a side note, personally i am more than satisfied with the avast! fw, talk about user friendly, it doesn't get more user friendly than avast! fw. ;)
Rdmaloyjr please don't make me fart! about ZA
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In all seriousness, if you are behind a NAT router, the firewall that will cause the least hassles and incompatibilities is the Windows Firewall itself. In any version of Windows and without any third party modifications. To me,a firewall should be that and only that. Software that monitors connections (primarily incoming) between your machine and the rest of the world. All the other stuff like HIPS and program monitoring are , in my opinion, not only not the job of a firewall, but too obtrusive and almost always a complete waste of your time while using your machine. For a business or Agency that would be a prime target of attack, yes, you need more protection. But the average home user? I don't think so. Just make backups of data you wouldn't want to lose, install the Antivirus of your choice, and enjoy your computer time with no needless hassles from third party firewalls that go way beyond their scope.
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In all seriousness if you don't have outbound protection there is every possibility your inbound firewall protection can be circumvented. So the choice of to have a firewall that provides outbound protection has to revolve around the users acceptance of the risk.
Not all malware comes from the Internet and of that which does, not all of it will be blocked/detected. No single program is going to give 100% protection.
Any malware that manages to get past your defences will have free reign to connect to the internet to either download more of the same, pass your personal data (sensitive or otherwise, user names, passwords, keylogger retrieved data, etc.) or open a backdoor to your computer, so outbound protection is essential.
Your firewall for the most part will allow inbound traffic if it was as a result of an outbound request from the system.
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Well seeing as in the last 12 years, nothing has gotten past my defenses, I'm content with what I have. If it does, full recovery is only a few hours away, so big deal.
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If it does, full recovery is only a few hours away, so big deal.
Guess, you mean: No big deal... ;)
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Well seeing as in the last 12 years, nothing has gotten past my defenses, I'm content with what I have. If it does, full recovery is only a few hours away, so big deal.
Lucky you, and it is the same for me, but I wouldn't give that as a recommendation on what I'm doing would work for everyone. Nor everyone has a robust backup and recovery strategy and it is they that are the ones I'm concerned about when I give advise.
I could well get away without a lot of the security I have on my system, based on my recovery strategy, but that isn't something I would do or recommend.
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I wasn't happy with FortKnox, so I dumped it and returned to ZoneAlarm. :)
No matter what fw I try I always return to ZA. There's no substitute for ZA. ;D
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I wasn't happy with FortKnox, so I dumped it and returned to ZoneAlarm. :)
No matter what fw I try I always return to ZA. There's no substitute for ZA. ;D
Rdmaloyjr which means you'll never quit doing the chicken indian rain dancing don't you ever try Outpost, Private Firewall and Comodo FW for a change, cause you're having a major problem standing up while you're trying to swat down sticking you're tail out half way from the ground ;D
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We are now on page 5 and 3/4 of all the posts are made up by saying ZA is the best
and the comeback that it's not.....
The best firewall is the one that works for you and is keeping your system secure.
Regardless of the brand. ;D
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We are now on page 5 and 3/4 of all the posts are made up by saying ZA is the best
and the comeback that it's not.....
The best firewall is the one that works for you and is keeping your system secure.
Regardless of the brand. ;D
yep...I agree with this philosophy completely. Had Microsoft security essentials for a couple of years and was satisfied unto their data base went bad. downloaded and tried 5 other free anti virus software and liked Avast the best and was so impressed with it bought the Avast internet paid version this doesn't mean its the best out there but it is the right choice for me.Some people in here seem too have a hard time accepting a particular firewall or antivirus software is best for the needs of the people who are using them.Everybody is different whats right and good for me not necessarily be right for you. :o
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In my personal opinion:
Comodo (http://www.filehippo.com/download_comodo/)
Online Armour (http://www.tallemu.com/free-firewall-protection-software.html)
OutPost Free Security Suite (http://free.agnitum.com//)
Personal Firewall Tests & Results. Firewall rating:
http://www.matousec.com/projects/firewall-challenge/results.php
About the leak tests limitations: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=29259.msg247460#msg247460
Does Comodo have Anti-phishing and Anti-key logger protection?
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I just installed Online Armor Free to test it out again. It works fine but tremendously slows down boot time unless you completely disable it and then go into services and disable the Online Armor helper service. Then turn OA back on or better yet, reboot. With that disabled, bootup returns to normal and the program still functions perfectly. Slow bootup is a known problem in all versions of Online Armor, especially on XP. I found the workaround in their forums and it was posted about two years ago. For some reason, they have never fixed the problem.
It also seems to be a problem if you have the Chrome browser installed.
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I just installed Online Armor Free to test it out again. It works fine but tremendously slows down boot time unless you completely disable it and then go into services and disable the Online Armor helper service. Then turn OA back on or better yet, reboot. With that disabled, bootup returns to normal and the program still functions perfectly. Slow bootup is a known problem in all versions of Online Armor, especially on XP. I found the workaround in their forums and it was posted about two years ago. For some reason, they have never fixed the problem.
It also seems to be a problem if you have the Chrome browser installed.
I use OA Free and I don't have any of those problems. As far as browsers go IE,FF or Chrome makes no difference. I also noticed you refered to XP, I have a Win7 64 bit. I have absolutely no slow down at all. At least it's not Zone Alarm which "will" create issues. ;D
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I just installed Online Armor Free to test it out again. It works fine but tremendously slows down boot time unless you completely disable it and then go into services and disable the Online Armor helper service. Then turn OA back on or better yet, reboot. With that disabled, bootup returns to normal and the program still functions perfectly. Slow bootup is a known problem in all versions of Online Armor, especially on XP. I found the workaround in their forums and it was posted about two years ago. For some reason, they have never fixed the problem.
It also seems to be a problem if you have the Chrome browser installed.
I use OA Free and I don't have any of those problems. As far as browsers go IE,FF or Chrome makes no difference. I also noticed you refered to XP, I have a Win7 64 bit. I have absolutely no slow down at all. At least it's not Zone Alarm which "will" create issues. ;D
If you search their forums , you will see it is definitely an issue on XP , especially when Chrome is installed and the workaround of disabling the helper service is the only thing that fixes it. The computer boots noticeably slower to your desktop picture and then it takes about another two minutes for the taskbar to show up and the icons take about another minute.
I have also discovered two other issues. If the Firewall component is enabled, it causes unacceptable stuttering in World of Warcraft. If you disable the Firewall, the game runs smoothly. The second issue is that if you completely shut down OA from the system tray icon by choosing "Close and shutdown", you can not restart the program. Only a reboot starts it back up again. This may be a result of disabling the helper service however.
I had none of these issues with the Comodo Firewall but it isn't as user friendly in it's setup or use.
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I had Comodo suite, even the AV, but had to uninstall it becaused it impeeded this July 4-5 critical Windows Update to succeed. I tried disabling the AV and D+ but nothing to do. After uninstalling it, Windows Updated like a charm. So thumbs down for Comodo. I think it is too invasive. Online Armor is no better than Comodo... I tried Zone Alarm Free but Private Firewall is better rated at Matousec and I did not like its checkpoint toolbars Adware. Private Firewall is there for the moment being and runs fine, but I'm behind a router so I don't even need one. Back to Avast Free and thumbs up, the Web & Network filters are no longer slowing my web speed as 6-7 months ago. I salute this great improvement;also I like the WebRep add-on feature idea. ;)
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<snip> At least it's not Zone Alarm which "will" create issues. ;D
A troll is trying to bait me. I'm going to ignore him. ;D ;D ;D
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It was confirmed by a moderator on the forums for Online Armor that slow bootup is a known problem when Chrome is set as the default browser. It doesn't happen if IE or FF are the defaults. OA also causes a noticeable slowdown in browsing speed in Chrome, but not In IE. They don't show any concern about fixing the problem which has existed for over two years. I have uninstalled OA and gone back to just the XP firewall. Everything is snappier now again. I have heard that the latest version of the PCTools Firewall is greatly improved so I may try that out again.
http://support.emsisoft.com/topic/5050-observed-issues/ (http://support.emsisoft.com/topic/5050-observed-issues/)
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I had Comodo suite, even the AV, but had to uninstall it becaused it impeeded this July 4-5 critical Windows Update to succeed. I tried disabling the AV and D+ but nothing to do. After uninstalling it, Windows Updated like a charm. So thumbs down for Comodo. I think it is too invasive. Online Armor is no better than Comodo... I tried Zone Alarm Free but Private Firewall is better rated at Matousec and I did not like its checkpoint toolbars Adware. Private Firewall is there for the moment being and runs fine, but I'm behind a router so I don't even need one. Back to Avast Free and thumbs up, the Web & Network filters are no longer slowing my web speed as 6-7 months ago. I salute this great improvement;also I like the WebRep add-on feature idea. ;)
gdiloren,
You don't have to take the ZA toolbar, just do a custom install. ;)
BTW, ZA's toolbar does the same as avast!'s WebRep, so it's not needed with avast!.
The only advantage of ZA's toolbar with avast! is online back up.
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It was confirmed by a moderator on the forums for Online Armor that slow bootup is a known problem when Chrome is set as the default browser. It doesn't happen if IE or FF are the defaults. OA also causes a noticeable slowdown in browsing speed in Chrome, but not In IE. They don't show any concern about fixing the problem which has existed for over two years. I have uninstalled OA and gone back to just the XP firewall. Everything is snappier now again. I have heard that the latest version of the PCTools Firewall is greatly improved so I may try that out again.
http://support.emsisoft.com/topic/5050-observed-issues/ (http://support.emsisoft.com/topic/5050-observed-issues/)
And some say OA doesn't have any bugs. ::)
I've tried OA a few times and the bugs I experienced were known issues.
I even had a one year subscription, it went to waste.
There were less problems with OA Free.
Only PCTools Firewall Plus is more buggy than OA.
BTW, I liked OA, they had a lot of good ideas.
Too bad they couldn't get them working right.
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All I would like to have is a basic 2 way firewall with none of the added stuff like HIPS, Web Shields, etc. It also has to be user friendly. I know you can set Comodo up that way but even if you choose to only use the Firewall, all of the other components are installed on your system, including the AV database. The addon to the Windows Firewalls looks like the most complicated thing I have ever seen so that's out too. I tried ZA but it really slowed my system down a lot.
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It was confirmed by a moderator on the forums for Online Armor that slow bootup is a known problem when Chrome is set as the default browser. It doesn't happen if IE or FF are the defaults. OA also causes a noticeable slowdown in browsing speed in Chrome, but not In IE. They don't show any concern about fixing the problem which has existed for over two years. I have uninstalled OA and gone back to just the XP firewall. Everything is snappier now again. I have heard that the latest version of the PCTools Firewall is greatly improved so I may try that out again.
http://support.emsisoft.com/topic/5050-observed-issues/ (http://support.emsisoft.com/topic/5050-observed-issues/)
I found the emisoft link very interesting. Since FF is my default browser and I have never played WOW I have not encountered these issues. I learned something today. I am very disappointed that emisoft shows little concern. I would think if there was an issue they would fix it. Every time avast has an issue they will go out of their way to fix it, sooner not later. As for Private Firewall, I have not personally used it so I know very little about it. :)
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I have installed the newest version of PC Tools Firewall Plus and I like it a lot. It seems perfectly compatible with Avast and is much more user friendly than it used to be. It also causes no bootup or slowdown issues at all. The only question I have is that it said that the Avast Service seemed to act as a local proxy and asked if it was one. I didn't know how to respond so I said it was. Maybe it's because of the web shield since I got the prompt when I launched the Chrome browser. can anyone give some information on this?
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Dch its might be that. But avast! is of course need local for update or webrep.... Network or Web Shield maybe too ?
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Maybe it's because of the web shield since I got the prompt when I launched the Chrome browser. can anyone give some information on this?
I can't resist...Use Firefox.
Yeah I know a lot of people love Chrome. Evidently you are one of them.
I have FF as my default browser but, even when I use Chrome OA Free does not affect it. And for CPU usage it runs right around 35%. :)
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Maybe it's because of the web shield since I got the prompt when I launched the Chrome browser. can anyone give some information on this?
I can't resist...Use Firefox.
Yeah I know a lot of people love Chrome. Evidently you are one of them.
I have FF as my default browser but, even when I use Chrome OA Free does not affect it. And for CPU usage it runs right around 35%. :)
It would do the exact same thing in FF. It's pretty much confirmed that it's because of the Web Shield of Avast which I hope also works in FF. You never know though. ;D
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Yeah, with all those FF updates, you have to watch it closely, modules are not following.
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The only question I have is that it said that the Avast Service seemed to act as a local proxy and asked if it was one.
Yes, avast! acts as local proxy. That's how it works. ;)
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More on PC Tools firewall
An issue that I have reported on their forums is that if I have the slider for Enhanced Security Permissions set to High, on first access of nearly every program, it hangs up for at least 30 seconds and then an alert pops up saying that the app was temporarily allowed because it locked the screen preventing alerts from being displayed. It then asks if the program should be trusted. This does not happen if the slider is set to Medium or Low. It's very annoying if you're trying to install something new or even uninstall something old and it locks up like that a few times during the process. It has already happened to me. Of course, once the app is trusted, the issue never comes up again. I may have to keep the slider on Medium since it says that the Low setting provides only connection monitoring and none of the other security features. Actually, the Low setting may be all that I need. It's an improvement over the older version though. That one would not only lock the screen, it would lock up the entire system necessitating a hard reboot from the Power Button. If I disabled Avast during first access of apps, the lockups did not occur. The two programs could not be running at the same time for first access of programs. The issue in the new version is an improvement but still a hassle and disabling Avast has no effect.
I have excluded the PcTools Folder in the fileshield and every one of the executables in the Behavior Shield of Avast to no avail. There is no way to exclude things in PC Tools.
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The only Firewall I have used that gave me no issues in functioning was Comodo. with the D+ deactivated, it provides very good 2 way monitoring. My only problems with it were that it installs the entire CIS package even if you only use the Firewall Installer. Even the AV gets installed but is not activated. The other problem is that the tray icon usually does not show up in XP and you have to open the GUI from the desktop icon to get the tray one to show.
All these issues are why I say that for me, the Windows Firewall, with it's limitations, may be the way to go.