Freeware firewalls with SP2 (XP Pro)

[Jack Purvis]

I used Sygate Free very happily until I installed SP2 to XP Pro. Had
to remove Sygate for many reasons to numerous to list but it did not
work harmoniously with SP2

I've installed Zone Alarm (latest incarnation) which works without any
problems with SP2 .

Now if Microsoft could come up with or licence a firewall as good as
ZA I would be just as happy.

MS firewall checks incoming but it doen't tell you when it or anything
else is ringing home.

 

[The Six Million Dollar Man]

MS firewall checks incoming but it doen't tell you when it or anything
else is ringing home.

IIRC the SP2 Firewall does detect and warn the user of non-Microsoft
products that are attempting to act as a server. Permission for these
programs can be configured manually. This is only a slight improvement over
the original XP Firewall, and obviously not yet a good enough effort from a
company that declared it was dedicated to security.

Also missing from the SP2 update, is an Anti-Virus program. I remember there
was a hint that Microsoft was working on one, but to no avail. Makes one
wonder how much of a commitment Microsoft does have to securing Windows.

 

[schrodinger's cat]

I used Sygate Free very happily until I installed SP2 to XP Pro. Had
to remove Sygate for many reasons to numerous to list but it did not
work harmoniously with SP2

What sorts of problems did you have? Were you using the latest version
of Sygate Personal Firewall? I'm using version 5.5 build 2710 and have
had no problems of any kind using SPF with WinXP Pro SP2.