Which Firewall is best for Vista?

[Iain]

For the price of a firewall or AV suite, buy a router.
Aye!!

You don't have to update it, or pay annual subscriptions.

Except for periodic OEM BIOS updates.

You can make it very secure or lightly secured.
You only have to do it once. And, if you decide to have more than one
computer, networking is a breeze.

Then, use Window's built in firewall. (Because it's there, it's
effective and free.)

Not wise to use S/W firewall concurrently, if H/W router has effective
and robust firewall functionality.

 

[Mark]

Not wise to use S/W firewall concurrently, if H/W router has effective
and robust firewall functionality.

Probably a good point, but I've never had a problem with this line-up.

 

[brian]

i am useing the fire wall thats with "vista" and it seems fine.

 

[C.B.]

i am useing the fire wall thats with "vista" and it seems fine.

Brian,

I have used all the third party firewalls over the past few years, both
paid and free, including those that come with various security suites. I
just uninstalled Comodo's free firewall today because of problems it causes
with downloading Windows Updates and receiving and installing its own
updates. I am going back to the advanced firewall in Vista and I seriously
doubt that I will change again.
I have also used the Windows Firewall included with Vista and I find
that it is more than adequate, although many people will disagree with me.
If you desire more functions from the Windows Firewall in Vista you can
configure the Advanced Windows Firewall to do most of what you wish.
However, if you are unfamiliar with configuring a firewall I would suggest
you have a knowledgeable person assist you.

C.B.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Brian,

I have used all the third party firewalls over the past few years,
both paid and free, including those that come with various security
suites. I just uninstalled Comodo's free firewall today because of
problems it causes with downloading Windows Updates and receiving and
installing its own updates. I am going back to the advanced firewall in
Vista and I seriously doubt that I will change again.
I have also used the Windows Firewall included with Vista and I find
that it is more than adequate, although many people will disagree with
me. If you desire more functions from the Windows Firewall in Vista you
can configure the Advanced Windows Firewall to do most of what you wish.
However, if you are unfamiliar with configuring a firewall I would
suggest you have a knowledgeable person assist you.

C.B.

I would second this advice. While I haven't tried "all" 3rd party
firewalls, I've tried several, and agree that Vista's built-in firewall
is perfectly adequate for most people. While it's not quite up to the
ease-of-use standards of Kerio or ZoneAlarm, it has been noticeably
improved over WinXP's version.

There are two interfaces for Vistas built-in firewall:

1) A simplified one accessed through the Control Panel that is the only
one most people see. To further supplement this view, Sphinx's Vista
Firewall Control http://sphinx-soft.com/Vista/) is a piece of freeware
that makes the Vista Firewall much more easily manageable to the average
user.

2) And the more advanced "Windows Firewall with Advanced Security
(WF.msc), accessed via the Start Menu's Administrative Tools folder, for
the experienced user who wants more granular control.


--

Bruce Chambers

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