Webrrot Firewall vs Windows Firewall

[Octavio]

I have and use Webroot Antispyware and recently added the newly included
Webroot Firewall to the set, since the addition was free with the Webroot
subscription and Webroot announced that its Firewall was compatible with
Windows Vista and provided some advertising information stating that it was
better.

I have had a few bumps since the installation, and have noticed that some
of the websites are sometimes a little slowly to appear, but in general, it
seems to work OK so far.

One thing that I have noted now is that the Windows Vista Firewall is turned
"off".

Those of you who have installed the Webroot Firewall, can you post what
your experiences are in its compatibility with Vista? What do you all
think about the automatic turning off of the Vista Firewall? Which one do
you "subjectively" think that is better (The Vista or the Webroot
Firewall?).

Thanks in advance.

 

[Hank Arnold (MVP)]

I have and use Webroot Antispyware and recently added the newly included
Webroot Firewall to the set, since the addition was free with the
Webroot subscription and Webroot announced that its Firewall was
compatible with Windows Vista and provided some advertising information
stating that it was better.

I have had a few bumps since the installation, and have noticed that
some of the websites are sometimes a little slowly to appear, but in
general, it seems to work OK so far.

One thing that I have noted now is that the Windows Vista Firewall is
turned "off".

Those of you who have installed the Webroot Firewall, can you post what
your experiences are in its compatibility with Vista? What do you all
think about the automatic turning off of the Vista Firewall? Which one
do you "subjectively" think that is better (The Vista or the Webroot
Firewall?).

Thanks in advance.

You want the Windows firewall turned off. It's a bad idea to have more
than one firewall running at the same time. Any commercial firewall
software I've used does it.

I found their firewall to be "effective", but annoying. Too many prompts
even after saying "remember". One specific thing that annoyed me was
that I never did actually find a way to easily open a port. I need to
create a VPN tunnel to my work network on occasion. I couldn't get it to
work without turning off the firewall. Also, the logs and on=line help
were not very helpful.

I ended up removing SpySweeper because it just takes too long to load
and shut down. I'm now evaluating NOD32 (actually ESET Smart Security)
and it's very nice. has AV and a firewall as well as e-mail security,
etc.. Boot times are *MUCH* faster...

I also found that WebRoot tech support has deteriorated over the past
couple of years. I sent e-mails asking how to open a port on the
firewall and never got a response.

I'm afraid SpySweeper/WebRoot have become somewhat "bloatware"...

--

Regards,
Hank Arnold
Microsoft MVP
Windows Server - Directory Services

 

[Victek]

I have and use Webroot Antispyware and recently added the newly included

Webroot Firewall to the set, since the addition was free with the Webroot
subscription and Webroot announced that its Firewall was compatible with
Windows Vista and provided some advertising information stating that it
was better.

I have had a few bumps since the installation, and have noticed that some
of the websites are sometimes a little slowly to appear, but in general,
it seems to work OK so far.

One thing that I have noted now is that the Windows Vista Firewall is
turned "off".

Those of you who have installed the Webroot Firewall, can you post what
your experiences are in its compatibility with Vista? What do you all
think about the automatic turning off of the Vista Firewall? Which one do
you "subjectively" think that is better (The Vista or the Webroot
Firewall?).

As already mentioned you don't want two software firewalls enabled at the
same time so it's appropriate for Webroot to turn off the Windows Firewall
automatically (it should turn the Windows Firewall back ON too, if/when you
uninstall it). As far as which is better, one advantage of Webroot and
other third party firewalls is they have outbound connection monitoring ON
by default. The Windows Firewall has outbound connection monitoring turned
OFF by default (I've read that it can be turned ON, but I haven't tried it).
I think monitoring outbound connections has value. Currently I use PC Tools
Firewall Plus (freeware) which is stable on Vista and doesn't slowdown
browsing.

 

[Octavio]

Thanks, Arnold. I also have been annoyed all the way along since I
installed Webroot about the time it takes to load the updates and also then
the re-installations. It is a little unwelcome shore when the Webrook
website announces that there is an update. Wish the process where somewhat
more automatic without my involvement at all.
I also have noted the prompts, will wait a little bit to get a better feel
about the entire thing before I make a final decision about that (they ask
my if I want to "allow" or "block" strange names such as sfBXX3345.xx? How
the hell we the novices are supposed to know what these foreign aliases are
about, from where they come from, and if they should be "allowed" or "not"?
They keep me in suspense most of the time without knowing what to do when
one of them appears)
Look forward to heard more opinions.
Thanks again.

 

[CB]

I have and use Webroot Antispyware and recently added the newly included
Webroot Firewall to the set, since the addition was free with the Webroot
subscription and Webroot announced that its Firewall was compatible with
Windows Vista and provided some advertising information stating that it was
better.

I have had a few bumps since the installation, and have noticed that some
of the websites are sometimes a little slowly to appear, but in general, it
seems to work OK so far.

One thing that I have noted now is that the Windows Vista Firewall is turned
"off".

Those of you who have installed the Webroot Firewall, can you post what
your experiences are in its compatibility with Vista? What do you all
think about the automatic turning off of the Vista Firewall? Which one do
you "subjectively" think that is better (The Vista or the Webroot
Firewall?).

Thanks in advance.

Octavio,

I used Webroot products for many years and at the time they were very
good applications. However, sad to say, Webroot has been going downhill for
several years now.
I have found that their products are not compatible with Windows Vista,
regardless of what Webroot states. They cause too many problems in too many
areas.
Webroot's support departments are terrible, almost non-existant. Plan
on taking a two or three week vacation after you email them with a problem.
It's possible they may answer your questions before you return from vacation,
but I doubt it.
My personal advice, based upon my own experience with their products,
is to stay far away from any of their products.
Have a nice day.

C.B.