Need a filewall, and maybe an anti-virus

[1000possibleclaws]

Well I think I get free Norton but I uninstalled that awhile ago for a Kapersky trial because it didn't do jack and I had to get rid of something. After the trial ended I deleted Kapersky and haven't been using anything. I don't visit sketch sites so I think I'm ok, but for certain cracked games (Quake 4, and I hear The Sims 3 which I might try at some point) need you to use a firewall to block the online verification.

I'm a n00b at this stuff. Is there a free (either through pirating or freeware, whichever gets the job done most easily) firewall I could use that will do this job very simply, without much knowledge on my part?

I brought up my lack of antivirus on the thought that maybe there's one I could use that comes packaged with a firewall, but the main thing I want is the firewall, because I don't really use this PC much and an antivirus isn't very high on my priorities. Anyone who's more familiar with this stuff please help point me in the right directions.

Thanks :)


btw I use Vista, so it has to be compatible with it

[Skiz]

If you connected to the nets, you need an anti-virus. Whenever I reformat, the very first thing I do is download Firefox, then AVG antivirus. I won't do a single thing until I've installed an AV. I used to use Norton years ago and I always trusted Norton to protect my PC, but I hated how it implements it's software into every aspect of the OS. I used Kaspersky too for a short time and got several trojans which wreaked havoc until I reformatted. Needless to say I didn't use it again... AVG has been great thus far.

I haven't used a firewall in years, so someone else will need to deliver advice on that.

IS the stock Vista firewall no good?

[1000possibleclaws]

If it was I wouldn't have a clue how to use it to block programs from connecting to the internet.. I guess I'll look into that.



If anyone has used windows firewall could you confirm my assumption on how to block a program from connecting to the internet?

Go to exceptions and add the program (Quake 4) to exceptions. Then uncheck the program (Quake 4) from exceptions and now it will start to block the program from the internet?

Doesn't make sense though cause the program wasn't on the list of exceptions before but it still DRM checked upon launch. But now it's on the exceptions list but unchecked. The list should be called a watch list instead of exceptions because it's very misleading if this is indeed how to work it.

[msalman]

instal kerpskery internet security 2007 version kis7.0.0.125en tested dont known if this will work on new versions u try & register it as trail
then use this batch when u have few days left in ur reg to reset ur trail key date

how 2 use
delete ur old key exit ur kaspersky tray then run this batch then run kaspersky again & reg it trail key if its same date then do this again if u get new 30 days
enjoy :)

http://www.2shared.com/file/5849637/accfc175/KIS_time_reseter.html
http://www.ziddu.com/download/1196634/kis7.0.0.125en.rar.html

this is best protection for noobs :)

[yevgeny]

im not that familiar with windows firewall but this appears to show how to block outbound.
http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=615711

my suggestion is use eset smart security (http://www.eset.com/smartsecurity/) but change the firewall to policy mode rather than automatic. it means everything is blocked unless you make a rule to allow it. making rules for programs like browser/email client is easy whereas it gets a little harder at least in my opionion with utorrent, irc, and ftp clients but if you want to be sure that the program is blocked this is the best way.

if you want a free software firewall try comodo or jetico (v1 is free)

[Cabalo]

well, kaspersky's method is a pain in the ass, and i suppose you'd like some software that didn't keep harassing you all the time.
As for firewall, i'd go for the Agnitum Outpost one, it's a suite that includes an excellent anti-spyware. Most of the problems people refer as "virus" are usually spyware, that's an empiric fact.

I'd stick with those, honestly. Agnitum is in my opinion the most complete firewall+antispyware solution around.

[IdolEyes787]

For firewalls Agnitum Outpost or Online Armor if you don't know what you are doing Comodo if you do.

For anti-virus the best is Avira imo but just about anything that you have ever heard of is at least OK .I use Eset because it's as reliable and light weight as anything.AVG is is free as in really free .

I haven't found a suite that has both a top notch firewall and anit-virus included .

[saulin]

Kaspersky is what I use. You can set it so that it doesn't ask you for anything. It simply tries to desinfect, if it can't it deletes the infected file. NOD32 seems ok as well, I have it on 2 laptops. Both don't use so much resources like other security software. I used Norton Corporate for a long time but after I installed Kaspersky I scanned my whole PC and it found some stuff.

You don't need firewall software though. Simply get a router if you don't have one and enable the windows firewall. That's all you need.

[Sabaku]

Use Avira Antivir Premium Security Suite( the anttivirus in on the second place in antivir top and the suite includes a firewall)
It runs smooth and has the best heurestics algorithms.

[SonsOfLiberty]

Great no one's mentioned the ones I will. I've been using it well over a year now.

I am a sucker for software that looks really cool and professional and is effective to boot, all of which can be said about this one. From what I’ve read in multiple sources the level and sophistication of this software’s protection is very high.

Comodo Firewall Free (now change to Comodo Internet Security) it comes with the firewall, and AV, if you don't want the AV you don't have to install it....but Comodo firewall is great, if you choose the Firewall to "custom" policy it will ask you on every program that connects to the internet if you want it to or not. It will even show the "ip" it's going to along with application details...and it has program defense, like if your on the internet and say a website downloads a program without you knowing, which could happen, Comodo will pick that up and ask if you even want anything to change on your system. The firewall is the "free" firewall out there. It's the highest rated on CNET and PC Magazine.

http://personalfirewall.comodo.com/index.html

http://www.brighthub.com/internet/security-privacy/reviews/8752.aspx


here's in depth guide to all the freeware AV's out there
http://www.freewaregenius.com/2009/04/07/the-best-free-antivirus-a-comparison/


If you use Windows 7, you must, you must, click properties of the installer and tick the box that says run as admin click ok/apply, and then right click and run as admin, it's the only way it will install properly.

[Nance]

ZoneAlarm&Eset:)

[IdolEyes787]

Great no one's mentioned the ones I will. I've been using it well over a year now.

Comodo Firewall Free (now change to Comodo Internet Security) it comes with the firewall, and AV, if you don't want the AV you don't have to install it....but Comodo firewall is great, if you choose the Firewall to "custom" policy it will ask you on every program that connects to the internet if you want it to or not. It will even show the "ip" it's going to along with application details...and it has program defense, like if your on the internet and say a website downloads a program without you knowing, which could happen, Comodo will pick that up and ask if you even want anything to change on your system. The firewall is the "free" firewall out there. It's the highest rated on CNET and PC Magazine.




For firewalls Agnitum Outpost or Online Armor if you don't know what you are doing Comodo if you do.
.



:whistling

Comodo's one of the best if not the best firewalls out there but it is a bitch to set up,is quite intrusive and isn't very p2p friendly.
Outpost on the other hand basically does everything for you (even setting utorrent access) but still gives you the option to tweak everything to your heart's content.

As to what saulin said about a router being enough that is a misconception.A router doesn't offer any outbound protection .If you happen to have a nasty little trojan lurking in your computer a router isn't doing anything to stop it from sending all your personal information to someone on the internet .I good software firewall will . The best are basically leakproof.

[SonsOfLiberty]

P2P friendly? Sure it is, make your P2P app trusted...and all is fine. That's why I said to use Custom Policy Mode for firewall that way it sets up the access as you load it, and Clean PC for Defense.

[Frankthetank1]

http://www.sphinx-soft.com/ has the easiest firewall i have ever used. The one i use is for vista though.

[saulin]

For firewalls Agnitum Outpost or Online Armor if you don't know what you are doing Comodo if you do.
.



:whistling

Comodo's one of the best if not the best firewalls out there but it is a bitch to set up,is quite intrusive and isn't very p2p friendly.
Outpost on the other hand basically does everything for you (even setting utorrent access) but still gives you the option to tweak everything to your heart's content.

As to what saulin said about a router being enough that is a misconception.A router doesn't offer any outbound protection .If you happen to have a nasty little trojan lurking in your computer a router isn't doing anything to stop it from sending all your personal information to someone on the internet .I good software firewall will . The best are basically leakproof.

While that's true if you have a good AV you should not have trojans running on your sytem though. The main concern is stopping attacks from the outside. Once you have a trojan or a key logger already installed you are screwed but in order to get those installed you have to ignore your AV warnings and run the stuff anyways or don't have antivirus at all.

Software firewalls are a bitch and they try to block everything and they are not for newbies for sure. I really dislike software firealls for that reason. Also full security packages that include firewall and parental control software and phishing filters and all that crap just make your system crawl.

Really all you should need is a router, your windows firewall and your AV. Your AV, if it's doing it's job it should catch most trojans and key loggers and all the crap that you can get infected with.

[SonsOfLiberty]

They don't make your system crawl at all..Comodo barely even slows my PC if at all. Next the all-in-one, the Comodo is very easy to disable the "software part of" and it only block what is unknown from a "trusted database from teh site"

[peat moss]

Eset Smart Security 4 is what I use , version 4.0.314.0 . I down load a lot of dodgy software , cracks , key gen's and games . Firewall is easy to use I'v never set it up , right out of the box .


I just tell new software installs to not update and serves me well .


Just checked Processes and its using 2,840K .

[saulin]

They don't make your system crawl at all..Comodo barely even slows my PC if at all. Next the all-in-one, the Comodo is very easy to disable the "software part of" and it only block what is unknown from a "trusted database from teh site"

I used to fix PC issues and 70% of the time people bitched that their systems were sooo slow were because they were infected with malware and the other 30% it simply was because their security software was taking so many resources. I have seen security software take almost half of the resources.

There really is no need for parental control and phishing filtering software and those retarted all in one security suites that Macafee and Norton have. Macafee is by far the worst.

Just go to services in computer management and look at how many services Norton Internet security and Macafee Internet security have running.

Again software firewalls are a pain in the ass. A lot of times they block your whole internet and ISPs get the call. My Internet doesn't work. The first thing I would check when I was working for an ISP is wether there was a firewall installed and most of the time that was the issue when the modem reported that ir was online and the levels were fine. I used to use Zone Alarm before I had a router and man did it ever want to block every single program I ran that needed internet. Once I got my router oh man. I just wondered why on earth anyone wants a software firewall. The windows firewall is the only one I recommend because it only blocks what it needs to and then the router takes care of all incomming attacks. The most important part of security software has always been the Anti-Virus!

I don't even recommend Anti spyware software like Ad-Aware or Superantispyware either because again they slow your system down if they are running in the background and also really good AV software should be catching a lot of spyware as well. Besides it's all common sense. Spyware will ask you for your permission before getting installed. If you just click ok on every popup you get then no security software will save you anyways.

[SonsOfLiberty]

Again, man, I hate to disagree, but Comodo Firewall, no AV is running 5mb and only one service! Compared to my AV using 10mb and 3-5 services (ESET and the big names one here use a hell of alot more, even teh free ones use a shit-ton more including AVG, man now that's a fucken hog :lol:). Hell, I've got different programs running using more than them and Windows is the main problem.

Norton + McAfee = Anti-Christ for your PC.

Like I said, Comodo Internet Security, it only installs what you "want"...ESET has the same "program/malware/install/" system as well.

Spyware is considered some cookies too, and not all spyware ask permission, it's hidden deep inside of installers even from trusted sources.

A good tool is Spwareblaster, instead of running any process's it just use a "kill bit" take a look here: been using since it's first release which was years and years ago.
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

[1000possibleclaws]

Wow thanks for all the replies guys! :D


im not that familiar with windows firewall but this appears to show how to block outbound.
http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=615711

my suggestion is use eset smart security (http://www.eset.com/smartsecurity/) but change the firewall to policy mode rather than automatic. it means everything is blocked unless you make a rule to allow it. making rules for programs like browser/email client is easy whereas it gets a little harder at least in my opionion with utorrent, irc, and ftp clients but if you want to be sure that the program is blocked this is the best way.

if you want a free software firewall try comodo or jetico (v1 is free)



Thanks for the windows firewall guide, it was exactly what I was looking for. Took about 30 seconds to set up the function I was aiming at. :)

I'll be sure to go over all the advice here and pick a permanent security solution right before my next reinstall, but right now I'm content with just being able to block connections to a couple games.

[Jumpman]

Yeh, agree with the above post - Comodo is probably the best standalone firewall and highly configurable.

[Hairbautt]

Great no one's mentioned the ones I will. I've been using it well over a year now.

I am a sucker for software that looks really cool and professional and is effective to boot, all of which can be said about this one. From what I’ve read in multiple sources the level and sophistication of this software’s protection is very high.

Comodo Firewall Free (now change to Comodo Internet Security) it comes with the firewall, and AV, if you don't want the AV you don't have to install it....but Comodo firewall is great, if you choose the Firewall to "custom" policy it will ask you on every program that connects to the internet if you want it to or not. It will even show the "ip" it's going to along with application details...and it has program defense, like if your on the internet and say a website downloads a program without you knowing, which could happen, Comodo will pick that up and ask if you even want anything to change on your system. The firewall is the "free" firewall out there. It's the highest rated on CNET and PC Magazine.

http://personalfirewall.comodo.com/index.html
SonsOfBitches has it right here.

COMODO, ftw. All-in-one, free solution with a very active community. For both advanced and basic users. Not fully Windows 7 compatible tho' (not yet anyways).

[SonsOfLiberty]

It is, you just have to know how to install. Right click the installer, go to compatiability, Run as Vista SP1, and then at the bottom run as Admin, click ok or apply, and install....all done, I'm using it fine in Windows 7, if you don't do the steps above, the it will install, but the firewall service will never start.....

BTW, I might be a son of a bitch, but I don't have 2 moms...and my mom isn't a bitch at all....you need a new haircut your starting too look bitchish.

[zot]

Good discussion about firewalls ... just thought I'd throw my hat into the ring :D
...............................

Although Netlimiter is better known as a traffic shaper, it also makes a decent firewall. (Maybe not as advanced as top-line firewall software, but certainly a lot better than the Windows built-in firewalls.)


An exceptionally well-designed firewall for P2P users is Online Armor (tallemu.com) --for example, this the only firewall I know that supports IP blocklists.



Blacklists Tab

Online Armor supports the import of Blacklists in the "Bluetack" format. Online Armor will block any connections to or from the IP addresses on the Blacklist(s).

You may add multiple blacklists and give them a name for easy identification. Selecting the "Default (All Rules)" option configures Online Armor to apply the blacklist to all rules automatically. In the Advanced mode rule editor you may override these settings on a per-rule basis.

You can Import and Export your blacklists by right-clicking any entry in the Blacklists.

You can also manually Add, Delete, or Edit individual entries in each blacklist with the corresponding buttons below.


Another useful feature for P2P users is that Online Armor can also blacklist/whitelist by country. (How many other firewalls can do this?)

Online Armor was rated as the "best firewall" by Scot's Newsletter last year.

http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2008/03/24/the-best-firewall-software-of-2008-online-armor/

The bad news is that Online Armor is not widely known - so you won't find many --or possibly any-- cracked copies. :(

[SonsOfLiberty]

Good discussion about firewalls ... just thought I'd throw my hat into the ring :D
...............................

Although Netlimiter is better known as a traffic shaper, it also makes a decent firewall. (Maybe not as advanced as top-line firewall software, but certainly a lot better than the Windows built-in firewalls.)


An exceptionally well-designed firewall for P2P users is Online Armor (tallemu.com) --for example, this the only firewall I know that supports IP blocklists.



Blacklists Tab

Online Armor supports the import of Blacklists in the "Bluetack" format. Online Armor will block any connections to or from the IP addresses on the Blacklist(s).

You may add multiple blacklists and give them a name for easy identification. Selecting the "Default (All Rules)" option configures Online Armor to apply the blacklist to all rules automatically. In the Advanced mode rule editor you may override these settings on a per-rule basis.

You can Import and Export your blacklists by right-clicking any entry in the Blacklists.

You can also manually Add, Delete, or Edit individual entries in each blacklist with the corresponding buttons below.


Another useful feature for P2P users is that Online Armor can also blacklist/whitelist by country. (How many other firewalls can do this?)

Online Armor was rated as the "best firewall" by Scot's Newsletter last year.

http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2008/03/24/the-best-firewall-software-of-2008-online-armor/

The bad news is that Online Armor is not widely known - so you won't find many --or possibly any-- cracked copies. :(

Most if not all P2P appz have the feature built in, just add the .dat and your good to go, and technically Comodo handles them, but it takes a minute to get used to it.

You can still use the free version, there's some difference.
http://www.tallemu.com/free-firewall-protection-software.html
http://support.tallemu.com/vbforum/showthread.php?t=8569

[Frankthetank1]

http://www.sphinx-soft.com/
used for vista 64 and very very easy to use.

[lynx]

I'm not going to speculate about which is best, there are good and bad points with most so it is subjective as to which suits your activity pattern.

On the other hand, I get plenty of calls asking if I can improve the performance of peoples PCs. First question is if they have Norton/Symantec or McAfee (and lately AVG) installed. If the answer is yes, the next question is are they willing to use a different product (which they have to pay for). If the answer to the second question is no, I politely tell them that I would be wasting my time and their money, so I don't want the job.

If these products even did a half way decent job it wouldn't be so bad, but the number of undetected Viruses/Trojans I've come across after replacing this crap is almost unbelievable.

And uninstalling them after you've realised your mistake? Good luck with that too.

[Frankthetank1]

I also agree I have never paid for software. The best ones are free.


I'm not going to speculate about which is best, there are good and bad points with most so it is subjective as to which suits your activity pattern.

On the other hand, I get plenty of calls asking if I can improve the performance of peoples PCs. First question is if they have Norton/Symantec or McAfee (and lately AVG) installed. If the answer is yes, the next question is are they willing to use a different product (which they have to pay for). If the answer to the second question is no, I politely tell them that I would be wasting my time and their money, so I don't want the job.

If these products even did a half way decent job it wouldn't be so bad, but the number of undetected Viruses/Trojans I've come across after replacing this crap is almost unbelievable.

And uninstalling them after you've realised your mistake? Good luck with that too.