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As a spinoff from this question (Is the firewall in the wireless router enough?) I figured it could be interesting to collect some information on software firewalls for Windows, primarily for home use.

Which one would you recommend, and why?

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7 Answers

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Comodo is a good firewall, however, it has a steep learning curve (it's learning, not yours). I've had times when I've had to re-allow the same application half a dozen times just because of the different ways of firing the application off.

McAfee is considered (in the tech circles I move in) to be rather low quality. It gets the job done, but it's not as effective as other solutions out there as it doesn't stop problems as effectively as others.

The Windows Firewall in Vista and Windows 7 are good starter firewalls, and for a lot of folks, all you need, but they are starter firewalls and not meant to fight against all vectors of attack the way other firewalls are.

Zone Alarm is an excellent firewall, but it's getting popular, so it's being targeted more than it used to. I personally continue to use this on my wife's Windows box as it's still the best option I have found, but we are continually wary even so.

All that being said, I'd suggest going with Zone Alarm, but every once in a while, do a search for firewall reviews and keep up on changes as there's constantly newer and better software being developed.

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What you said about Windows Firewall - does that apply also to Windows XP? Or is the one that comes with XP significantly inferior in some way? – Jonik Sep 1 '09 at 18:41
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Sorry, forgot about that. The Windows XP firewall is complete junk. It has some protection against incoming connection attempts, but can be easily circumvented. It's outgoing protection is non-existent and it'll happily allow any malware and spyware out. – Tom Sep 1 '09 at 19:45
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up vote 8 down vote

I use Comodo Firewall Pro, which is good.

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I concur, Comodo Firewall. I use the free version, has been doing it service pretty good so far! – Don Salva Sep 1 '09 at 19:38
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up vote 7 down vote

There's always the Windows Firewall. I'm not sure how good it really is, though.

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Nae, it blows!! – Don Salva Sep 1 '09 at 19:37
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up vote 4 down vote

I've used ZoneAlarm's free version in the past, and it was pretty good.

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up vote 0 down vote

Zone Alarm, They have good online help and video tutorials

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Just out of curiosity, how come this answer about zone alarm have been downvoted and the other have four upvotes? Please comment when downvoting. – johnny Nov 26 '09 at 11:50
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up vote 0 down vote

Online Armor Free gets consistently the best results in firewall tests.
I use it, and it's the best firewall I ever had among quite a few that I tried.

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up vote 0 down vote

PC Tools Firewall Plus, it got 100% score in the most recent Matousec test. Also, I like it because it's only a firewall, i.e. it doesn't come with extra features like a HIPS, antivirus, etc. that slow down your system.

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