Hey i know i posted a while back asking which is the best current free firewall out, and you guys gave me a list... I just wannna know from those who do use free firewalls which one is the best besides Comodo(doesn't work properly on my comp so i cant use it).... I've heard mixed reviews on Zone Alarm Free and Outpost free, and others. I'd love to get some feedback on this.. Thx a bunch
~Roadblock!~

I used Sygate for several years, both with ME and XP. It has excellent logs and works well.
Regards,
John

I had the same problem with Comodo. It's my understanding that it may have compatibility issues for cable users. But I haven't found another free firewall that I like yet. I've used Sygate and it slowed down my computer. I don't like Outpost or Jetico. I haven't tried Zone Alarm yet but I dunno. It seems to be an awfully big file and I've seen concerns about computer slowdowns.. And I've looked at reviews of other ones and they appear to be worse. So I don't have a third party firewall right now but I'm still interested in getting one. I understand they need to be trained but some of them don't seem trainable.

ZoneAlarm realy slowed my computer. :-(

Used ZoneAlarm for a while, found it very user friendly, not a resource hog.
When I switched to Satellite internet, found I also had to switch firewalls and am now using Sygate. Overall am pleased with it as well.

Every OS is unique so maybe trying a few different firewalls to see which one works best for you isn't such a bad idea.

well yes. it depends on ISP and connection type to. i use ADSL+McAfee firewall now, and have good perfomance.

Comodo Firewall Pro is also a good free choice, as well as either Sunbelt Personal Firewall or ZoneAlarm.

Which one is the "best" is somewhat subjective and, as you can tell by your own experience, not necessarily "best" for you.

The good news regarding these free firewalls is that you can try them all - one at a time, of course.

I'm using both Zone Alarm and PC Tools Free firewall on different configurations, and am not having a problem with either.

I'm trying out Sunbelt. One weird thing I noticed is it doesn't seem to turn on automatically on startup. I thought the icon would just appear in the system tray. It does when I click on Start Firewall. Is that how it's supposed to work? I did turn off the ad blocking which seemed pointless to me since I already have popup blockers. It seemed to be OK with most things except it seemed to freeze a website I go to regularly. http://www.allmusic.com/ When I went back to the site without the Sunbelt firewall activated there was no problem. I dunno. If it keeps doing that, I'll probably have to ditch it. Anyone have thoughts about this?

Micht, Your comment got me to wondering if Zone Alarm could be why my computer was running slower. I've used ZA for several years with no problems. However, over the past couple of months I've noticed a definite slowness. The usual solutions did nothing to improve things. After uninstalling Zone Alarm and installing Sygate my computer is no longer slow. Thanks to all who reminded me that there is no "one size fits all" when it comes to security programs.