BleepingComputer.com: what is a good firewall for windows xp?

Hi! I was wondering if anyone recommend any firewall program that is really easy to understand, but very protective? I caught a virus earlier and had to completely restore back to the manufacturers settings. I want to make sure this doesnt happen again. I dont really know much about computers so does anyone have any recommendations?

Edit: Moved topic from XP to the more appropriate forum. ~ Animal

One of the easiest I would recommend would be Avast Anti-virus.. It scans everything, network, web, p2p, instant messengers... All you have to do is set the level pretty much... http://avast.com ...

• Personal Firewall Ratings & Scores
• Personal Firewall Reviews
• Comodo's Firewall

These types of comparative testing results will vary depending on who is doing the testing, what they are testing for, what versions of the firewall software is being tested, etc. There are no universally predefined set of standards/criteria for testing and each test will yield different results. Thus, you need to look for detailed information about how the tests were conducted, the procedures used, and data results. Then you have to consider the features offered by each firewall, the amount of resources utilized and how it may affect system performance.

Free firewalls:
• Comodo Free Firewall
• Online Armor Free
• Zone Alarm Free Basic Firewall
• PC Tools Firewall Plus
• Ashampoo FireWall Free
• Outpost Firewall Free
• Kerio Personal Firewall (available in a full and limited free edition)

Choosing a firewall is a matter of personal preference, your technical ability/experience, features offered, the amount of resources utilized, how it may affect system performance and what will work best for your system. A particular firewall that works well for one person may not work as well for another. You may need to experiment and find the one most suitable for your use.

Before installing a 3rd-party firewall, make sure you turn off the the Windows firewall. For instructions with screenshots, see How to turn off the Windows Firewall in SP2 or How to turn on or off the Windows Vista Firewall.

Why? Using two software firewalls on a single computer could cause issues with connectivity to the Internet or other unexpected behavior. Further, running multiple software firewalls can cause conflicts that are hard to identify and troubleshoot. Only one of the firewalls can receive the packets over the network and process them. Sometimes you may even have a conflict that causes neither firewall to protect your connection. However, you can use a hardware firewall (your router) and a software firewall (Kerio or ZoneAlarm) in conjunction.

• The Differences and Features of Hardware & Software Firewalls
  
• Choosing a Firewall: Hardware v. Software
  
• How to choose a firewall

MoMo27 asks about a good firewall, and then mentions "I caught a virus earlier".
Firewalls and antivirus programs are 2 different things, with 2 different functions.

A firewall prevents unauthorized access to your system.
An antivirus identifies and removes viruses and malware. It also alerts you to files such as email attachments that may be infected. Your firewall will not do this.

What you need is to have each of them installed in order to protect your system.

Thank you everybody for your advice!! It was very helpful! I really appreciate it!! I decided to go with comodo firewall instead of the others. I want to try this one out since I see it has better reviews than the others. Thanks again!

You're welcome on behalf of the Bleeping Computer community.

Firewalls won't prevent malware from getting through, you need a good antivirus and antispyware for that.

burn1337, on Apr 10 2009, 01:32 AM, said:

Avast! Webshield is only a HTTP proxy for web browsers which it uses to scan the HTTP traffic for malware, viruses etc. The Network Shield does same to Non-HTTP traffic by looking for well known trojan ports and scanning for worms. It is not a full fledged firewall.

This post has been edited by Romeo29: 10 April 2009 - 06:08 PM

Correct it is not a full fledged firewall, but in previous years... I tried breaking into my system whilst using Zone Alarm, and got through, took off Zone Alarm, put on Avast, tried the same methods, and I was blocked... Though Avast may not be a full fledged firewall, it is still an easy to use tool, that provides in an aspect, 360 degrees of protection... In conjunction with Windows Defender, and Windows Firewall, and a good router firewall... Will provide a very good level of protection...

Avast 5 is coming out sometime this year. They may or may not have a firewall with it. The firewall may only come with the Pro version. Avast has been closed mouthed about what combinations they will release. Hope a free version is available. I think it would be super as good as there AV is.

Dan

Well lets hope that Avast stays with the firewall on the free version, otherwise I will stick with the lower version lol

Is avast anti-virus better than spyware blaster program? I want to really protect my computer this time. =)

What AV do you use? Spyware Blaster is not AV, it is for spyware and other malware, a realtime program for there prevention.

Dan

I suggest using Avast, and Adaware... http://avast.com , http://lavasoft.com ... They are both great products, and with them as a team, my computers have been safe for about 6 years... I have not had any problems with them, I have found them to be wonderful tools, and they are not extremely heavy on resources either...

I have commodo antivirus that goes with the firewall, but im also going to download the avast and adware. Do I need anything else like the spyware blaster or something similar to be protected?