Excellent FREE Firewall to Protect Your Computer (Comodo Firewall Pro)

Name: frohmann

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Product:	Comodo Firewall Pro
Date:	08.05.08 (56 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Free, highly rated, good features

Disadvantages: Lots of pop-ups, not as simple as other Firewalls (but maybe more depth is a good thing!)

I installed Comodo Firewall Pro, as well as Avira Antivir Personal, to replace my McAfee Antivirus and Firewall. My subscription to McAfee had just ended and I was unwilling to pay their extortionate renewal fee, so I hunted down some free applications to protect my computer. The source of my free applications (I have others as well to protect my PC including Site Advisor and Ad-Aware amongst others) was the www.download.com website- part of CNET.com. CNET.com is a site worth checking out and I suggest you read some of the reviews about it on dooyoo! Installation was easy enough, so what's Comodo Firewall Pro (with Defence+) like?

The main window displays the number of inbound and outbound connections (with a 'stop all activities' panic button) as well as letting you know how many programmes are currently running on your computer. You can also view specifics of these programmes in another section, useful to see if anything unwanted is running/ accessing the internet. In the other sections you can manage your settings, set the 'policy' given to each programme, protect certain files or registry keys as well as scan for malware, viruses and spyware. This is a very customisable programme and you can, if you desire, change a lot of the settings- although I would only recommend this for advanced users. You can also browse forums for help as well as manually check for updates, although these seem to be far and few between.

A feature different to my previous experience of Firewalls is the ability to upload all the files Comodo is unsure of or does not recognise for the company to check. I found this feature to be annoying at times as it often crashes with large files and there is no real way of knowing the outcome as far as I can tell. Although saying that I have started to remove these files or ignore them so if Comodo does take action I would probably not realise. I have read some feedback on the product where people have disabled this feature.

Now for the protection element: like all Firewalls, Comodo displays a pop-up whenever an unknown action is made. Unlike many other Firewalls it goes into a lot more detail, displaying more than an Allow/ Block for individual programmes, especially at the beginning as it 'learns'. The downside for novice users is that it can be unnerving when it keeps popping up with things to check and you may not know whether or not to allow an action - especially when it tells you programmes are accessing your keyboard, monitor, registry, and other things you may not even know existed. It does explain to a degree what this means and gives a recommendation along the lines of - if you trust this application then go ahead otherwise block it. As a lot of files are unknown to Comodo (as it is impossible to keep up with everything!) it often tells you to block and submit. But nothing appears to come of this- so I tend to judge for myself: if I know something is happening, ie I am installing a programme from a trusted site, I allow it; otherwise I block it and see what happens (first deselecting the 'remember this action' button though)! To be fair the help file (linked to every popup) gives clear advice on what things mean with concise information and pictures to illustrate what is going on. It is well worth reading the help file the first time a pop up appears.

So, apart from some of the slightly annoying aspects mentioned above, it is a very good piece of software that is completely free. For a novice computer user the programme may appear daunting at times, especially when you are used to a simple Allow/ Don't Allow option appearing once. However, simply reading the help file and selecting the appropriate 'trusted app' setting or temporarily selecting 'installer' will negate a lot of the pop-ups appearing allow you to focus on unknown actions.

Whilst I am a fairly confident PC user, I am definitely not qualified to tell you which firewall product to choose- there are various websites to get expert opinions and tests, such as http://www.matousec.com/projects/firewall-challeng e/results.php. From what I have read on various sites, Comodo Firewall Pro comes out on top or near to the top- beating a lot of software which you have to pay for! Up till now (touch wood) Comodo Firewall in combination with my other programmes has protected my computer from threats, and has not slowed down my computer as far as I can tell.

Comodo Firewall Pro: recommended by experts and also me, and by virtue of being free is excellent value for money! Lets you control EVERY (if you want) in & out- going activity.

UPDATE: Under Firewall behaviour settings you can change the firewall to ask permission once per application, meaning less pop-ups but less control.

Summary: Excellent protection for your computer.....and a bargain.

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