A Firewall Is Needed (something Like Sygate)

Hello again,

I truly hope I'm not spamming when creating two threads at once, but I do have another big problem and I didn't want to put them together as they are different subjects.

As I said, my old computer i.e. its mainboard died and I'm looking forward to get a Win-7-machine. All my old darling programs run with one exception - my good, old trusted Sygate firewall.

I tested a couple of firewalls on this here borrowed laptop computer, and none so far was acceptable. I haven't tested Comodo yet, because this laptop is kinda weak with 1 gb RAM, it slowed to a crawl with PrivateFirewall even, and that one was told to be a small one. PrivateFirewall, by the way, didn't meet my approval.

What I want is:
First, a simple, naked firewall (no extra suites, hips, functions, bells, whistles, whatever). I just want to see what goes out and what comes in; and I want to determine which programs are allowed and which are not.

And second, the ability to set allow/block options before I go online. I use TimeFreeze to protect my c:drive, and whatever gets written on the drive while online, is gone when I go offline. That's the most important part of my security here, and I'm not going online unprotected to educate a stupid firewall.

The firewall will need to get along with TimeFreeze and Sandboxie. And little old me...

It doesn't need to be new and beautiful. I would gladly keep my good old Sygate if only I'd get it to work.

Many thanks for every hint or advice,

Old Owl

(nomen est omen)

 

Have a look at Windows Firewall Control

I'd seriously look into getting more RAM. With 1 gb RAM, it's going to do lots of crawling and not be very productive.

 

Thanks, I will get more RAM.

But this is just a borrowed laptop I can use until I get my new computer (which then will have either 4 or 8 gb RAM, depending on whether it'll be 32-bit or 64-bit.

I'm just trying to plan beforehand what will go on that new computer; and I'm trying to educate myself on the new os and eventual unwelcomed changes I'll have to live with. The loss of my firewall was a bummer, as I've had it for years and years.

p.s. I tried Binisoft firewall control. It reported not bgetting along with Sandboxie and didn't really work for me. That said, it can be that this little laptop here isn't an adequate testing system.

Old Owl

 

If you want something simple, try TinyWall.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/tinywall.html

Here's a short review of 10 free firewalls worth reading.
https://www.lifewire.com/free-firewall-programs-4129270

 

If you're using a router, that should firewall you enough right there as nothing can come through the router unless you allow upnp or set up any port forwarding.

Using timefreeze is the ultimate defense. We use the old steadystate addon for xp as well as reboot restore and these are excellent ways to protect the OS. Just have a file server or external drive for all your files and you're very well protected. And of course, backups.

 

I don't have a router, just an elderly broadband modem, or DSL modem, or whatever - I couldn't even tell exactly.

The Windows 7 Firewall doesn't seem too bad, even though when I first got this laptop this month and went to ShieldsUp with it, it failed the test and had a big, fat red open port flashing at me. Took me an eternity in services.msc to get rid of it and have it pass the ShieldsUp test. And I'm not even done studying all those processes, there are so many different from xp. For the most part, I relied on the Black Viper website.

Also, ShieldsUp might still be good, but it's ancient (I already used it with Win98/SE). Who knows what a more modern test site might find out? By the way, if anyone knows a good one, I'd appreciate a hint.

Either way, I don't really trust the Windows Firewall, as I cannot see what goes out. It also forces me to keep some services running that I would otherwise kick out. I had xp running with some 16 or 17 processes, I want to go there with Win7 as well. True to the maxime "What I don't need, I don't feed" (unless they're cats, of course...)

Unfortunately, I'm not much of a computer expert, and what some geeks or nerds might do in minutes takes me days. I simply don't have much of a mind for such things. Heck, it took me a whole day to crawl through the Firefox config page. I have to look every little tidbit up and read about it, because otherwise I won't know what I'm doing.


TimeFreeze is great, and frankly my whole security relies heavily on it. But I'd still be careful and have my browsers in Sandboxie regardless. One of these days, some malware author will find a way to get through those layers. You'll never know. (Okay, maybe I'm paranoid... but I don't have an antivirus)

On the other hand, TimeFreeze managed to keep my xp clean. I have a few on-demand scanners that I used every now and then to check the system (SAS, Kaspersky, some rootkit thingie and some other thing). They never found anything on my old machine and I honestly got doubts about their abilities.

But wow, did they earn their keep when I got this laptop! They had a field day with this contraption and probably cleaned out half the hdd. In spite of a big, fat Avira that sat here and bogged down the little machine (and got cleared out along with that myriad of trojans and stuff). The laptop was double as fast afterwards.

Funny enough, the owner of this laptop is my go-to hardware expert (the guy who can use a screw driver). He's really good at that, but when it comes to software, I'd rather rely on myself.

And on you guys!

Old Owl

 

Typically when they are provided by the ISP, they are a combo unit. Especially if it is DSL--I don't think I've seen a stand-alone DSL modem in a decade now.

 

What about the millions of Mobile Modems that connect via USB cable or Wi-Fi? There's no firewall.
Even though I have a desktop PC, this is what I use.

 

Ah, good point. But many of those now have built-in wifi which typically has a router too. But if connecting via usb, yeah it's raw because I'm sure you have to deal with drivers and/or logins.

 

Uhm... I think I have that modem for at least a decade... It still has a splitter. The company that provides both internet and telephone line keeps pestering me to get a new one, but the problem was that I need something that can handle my telephone.

Good news, though, there is a model from FritzBox that can do the required analog stuff, and as far as I know, it even is a router. 74 or 75something or so... forgot the model number, but I have it written down somewhere. If not, the guys from the telephone club will know, as they all had the same problem (and they all got that FritzBox). I actually wanted to get it this month, but then the new computer devoured the budget.

(My telephone is a beautiful black bakelite telephone from 1959, and I intend to keep it. I just don't like modern telephones; and I'm probably the last dinosaur on earth who doesn't have a mobile)