Firewall recommendations?

I'm a more-or-less new computer user running Windows Vista Home Premium, and I'm getting the sense that I should switch to a better firewall than the one that came with Vista - and I need a free one. I've looked at the firewall recommendations on the HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM MALWARE page and done a little research. My feeling - possibly incorrect - is that, of the choices for Vista, Comodo is probably a bit too technical for me, Jetico is prone to be problematic, and ZoneAlarm is lacking in protection.

I have ThreatFire, and I like it a lot, so I'm thinking maybe going with the PCTools firewall? I'm just not sure how far down the recommended list I can go before I'm looking at firewalls that aren't any better than the one I already have.

Any suggestions or corrections would be appreciated.

 

Oh - Jetico isn't for Vista. Never mind that one.

 

I hate to tell you, but any firewall is going to be 'technical' while it's in learning mode for the first few weeks. Every time something new occurs, the firewall will pop up and ask what you want to do, how to proceed, and if you don't recognize the file, the whole process can be a bit overwhelming. I have dealt with many people who have quality protection on their PCs but they bring 'em to me complaining about all the viruses and hijackers. I'll look at it and notice that all the protection is turned off!! I'll ask why everything is disabled, and invariably, the answer is "it kept popping up all these warnings and questions and I didn't know what it was and I didn't want to read it all so I disabled it". WHAAA?!?!?!? True story. This is going to happen regardless of what software you choose so you're just going to have to deal with it. Comodo is good, Sygate is good (I'm not sure if it's still free), and Online Armor is good and it's free. There's another one called Dynamic Security Agent which is good too, but not available from Major Geeks (link below). They're all worthy of checking out:
Comodo Firewall http://www.majorgeeks.com/Comodo_Personal_Firewall_d5033.html
Sygate Firewall http://www.majorgeeks.com/Sygate_Personal_Firewall_Free_d3356.html
Online Armor http://www.majorgeeks.com/Online_Armor_Free_d4872.html
Dynamic Security Agent http://www.privacyware.com/dynamic_security_agent.html

 

Hi.
Sorry about the late response. Thank you for your advice. I'll be looking into your recommendations. Again, thank you.

 

Thanks, Halo. I appreciate the response. I was kind of leaning toward PC Tools. I like ThreatFire, and the firewall looks manageable for me. I just wasn't sure about its effectiveness.

 

From what I know Comodo is still the best firewall in the world of firewalls.http://www.matousec.com/projects/firewall-challenge/results.php

 

Right!!!

 

:clap :celebrate :clap :celebrate :clap :celebrate :clap :celebrate :clap

YEAH!!!! I want that up on a billboard, or a commercial on national TV, or have it beamed into people's brains!!!!!

 

which of these four would you recommend? or are they compatible to use multiple? i dislike sygate i got kinda screwed last time i used it..

 

Check my link from above to see who is the best.
And NO you can't run multiple firewall on your computer.ONLY ONE.

 

well thanks bud i meant the best of those four but i did happen to choose comodo