Privatefirewall opinions

Looking for opinions on Privatefirewall as a replacement for PC tools firewall plus.

Been happy with PC tools (light on resources and not intrusive), but now that updates will no longer be available as a stand alone, I thought I would look for another freeware firewall with a good reputation. Read some real favorable reviews so I thought I would ask those here that are using PF to give me their 2 cents.

Also, since security software and firewalls in general can sometimes be difficult to entirely remove, would Revo Uninstaller be a good way to uninstall PC tools if I used the moderate scan option?

 

I've been using PF for quite some time now (mid-08), no real problems with it (or it would be long gone), it nags to be updated when needed - 5+ times already this year I think; that's usually a good sign that they're proactive in bug-fighting. It is very light on resources, similar to PC Tools; it can be more or less intrusive than PCT, depending on how it's setup - download the manual and study it to get familiar with all the options.

Unless PC Tools have their own uninstaller, Revo (or a check for still-loaded PCT drivers using DriverView) should be a decent alternative.

 

If you were to use the default settings how would you rate the annoying popup permissions that I've seen with programs such as Comodo?

I would also expect that after a period of time the intrusiveness would decrease as it learns your software and tendencies?

 

I think the default settings on any newly installed firewall should be pretty noisy; one of those annoying popups might just alert you to something you weren't previously aware of I never install anything default - unless I'm running time-consuming comparison tests= very rarely.

There's a training mode available in PF, several options in there, too - that's why I suggested you study the manual

 

I switched from PC Tools Firewall to Privatefirewall about three months ago.
Initially, I found the increased number of alerts to be quite annoying.
The system monitoring is more extensive than PC Tools Firewall.
Also, I had to update the firewall about three times soon after the first installation.

The default setting for "Tray alerts" is to time-out after either 15 or 30 seconds and block the process if not specifically
allowed by the user.
According to the documentation, the Auto-Respond behavior can be changed to Manual Control which always requires a user response
and provides a little more information.

However, that setting has never worked properly for me.

Privatefirewall - Product Tour

When updating, you typically have to Uninstall the current version.
You should always save the current settings before uninstalling.

• Open the program interface
• In the File menu option, select Export Settings

After you install the updated version, follow the same process to Import Settings.

 

Seriously? :confused

That's bogus.

So far it hasn't been too intrusive although I haven't been on that much in the last couple days.

Right now I have everything at default, but I don't think I would know what to change anyway?:-o

Is it worth it to use the training portion to speed up the learning process?

I did read the user's guide a bit but still seems a bit confusing to me.

Could you explain this a little better in laymans terms. What's the difference between an "expanded alert" and a "tray alert"?

 

Yes, sorry, you do have to uninstall when updating:

Privatefirewall - Product Information

The expanded alert shows more information, gives a few more options and Requires a response - it will Not just time out
and take the default action.

 

That's the general instructions, all the individual updates are linked to (or downloaded from) a page which makes suggestions suited to that particular update - I'm pretty sure less than half of the updates over the last 4-6 months haven't needed an uninstall/clean install routine.

The problem inherent with any deep-seated driver change is that there's a risk of a BSOD crash if a replacement is attempted on a 'live' driver, PF's uninstall/clean install routine avoids that and is surprisingly fast.

The update is usually flagged up on boot/reboot as PF loads and checks for any updates, so it's not like you have to close down 6 hours of work session just to update it.

 

see: Top of page 2 - Product Tour

I found that this feature description is incomplete - maybe from an earlier version.
It is also necessary to check the option Disable Auto-Response to always get the Expanded Alert.

 

Would it be fine to go into applications and process monitor and set applications such as Avast, CCleaner, Malwarebytes (pro), Spywareblaster, Palemoon, Firefox etc.. to allow traffic?

Those are programs that I use all the time, their are others as well?

 

Privatefirewall - product tour - page 3

Better to wait until you run those programs and respond to the alerts as they appear.
Remember this setting will probably be checked by default. If not, check that option.

At one point, I had some error messages at boot up about Malwarebytes Anti-malware PRO.
The following settings should take care of that.
Right click the item to change the setting.

For Malwarebytes PRO:

In Applications:

• mbamservice.exe - Allow
• mbam.exe - Allow

In Process Monitor:

• mbamservice.exe - Allow
• mbam.exe - Allow
• mbamgui.exe - Allow