What firewall do you use for W7?

Hi all, thanks for reading!

I recently got a new Lenovo laptop and finally got the chance to dig my hands into W7. First thing I did was get rid of Norton & install Avira as my antivirus software.

Since I don't have any confidence in Microsoft O/S firewalls whatsoever I went with PCTools. I'm not too happy with it. Last week I had Avira flag 2 malicious software attempting to infect rolleyes This is quite an annoyance since on my PC, I run Sygate Personal Firewall (with Avira of course), and I haven't had one single intrusion.

So I just wanted to see what others would recommend, and who better else to ask but the awesome people @ MajorGeeks? What say you?

 

I would heartily recommend COMODO personal firewall. Just make sure you uncheck the option for the anti virus portion of it during install.

Also, if you are getting hit by viruses, and I don't mean this in a rude way, maybe a quick course in internet security would help you?

Here it is:

1. Don't visit suspicious sites or any sites that you know are just going to be plain dodgy, e.g. porn, torrents, screen saver downloads etc.

2. Install and regularly run anti virus and anti malware programs, and install a good firewall (which it looks like you are doing). Most people assume that installing these programs is good enough and that they never need to actually run their scans.

3. Be careful what you download. Even if a site says "100% scanned" or "virus free" don't trust it.

Remember, web security is down to the "bags of mostly water" between the keyboard and the chair not any software or hardware. They just help.

Also, as avira has flagged intrusion attempts, you may have had a couple get past without avira flagging. Thus I suggest you follow the instructions in this thread: http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35407

 

Oh no offense taken at all. I'm actually the person my friends go to if they have infected PCs I do know what you're talking about, most people just assume that they're fine without maintanence. They irritate me...

I run Malwarebytes & SuperAntiSpyware on my PC at least once a week. I'm pretty sure it's because I visited Myspace, because it happened right after I left the website. Safe to say that I'll probably close my account. That place is crawling with malware. I let Avira do its Luke Filewalker thing, then did a sweep with both of the aforementioned programs but it came up empty. Haven't had a problem since the incident. Trust me, I'm very meticulous about keeping my machines malware free lol; some say it's almost a pathological obsession.

I was looking into getting COMODO but I read a few dissatisfied reviews on other places I looked at, but those people didn't really seem credible. Thank you for replying!

 

It's such a relief to come across someone who thinks the same way as me! :-D
I am glad you agree with me about malware prevention.

Anyway, if you do decide to get COMODO, make sure you only install the firewall part, not the proavtive defence. I have found that this causes more trouble than it is worth as a security application.

Also, make sure once you have installed you configure the firewall to block all ports and ask you to open them on a case-by-case basis. This will create popups when a new program attempts to run, but you can check and make sure you are only allowing through the connections you want.

 

We totally have to unite. At least majorgeeks is a place malware warriors can go

I'll make sure to do that. COMODO is looking more preferable by the second. I'm getting tired of the unnecessary pop-ups from PC Tools that tell me I'm connecting to a new network (I turned them off, but it still happens when I boot the laptop). Thanks for the advice! I'm no novice at this stuff, but I'm well aware that I'm also not an expert [yet! haha]. Good conversing with you!