Windoows Firewall

Hello
I ran the tests at Gibson Labs and all was good. I then ran the firewall test which is separate and the leak got through saying I had no firewall.
I have the firewall at default right now because I cnnot understand settings.
I have avoided other firewalls as I read there are compatibility issues with third party ones.
Are there any suggestions that would make the firewall more secure?
Thank you

 

What version of Windows are you using?

 

Privatefirewall and Comodo Personal Firewall are both highly rated
and both are listed on the Top Freeware Picks page.

PC Tools Firewall Plus is also good and a little easier to use,
but future development and support is uncertain.

 

I personally use the Comodo Personal on my XP and Vista machines with NO compatibility problems.

 

You really only need a firewall, if you are roaming away from your router at home. Vista & 7 have good firewalls. XP, you can create Inbound & outbound protocols, but only on the Pro version. Comodo is good, McAfee is also for the free version if you can get it through your ISP at no charge.

 

>>Win 7x64,Home Premium, i5,1T,3.30GHz,

As I mentioned the Gibson Lab leak test got through my Windows 7 firewall.
Is the word 'native' when it is part of the os; mine is?

 

>>Comcast offers Norton for free and I have used it. I found it had so many things you did not need and caused problems. I think, for example, you had to turn of tamper protection in order to run a system restore and there were other conflicts like that.

 

Is it free or paid?

 

The one I have is the free version.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/Comodo_Personal_Firewall__d5033.html

 

>>You bring up a worthy point. I do try to read all I can before I click a button but I could have done the wrong thing. That would be a shame b/c that leak started this quest for either fixing my firewall or getting another.

I did pass all of Gibsons tests and that leakage occured on the same site.
Is there a reliable site to test ones firewall for a leak specifically because that is how they called it. A "leak" slipped through or I do not have a firewall were their words.
If the pc is leak proof I would not have to look further.
I will go back and recheck and if you know of another test for Win 7 please let me know.

 

>>I just got a note from a reliable source;
"If a leak got through, that does not mean there is a problem. It means Windows Firewall knows that Steve Gibson's LeakTest is not bad."

Plodr you have been so helpful I wanted you to know the real story.
Apparently I misread the results and thought it was bad that the leak was allowed.
Peter -who else?

 

After I realized that Steve Gibson's test was not accurate, I stopped trusting it. All it takes is one glitch, and his site causes the Chicken Little effect. Yes, ports have to be open at any type. Port 80 is always going to be open when you are using a web browser. Port 25 is still allowed through your ISP, will also be open while downloading email.

Windows 7 firewall is more dynamic, than it was in Vista, and I am sure that 8's FW will be more dynamic than 7. Just forget what Gibson's site stated and move on to the next thing in life. As long as you follow proper procedures when roaming or on your home network, you are safe. Do not share files, folders or drives, do not leave Remote Access turned on, or use something like Teamviewer without a password. Use a good Anti-Virus software, and keep your machine up to date.

 

And if you don't do as brownizs suggests, you can always pay a visit to our Malware clinic.
They do try to be painfree. rolleyes But try to stay on their good side. :cry:-D

 

Try ZoneAlarm, good and free firewall software.

 

Ugh.

 

First I trust MGs and have used it forever. So if there was a malware issue I would go there.

Secondly, brownizs said it best. I have read and consulted and the leak was intended to go through - read about its purpose. It was for the firewall to acknowledge it and I made an error.
All of what I have read about, brownizs says it best. Use the Win 7 firewall behind the router with a good a/v program and thats it. I also use MBAM.
I would not use 2 firewalls nor would I use a third party. That's my conclusion.
Thank you for your help.

 

Zone Alarm, good back in the day, Sygate was another. Stopped using Norton after the release of 2003, stopped using TrendMicro three or four years later. Like stand alone over any security suite, like online armor free,used to be by tall emu, good enough to be bought up by Emsisoft I believe, just like norton bought up Sygate. Use Windows firewall here with Avast free and the modem hooked to a router using encryption. Check firewall advanced settings on occasion to see if software has added any exceptions...