Free firewalls and anti-virus software

Heleyon

Good to see Martin showing everyone that you can have good quality security software for nowt.

I used to work in the computer industry, and so picked up a bit of knowledge over the years.

To save people getting stressed, they could take note that there have been many instances of incompatibility problems when running AVG anti-virus software alongside Zone Alarm firewall. My advice is to use Windows' own firewall (which is switched on by default) and keep the anti-v software.

Having used different [free] anti-v products, I can recommend Avast.

(PC Tools do the best anti-spyware stuff, but you have to pay for it. Using my PC for business, I don't mind paying.)

Hope that helps.

superscaper

Personally I'd disagree, if I couldn't use AVG then I'd switch antivirus software as windows firewall gives no flexibility over outgoing connections AFAIK.

espresso

Heleyon wrote:

My advice is to use Windows' own firewall (which is switched on by default) and keep the anti-v software.

Sorry but anyone who recommends using the Windows firewall really should do some more research!

:rolleyes:

spurs1234

My advice is to use Windows' own firewall (which is switched on by default) and keep the anti-v software.

Wouldn't agree with that either , maybe if your behind a configured Hardware firewall like my self ,then i just have NoD32 as my anti-virus makes any machine speedy since the resources aren't being used like usual firewall and anti virus.

PC Tools do the best anti-spyware stuff, but you have to pay for it. Using my PC for business, I don't mind paying.

Personally wouldn't agree with that either , but everyone has there favorites :rolleyes:

Sorry but anyone who recommends using the Windows firewall really should do some more research!

Wanted to say that but didnt want to be so harsh thank you lol

superscaper

spurs1234 wrote:

Wanted to say that but didnt want to be so harsh thank you lol

Me too but I'm too polite/cowardly. :rotfl:

Tallymanjohn

I'd disagree as well, for the same reason. XP firewall does not monitor outgoing traffic & so if you're relying on a free antivirus you need to make sure that your firewall is up to scratch in case you get a trojan or similar. Earlier versions of Zone Alarm, before it started getting into e-mail checking etc. had no compatibility problems - v4.5 was the last useable one.

Also, if you're running a business with your pc you'd be daft not to pay for security, it's tax deductable for a start! Suites like Kaspersky are a complete package and are very good, even at £50/year it's a small price to pay.

spurs1234

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

f1charlie

Zonealarm is of course not the only free firewall!

cheekymatt

https://www.download.com is a good site to go on

superscaper

f1charlie wrote:

Zonealarm is of course not the only free firewall!

Absolutely. I can personally only talk about Zonealarm as that's all I've ever used (except I once paid for Agnitum Outpost Pro a few years ago and that did not go well, basically refused to help me when after update serial stopped working saying it was reseller's responsibility to offer support but reseller said they had no control over technical aspects of software). But pretty much any free firewall out there will probably be better than Windows own.

Addendum to outpost, basically I got thrown from agnitum's support to reseller's and back again etc, in end gave up uninstalled, installed zonealarm personal and refused to ever use an agnitum product again. Nowadays I'd have made a bigger fuss on principal and demanded a refund, but I suppose it was most of the way through the annual subscription so I didn't really lose too much.

redux

Recommending Windows firewall is a minority interest just about anywhere.

I've had Zone Alarm and AntiVir together for years. There was a temporary compatibility issue quite a while back with a new ZA version, so I reverted on that for a bit. Other than that, no problem at all.

There is a facility in ZA to switch off anti-virus monitoring, so perhaps AVG users could try that if they have problems. But it doesn't seem to apply in ZA free anyway.