Firewall

[mill]

Im open for suggestions,on what firewall to use for windows .7,or is the firewall that comes with 7 good enough?.
I went out and bought a new Asus laptop, that i plan only to use for online bill pay and my finacials i keep track of with Quicken.My desktop will be used for the more risky matters.

[MilesAhead]

Is the Windows7 32 bit or 64 bit?

[UncasMS]

i use COMODO on XP/32 and Win7/64

[mill]

Thanks for the reply.Its Win7/64 bit.
UncasMS, is Comodo easy to figure out?I just bougth BitDefender antivirus 2010 for my desktop,and its good for up to 3 PC's,but i dont think it has a firewall with it.Plus for what im doing with the laptop( paying bills online and updating Quicken,and thats all.) i didnt think i would need a antivirus,just a good firewall.

[MilesAhead]

There's a free version of Returnil 2010. It now has 64 bit support. I haven't used it myself since I rely on image backups. It may be useful to you if all your records are kept online. Basically you activate a virtual system in Windows and any changes to the system are discarded on reboot. The theory being any viruses or nasty programs that put themselves in the registry or whatever are just discarded and the original contents of the system partition are used on the bootup.

You can check into it here:

http://www.returnilvirtualsystem.com/rvs-home-lux

[UncasMS]

i like comodo very much - it can be easy to configure but on the other hand let's you set anything the way you want- if you want

[gonwk]

Hi Mill,

Go with Comodo Firewall ... hands down THE BEST!

Mill for your Question if the Windows 7 Firewall is good enough ... read the following ... the first link below tells you that you need a 3rd party firewall ...

http://www.brighthub.com/computing/smb-security/articles/35789.aspx

http://www.brighthub.com/computing/smb-security/articles/38834.aspx

On your BitDefender or any other AntiVirus ... make sure to update your definitions Daily/Regularly.

For your Firewall use Comodo Firewall Pro (CIS) ... it has Freeware version that is compatible with Vista & Win 7 x32 & x64. There is a Drop-down link in there ... normally shows the 32-bit.

http://personalfirewall.comodo.com/download_firewall.html

It comes as Comodo CIS (Comodo Internet Security Suite ... which is the Firewall AND Antivirus). Only install the FIREWALL portion of it ... so it's Antivirus portion won't Conflict with your BitDefender AV.

When installing the Comodo CIS ... choose to install Firewall portion ONLY and when installing the Firewall make sure you DO NOT INSTALL the 3 Options:
- Comodo Hopsurf Toolbar
- Ask.com Toolbar
- Make HopSurf.com my Homepage

BTW, I personally install it with Defense+ option ... Strongest ... nothing slips thru it ... it is like UAC on Steroids ... also, when the Icon shows up in your Tray Right-Click on it and for "Defense+Security Level" and "Firewall Security Mode" choose the "Safe Mode" option ... and on the "Configuration" arrow go with the "Proactive Security" ... should be ticked.

Hope this was of some Help to you!

G!

[mill]

Thanks for all the replys, been away for awhile. gonwk thanks for going into detail and the links, i will be sure to read them soon thanks again. Im leanning towards Comodo, but ,all i do is go to the same sites to pay bills ,and i dont surf the web on the laptop, do i really need a firewall
Im still trying to figure whats all on the laptop i got.Asus but alot of filler on it.One thing i do like is the easy logon, it comes with smart logon( face recogntion),pretty neat.

[gonwk]

Hi Mill,

According to the Experts ... you need a Firewall ...

But if you have BitDefender + Windows Firewall + Only go to pay bills and No Funny Sites ... I guess you can try it.

I am sure you have a ROUTER ... and that is your Equipment Firewall.

The Software Firewall is an Extra management. BTW, don't feel "Overwhelmed" with the Firewall ... it is so Simple ... for now install the Comodo without Defense+ that will give of Plenty of protection and it WON'T be as intrusive!

G!

[MilesAhead]

btw I just noticed on another board, there's a free 1 year license for Returnil 2010 Home version. I just registered in case I should decide to use it. Follow directions here:

http://dottech.org/freebies/13102

[mill]

Thanks again,for your replys,as it turns out my laptop (ASUS) didnt seem to hold a charge long so i called ASUS tech support and they told me to return it to the store were i bought it,(bestbuy) that it had a bad battery.So i took it back to the store and there so call geek squad look at it for a whole one minute and told me there was nothing wrong with it and that i had my power options set to high, and they could not repace it.So that teaed me off and i told them i wanted my money back .I had to pay a 15% restocking fee,now im really teaed off.
And on top of that i had Quicken installed with all my checking acc. numbers and you name it,all my finacial info on it.I deleted the program befor i took it back but im told theres still away to get info of the hard drive?

[doctorhardware]

You have to do a DOD wipe of the hard drive then use the recovery disks to put the computer back to original state.

[gonwk]

You have to do a DOD wipe of the hard drive ...

Hi Doc ... what do you use for DOD wipe!?!?

Thanks!

G!

[atifsh]

im not using any, just have security essentials, and im not sure how good it will be against a dedicated wanna be tring to reach my pc , nor againt sniffing attacks. but for my usage i think i dont need anything morethen a anti virus.

dsl modem is firewall enabled, plus i can use routers firewall aswell but at the moment thats disabled.

[doctorhardware]

It is a program that erases the hard drive to the Department of Defense specifications.