Zone Alarm v Win XP Firewall

[spaced]

Wich is the better one?

Can they run together?

Which is the best free firewall?

Cheers!

[Ethel]

ZoneAlarm free is the better. It's the only one I have used for years on all my pcs.

You should not run the two together.

ZoneAlarm works very well with AVG antivirus and spyware, also free.

[Mattk]

never run windows firewall !

[Elmek]

comodo firewall is an extremely good free one and easy to use. http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/

[Paulst30]

Until recently AVG anti virus was free but now it is not. Zone alarm is very hard to uninstal apparently so for that reason i use Windows firewall.

Best thing to remember is the best defense is to be vigilant. The only reason you get a virus is if you surf with no firewall or if you download files that you are not sure about. Windows firewall does what its supposed to do and if kept up to date will work as well as the next best thing.

i opertate my pc with windows Firewall and no anti virus or internet security and i seem to be able to keep stuff out. If you get a virus then there are plenty of online scanners availabe too.

hope that helps

[Kerplunk]

With respect Paulst30 your answer is technically appalling. You should ALWAYS run anti-virus software. Simply having a decent Firewall is not good enough. If you were to receive an email or download a file which looked genuine or you were caught off guard and it contained a virus then your firewall would happily let the virus infect your system.

You must run both a Firewall and anti-Virus (1 of each). You should also do regurly checks for spyware using a decent Spyware removal program.

[fo3nix]

Another note to Paulst30's answer:

AVG is still free.

Zonealarm is not hard to uninstall.

Back to discussion: Zonealarm is a million times better than Windows' Firewall, because it protects both ways, i.e., in and out. Windows only protects coming in. If anything gets in, or comes in from a non-network device, then it can take information about you (i.e., spyware), and send it onto the internet freely.

[souldriver]

Yes AVG is certianly still free, they just discontinued updates for avg 7.1 the new version is 7.5 i downloaded it the other day.

[Elmek]

windows firewall is poo.. an thats bein kind (hope i can say poo) lol twice eek

[abranei]

Many attacks are done by exploiting security holes in Windows and other software. Often you wont know your infected until your AV quaratines the infection. Simply running a PC with out Antivirus or a firewall is sucidical.

Paul30 how do you know you are virus free if you dont have scan your PC using antivirus software?

No excuse for not running these security products as they are free.

As a baseline Windows Firewall should be used when not using another product like Symtantec or McAfee. If you use a router that uses NAT then Windows Firewall is sufficient as the NAT feature in your router will provide a natural firewall.

If you connect directly to the internet via a usb modem them I recommend using a third party product like Zone Alarm as they provide alerts, tracking and other features you dont get with Windows Firewall.

Windows Firewall only protects against inbound threats. Third party software will monitor outbound traffic for nastys

To check your firewall is doing what it should then goto https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2 and scan all ports.