I’ve been using comodo as long as I have been using avast. Reading from various threads about comodo becoming malware makers, I want to change my firewall before becoming infected by comodo’s evil work.
Since comodo change its firewall to CIS, its has become a memory hog and memory consumption increases as the version goes higher.
Mostly I hear about Outpost and Online Armor firewall. Which is better to match up with avast?
Why not use the forum search function to get your answer.
There are many post about various FW programs on this forum.
In my opinion, the protection of both are equivalent. Online Armor has an “ugly” interface (compared to Outpost) but seems to have more configurations available. I used both, no regrets.
Hi :
In addition to what Bob has shared, always Best to know the SPECIFICS of the
Operating System, Browser(s) used, and security program(s) to minimize potential
conflicts problems .
By the way, best I know Online Armor is NOT a “firewall”, but a “HIPS” program .
Hey… it’s a firewall with HIPS in the pro version, but it’s a firewall mostly.
I replaced Comodo with Outpost 2009 free a while ago because it passed a few key tests that Comodo failed. I also found that it offered me a little better protection than Online Armor free and is lighter on resources as well.
OA is a firewall with hips in both paid & free versions. The paid version has more hips, features & configurations. OA is very lite on computer resources. OA Free passes tests that OP 6.5 Free fails. OA Free is very limited in keylogger defense, but that is no problem as antivirus & antispyware software protect from those. OA paid is strong on keylogger defense.
From what I read OP 6.5 Free is weak on inbound protection & as I said above OP Free fails tests OA passes.
OP Free slows the internet on my computer as well on some others.
Actually, OA fails the keylogger tests that I tried in it and OP passed them. Try these: http://www.zemana.com/SecurityTests.aspx
OA Free is very limited in keylogger defense, but that is no problem as antivirus & antispyware software protect from those.
Latest release of OA (3.5.0.32) added the full keylogger capability of the paid version to the free version per popular request. Main differences in paid and free now are in configurability and the web shield/mail shield. But give both free ones a try. They both offer excellent protection, but your particular needs and “look and feel” comfort may make you prefer one or the other. And both work very well with Avast! .
sded,
Thank you for that update.
I installed the latest version of Online Armor and it is the best free firewall yet. It totally kills all of the Zemana keylogger tests that the previous version failed. Its better than the latest Outpost free. Based on the test results at Matousec (http://www.matousec.com/projects/proactive-security-challenge/results.php) it would probably score 99% with a 10+
OA Free & OA Premium pass all of Matousec’s tests but Crash7. All of the firewalls that Matousec tested fail Crash7, except PC Tools Firewall Plus. I expect OA & Op to pass this test soon. Maybe OA now does in 3.5.0.32, but we will have to wait for the next round of Matousec’s test. 
Although PC Tools Firewall Plus is the only firewall to pass Crash7, it falls short in comparison to OA.
Crash7 Test type: Termination test Scoring: At least one of the target processes or threads was crashed – 0%; Success – 100%. Description: Crash7 checks whether malicious software can crash the tested product by allocating all the available memory in the system.
I got a reply from Mike Nash that OA 3.5.0.32 does pass Crash7. 8)
3.5.0.32 is the current version.
It must now score 100% and 10+
Hi Sammo,
How do u uninstall all those firewall software, I heard that those firewall software like Comodo, Zone alarm, PC tools, and (not sure about) Outpost are hard to uninstall because there firewall software is installed deep inside the registry.
Do u use a registry cleaner to uninstall them. If u do use one which is a good one that is safe to use and clean the registry.
thanks
With this kind of software that has too many entries in file/registry, I use ZSoft Uninstaller.
I install the app. with it and use their log file to do a complete uninstall. With it I didn’t use anymore ‘remove’ tools…
Better freeware firewall alternatives for windows 7 ??
Thank you
I use Cleanse Uninstaller Pro (paid) or Revo Uninstaller (free) both of which will completely remove the programs, leftovers and registry entries.
Well… not a software is perfect or a panacea.
Remember that some keys (ControlSet for instance) are removed by Windows afterwards.
Advanced users will notice that, even after run RevoUninstaller, they could find a lot of entries related to removed software.
The most of them are innocuous thought.