The firewall choices seem to be very limited these days for Vista 64-bit. I hope Avast! Firewall comes out soon! 
I was previously using Comodo with Avast. It was okay, except it’s Defense+ module is very intrusive and never shuts up, even after months of use. So I uninstalled Comodo.
I have a paid version of Outpost Pro Firewall but it has always been UNSTABLE and causes BSOD’s. I even tried the latest version on a clean install of Vista x64 SP1, and I had BSOD’s within a day. I don’t know if it’s a driver issue or not, but everyone on Outpost forum blames drivers for BSOD and not Outpost. Go figure, since it’s the only firewall that causes BSOD on my systems. And even after I submit the logs to Agnitum, I never get response from them saying which “driver” is causing the problem.
So then I go to http://www.matousec.com to read up on current firewall results. PC Tools, and Online Armour don’t work under 64-bit Vista. Online Armour actually gave some crazy story to it’s users, saying it probably never won’t have 64-bit. Probably because they don’t want to pay Microsoft $$$ for whatever reason to get their stuff digitally signed. Kaspersky Internet Security Suite wants me to uninstall Avast due to program incompatibility. This is unacceptable, as I am going to continue to use Avast Pro on all my systems.
So that leaves me with ZoneAlarm which I’m not interested in installing, or PrivateFirewall which has no user forum and a horrible outdated GUI and has Computer Associates PestPatrol in it, which I don’t like because of their bad business practices. And JetiCo Firewall which is not what I am looking for.
What I’m looking for is:
- an easy to use HIPS Firewall
- low on resources,
- doesn’t cause BSOD,
- works with RAID and my other devices, and doesn’t crash whole system or bring it to it’s knees.
- Is not intrusive, but is smart and learns applications like Outpost.
- Has an organized and well thought-out GUI, similar to Outpost.
- Will allow my XBOX/PS3 to connect to PC Media Center, without setting up complicated rules manually. Outpost took almost TWO YEARS to fix this issue with their firewall!
Is this too much to ask for? I just hope Avast Firewall comes out soon, and it’s so good, it blows everything away! I’m so frustrated right now trying to find a decent software firewall for my Vista x64 systems! I guess for now, I’m stuck with reinstalling Comodo without the Defense+ until Avast Firewall comes out.
