should i run windows firewall with free avast on vista or xp?
Yes you should have a firewall on, the windows one is better than nothing at all :o
Careful windows firewall doesn’t monitor outbound traffic they only monitor inbound traffic, you need a good firewall that both monitor in & out bound traffic 
The Windows XP firewall is worthless. I would also follow the previous recommendation of getting a good inbound/outbound firewall, and there are some that are free or paid that are user friendly. You can do a search on the forum or feel free to ask questions.
well i would beg to differ on this point in regard to outbound traffic.
If your using windows firewall on a clean machine then controlling outbound traffic need not be a concern.
If the firewall keeps the baddies out then it is a good firewall in my opinion. 
Outbound protection (HIPS) is to protect you from someone with evil intentions from gleaning information about you from your computer.
Some software you download may have something hidden inside to send information to the outside world. I fully agree with both SpeddyPC and SafeSurf concerning outbound protection. A good firewall with HIPS is a big plus. Several good ones are offered free of charge.
http://www.filehippo.com/download_outpost_firewall/
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Security/Firewall/Online-Armor-Free.shtml
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Security/Firewall/Privatefirewall.shtml
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Security/Firewall/Comodo-Personal-Firewall.shtml
I guess you don’t care about sending out your personal information and doing your banking and shopping on line ???
A firewall should protect both inbound and outbound traffic.
Bob, sending out information like that is not outbound traffic even though you may think it is. Inbound and outbound in computer terms actually mean exactly the opposite of what you would think. Data flows out from incoming connections and in from outgoing ones. Therefore you mostly only have to worry about incoming connection attempts since they are the ones that can be used to steal your data. The only way data can be stolen in the scenarios you mention is by keyloggers and possible interception of wireless signals and the like. Firewalls do not protect from those things.
For most people, the Windows Firewall is sufficient and not worthless at all. Outbound protection is for the most part worthless because if you have to worry about something connecting that shouldn’t, it’s already too late because you’re already infected. An outbound connection actually means a connection request going out from your computer to another one. The data from such a connection being established is actually coming in and not going out. Therefore, like 99.99% of the time, you do not need outgoing monitoring and the incoming protection of the Windows Firewall is perfectly sufficient since it means incoming connection attempts possibly trying to retrieve information from your system… Malware has to actually be present on the system to attempt to “dial out” so like I said, you’re already infected if it happens and a Firewall does not protect against that. It is the job of your AV to protect from those things.
Outbound protection can prevent an infection from becoming worse but does not stop it becoming established and therefore, imo, is greatly overrated for most computer users. There is a reason why Microsoft does not enable it by default. It would create an almost entirely useless need for user interaction in performing everyday tasks.
Thanks for the explanation.I’ll let you leave it in the off position. I’ll keep it on. 
I choose to keep my outbound protection on at all times.
Images are from Zone Alarm and Outpost. Couple of big names here.
Antivirus program didn’t stop this trojan.
I highly agree with having a firewall with HIPS. I can’t tell you how many times someone during my testing has tried to do a snapshot while I was trying to access a banking or credit card web site. Fortunately, I have the ability to see their IP, country, and location with other software I was testing. With one firewall I was testing at the time, they DID get into my bank and I had to change all my banking accounts because of this as a precaution…what a nightmare!
I do agree with the links provided by Para-Noid. I would suggest you do a trial offer first to see if you like it and if it is compatible with your system. Then try another. Know how to uninstall each one with their uninstaller tool prior to installing them. See how it plays with Avast as well. You will probably have to make each firewall an exclusion with Avast and vice versa so they play nicely.
Actually, what I have done with AIS installed is to initially leave the Avast Firewall on auto-decide until rules for all my apps and the various Windows elements themselves, have been created. Then I switched the Firewall setting to Ask. I have a fairly good understanding of what to do if something new requests access. I also still have the Windows Firewall running. I like the Avast firewall with it’s lack of any annoying HIPS component. When I was using the free Avast, I tried other firewalls and I will say that HIPS based ones are completely out of the question for me. I ran Windows Firewall Notifier for a period which activates the outgoing portion of the Windows Firewall and creates an interface to easily create outgoing rules. It’s an excellent utility if you want to be able to completely control the built in protection of the Win 7 firewall. I eventually settled back into just using the default Windows Firewall however.
http://wokhan.online.fr/progs.php?sec=WFN
The Vista machine is operated by someone who has very little knowledge or understanding of computers. About every 3 months I have to explain over again what a browser is and what addons are. Therefore, she is running only the free Avast coupled with the Vista Firewall in it’s default state. I asked her if she wanted AIS since I have only used two of my installations and she said no, she didn’t want all that extra stuff. The people in that category greatly outnumber the rest of computer users and for them, the Windows Firewall with a good AV and a NAT router is sufficient at least 99% of the time.
Your second picture confirms my point that the malware has to be already established before it can attempt an outgoing connection. Firewalls do not control malware like that becoming established.
Two firewalls running.?
Im using online armor firewall does this have adequate outbound protection? :-[
Yes the OA firewall has excellent outbound protection and hips included.
Thank you craigb and please excuse my lack of knowledge on firewalls.
I know that running two firewalls is not adviseable but is there any way possible i can run OA and the windows firewall too?
I know its a silly question but is it a viable possibility?
Thanks. 8)
Not possible im affraid, well you can activate the windows firewall if you want but you’ll end up with problems - OA should have disabled the windows firewall automatically when you installed it.
The avast firewall is the only firewall i know of that can safely run with the windows firewall.
The avast firewall is the only firewall i know of that can safely run with the windows firewall.
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+1
I’m a former OA tester, and you should have plenty of protection with OA, which is user-friendly and configurable. Yes, OA does disable Windows firewall when in use, and turns on the Windows firewall when OA is disabled. Because OA is strong with HIPS, you shouldn’t need Windows Firewall at all, esp. if you have XP. You can see from my Signature that my machine is XP and that is why I wanted a strong firewall. Just make sure you add the mutual exclusions (make OA and Avast “trust each other”) for each software. If you have questions how to do this, I can explain how to do this step by step and it’s very easy for both software. You would need to do this for any firewall other than AIS (Avast).
Thank you very much for your input on OA.
Ive always liked OA and it has very good reviews and from what i understand it is one of the best firewalls out there.
It runs beautifully with avast and ive never had any problems with either programs.
Just out of curiousity how strong a firewall is online armor in regards to tests etc.?
Kind regards. 8)