New favorite, free firewall for XP power users.

[Lazlo]

I finally gave up on Kerio Personal Firewall, which I'd been using for years. I poked around and found this alternative:

http://www.jetico.com/jpfirewall.htm

Version 1.0 is free and is works on XP. [The top of the page doesn't list XP support but it is mentioned as supported later on the page.]

This firewall is great for the power user. It allows for extremely fine-grained control over network access, but comes with a good default config to get you started. It also checks for suspicious activity, like system-wide hooks and code injection.

It doesn't look like Vista is supported with the 1.0 version. The commercial (2.0) version does support Vista and costs 39 euros [what's that, like $4,000 nowadays?]

Z

[Juke_spin]

I'll try it. Kerio just downgraded the version I've been running - looking for $$$.:nono:

[Juke_spin]

I put the dang thing in but it requires a lot of attention with each opening of the browser. It pops a lot of clearance items up as the browser and VP are loading and doesn't seem to remember even though the "Remember my answer" box is checked. So I stopped opening it and am runnig w/o a firewall for now. I've still got my Avast VP running so I shouldn't get into too much trouble and I'll go into the FW prog later and try to figure out what's going on.

[Juke_spin]

I put the dang thing in but it requires a lot of attention with each opening of the browser. It pops a lot of clearance items up as the browser and VP are loading and doesn't seem to remember even though the "Remember my answer" box is checked. So I stopped opening it and am runnig w/o a firewall for now. I've still got my Avast VP running so I shouldn't get into too much trouble and I'll go into the FW prog later and try to figure out what's going on.

[Patonb]

Just turn on xp firewall...... If you have a router, youre way better off.

[Juke_spin]

Just turn on xp firewall...... If you have a router, youre way better off.

Turns out it was on all the time. I jettisoned the jetico.Thanks Patonb.

[Lazlo]

I put the dang thing in but it requires a lot of attention with each opening of the browser. It pops a lot of clearance items up as the browser and VP are loading and doesn't seem to remember even though the "Remember my answer" box is checked. So I stopped opening it and am runnig w/o a firewall for now. I've still got my Avast VP running so I shouldn't get into too much trouble and I'll go into the FW prog later and try to figure out what's going on.

There is a preset rule table for Email, Browser, and FTP clients. When any of these pop up an alert, choose the "Handle as" option on the dialog. Otherwise, yes, you will get an alert for every web site your browser attempts to connect to. After you do this, you can go in and clear out the "Ask user" rules you created earlier, or hit the 'factory reset' button on the menu beforehand to go back to post-install state.

I was poking around some more though and found this page that recommends Comodo over Jetico:

http://www.matousec.com/projects/firewall-challenge/results.php

Maybe I'll give this one a try too, though I've never heard of it before.