Comodo vs PcTools Firewalls

Win XP Pro, SP2 with all critical updates, NOD32,
SuperAnti-Spyware

After using Sygate for several years, I decided I had to
update to a firewall that is being supported and maintained
- not the case for Sygate after Symantec bought them.

Wanting more precision, and after extensive discussion on
this ng, I installed Comodo.

First WinFaxPro got stuck in semi-receive mode and froze
whenever I tried to get out of the mess. No amount of
rebooting fixed it. Knowing this was a finicky and old
program, I uninstalled and reinstalled it. Even though it
was clearly "allowed" by Comodo, it froze again and again in
various states.

But it gets worse..... I've been using Outlook, several
different profiles, with a spam catcher called SpamBully for
several years. It has been very efficient. Suddenly, after
Comodo, one of my profiles kept freezing and it became clear
that the profile itself had been corrupted. Removing Spam
Bully didn't fix it.

I should note that after every software uninstall and
reinstall, I cleaned the registry with JV16 so I don't think
the problems exhibited by Comodo are the result of leftover
program code.

Well, I finally uninstalled Comodo (registry included),
uninstalled and again reinstalled Winfax Pro. I then had to
delete the damaged Outlook profile and create a new one.
With Comodo out of the picture, Outlook and SpamBully again
worked happily together once Outlook had a new profile to
replace the damaged one.

So I have moved on to the PCTools firewall. It installed
easily and is playing very well with all the programs that
were negatively effected by Comodo. The only thing I've
encountered that I don't like is that PC Tools Firewall
gives you the option to allow or disallow, but it doesn't
give you the option to allow just this one time. I think
this is a serious flaw.

But after the last several hours of tracking down the
problems and repairing the damage to files, I plan to
happily stay with PC Tools.

Louise

Re: Comodo vs PcTools Firewalls

"louise" wrote in message
news:55c752F23r7ghU1@mid.individual.net...
> Win XP Pro, SP2 with all critical updates, NOD32, SuperAnti-Spyware
>
> After using Sygate for several years, I decided I had to update to a
> firewall that is being supported and maintained - not the case for Sygate
> after Symantec bought them.
>
> Wanting more precision, and after extensive discussion on this ng, I
> installed Comodo.
>
> First WinFaxPro got stuck in semi-receive mode and froze whenever I tried
> to get out of the mess. No amount of rebooting fixed it. Knowing this
> was a finicky and old program, I uninstalled and reinstalled it. Even
> though it was clearly "allowed" by Comodo, it froze again and again in
> various states.
>
> But it gets worse..... I've been using Outlook, several different
> profiles, with a spam catcher called SpamBully for several years. It has
> been very efficient. Suddenly, after Comodo, one of my profiles kept
> freezing and it became clear that the profile itself had been corrupted.
> Removing Spam Bully didn't fix it.
>
> I should note that after every software uninstall and reinstall, I cleaned
> the registry with JV16 so I don't think the problems exhibited by Comodo
> are the result of leftover program code.
>
> Well, I finally uninstalled Comodo (registry included), uninstalled and
> again reinstalled Winfax Pro. I then had to delete the damaged Outlook
> profile and create a new one. With Comodo out of the picture, Outlook and
> SpamBully again worked happily together once Outlook had a new profile to
> replace the damaged one.
>
> So I have moved on to the PCTools firewall. It installed easily and is
> playing very well with all the programs that were negatively effected by
> Comodo. The only thing I've encountered that I don't like is that PC
> Tools Firewall gives you the option to allow or disallow, but it doesn't
> give you the option to allow just this one time. I think this is a
> serious flaw.
>
> But after the last several hours of tracking down the problems and
> repairing the damage to files, I plan to happily stay with PC Tools.
>
> Louise

Sorry you had problems with Comodo. FYI, regarding the option to "allow
once" when the firewall intercepts a connection attempt, this is available
in ZoneAlarm - you can click "Yes", but the choice will not be remembered if
you don't put a check in the box to save the setting. ZoneAlarm also
distinguishes between allowing an application internet access Vs allowing it
to function as a server. I don't think PC Tools Firewall Plus currently
makes that distinction.

Re: Comodo vs PcTools Firewalls

Victek wrote:
>
>
> "louise" wrote in message
> news:55c752F23r7ghU1@mid.individual.net...
>> Win XP Pro, SP2 with all critical updates, NOD32, SuperAnti-Spyware
>>
>> After using Sygate for several years, I decided I had to update to a
>> firewall that is being supported and maintained - not the case for
>> Sygate after Symantec bought them.
>>
>> Wanting more precision, and after extensive discussion on this ng, I
>> installed Comodo.
>>
>> First WinFaxPro got stuck in semi-receive mode and froze whenever I
>> tried to get out of the mess. No amount of rebooting fixed it.
>> Knowing this was a finicky and old program, I uninstalled and
>> reinstalled it. Even though it was clearly "allowed" by Comodo, it
>> froze again and again in various states.
>>
>> But it gets worse..... I've been using Outlook, several different
>> profiles, with a spam catcher called SpamBully for several years. It
>> has been very efficient. Suddenly, after Comodo, one of my profiles
>> kept freezing and it became clear that the profile itself had been
>> corrupted. Removing Spam Bully didn't fix it.
>>
>> I should note that after every software uninstall and reinstall, I
>> cleaned the registry with JV16 so I don't think the problems exhibited
>> by Comodo are the result of leftover program code.
>>
>> Well, I finally uninstalled Comodo (registry included), uninstalled
>> and again reinstalled Winfax Pro. I then had to delete the damaged
>> Outlook profile and create a new one. With Comodo out of the picture,
>> Outlook and SpamBully again worked happily together once Outlook had a
>> new profile to replace the damaged one.
>>
>> So I have moved on to the PCTools firewall. It installed easily and
>> is playing very well with all the programs that were negatively
>> effected by Comodo. The only thing I've encountered that I don't like
>> is that PC Tools Firewall gives you the option to allow or disallow,
>> but it doesn't give you the option to allow just this one time. I
>> think this is a serious flaw.
>>
>> But after the last several hours of tracking down the problems and
>> repairing the damage to files, I plan to happily stay with PC Tools.
>>
>> Louise
>
> Sorry you had problems with Comodo. FYI, regarding the option to "allow
> once" when the firewall intercepts a connection attempt, this is
> available in ZoneAlarm - you can click "Yes", but the choice will not be
> remembered if you don't put a check in the box to save the setting.
> ZoneAlarm also distinguishes between allowing an application internet
> access Vs allowing it to function as a server. I don't think PC Tools
> Firewall Plus currently makes that distinction.

Thanks for the info. PcTools sounds like it has a long way
to go before it's really ready for prime time.

Things went from bad to worse and I discovered that several
other utilities were malfunctioning - probably really from
Comodo. Eventually, while trying to fix each thing, the
system gave up and suddenly couldn't boot into windows.

One more rave for Ghost! I restored the drive image from
one week ago and as a result, I was back with Sygate. I
think for now I'm going to stay with Sygate. This fiasco
has taken me several hours (I even missed a movie we'd
bought tickets for), and it is a testament to the addage:
if it ain't broke.......

How important do you think a software filewall really is if
you keep Windows updated, use an NAT router, run NOD32 and
SuperAntiSpyware. Perhaps I'm into overkill anyway. I'm
certainly into exhaustion :-)

Louise

Re: Comodo vs PcTools Firewalls

Post removed (X-No-Archive: yes)

Re: Comodo vs PcTools Firewalls

Post removed (X-No-Archive: yes)

Re: Comodo vs PcTools Firewalls

On Sun, 11 Mar 2007 00:50:46 -0500, louise wrote:

> How important do you think a software filewall really is if
> you keep Windows updated, use an NAT router, run NOD32 and
> SuperAntiSpyware. Perhaps I'm into overkill anyway. I'm
> certainly into exhaustion :-)
>
> Louise

The recommended setup is using a software firewall for application control,
even if you have a router. What I don't understand is why you quit using
Sygate if you were pleased with it. There really is no reason to switch.
It's not like an AV that has to be updated with new signatures. I've tried
both Comodo and PC Tools and don't feel either is nearly as good as the old
Kerio 2.1.5, which I went back to. Don't get caught up in the hype about
leaktests, etc, as most of that stuff is meaningless in the real world -
even though the hype becomes popular in the marketplace. Sygate is a
proven a very good firewall, which you can used to control which apps
access the Internet. I believe it is a better firewall than most of the
newer ones, including Comodo and PC Tools. Also, have you considered
running HIPS software rather than AS apps? Much more effective, as it is
not signature based. My combo of Kerio 2.15, NOD32 and System Safety
Monitor has kept my system clean for quite some time. SAS is a good app,
and I use it for on-demand. However, running AS software in real-time is a
waste of resources. NOD will catch things before it even gets to your AS
(at least that has been my experience). If anything does get through all
the signature software, a HIPS application will keep it from executing.

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Re: Comodo vs PcTools Firewalls

Bullseye wrote:
> On Sun, 11 Mar 2007 00:50:46 -0500, louise wrote:
>
>> How important do you think a software filewall really is if
>> you keep Windows updated, use an NAT router, run NOD32 and
>> SuperAntiSpyware. Perhaps I'm into overkill anyway. I'm
>> certainly into exhaustion :-)
>>
>> Louise
>
> The recommended setup is using a software firewall for application control,
> even if you have a router. What I don't understand is why you quit using
> Sygate if you were pleased with it. There really is no reason to switch.
> It's not like an AV that has to be updated with new signatures. I've tried
> both Comodo and PC Tools and don't feel either is nearly as good as the old
> Kerio 2.1.5, which I went back to. Don't get caught up in the hype about
> leaktests, etc, as most of that stuff is meaningless in the real world -
> even though the hype becomes popular in the marketplace. Sygate is a
> proven a very good firewall, which you can used to control which apps
> access the Internet. I believe it is a better firewall than most of the
> newer ones, including Comodo and PC Tools. Also, have you considered
> running HIPS software rather than AS apps? Much more effective, as it is
> not signature based. My combo of Kerio 2.15, NOD32 and System Safety
> Monitor has kept my system clean for quite some time. SAS is a good app,
> and I use it for on-demand. However, running AS software in real-time is a
> waste of resources. NOD will catch things before it even gets to your AS
> (at least that has been my experience). If anything does get through all
> the signature software, a HIPS application will keep it from executing.
>

Thanks for your thoughtful reply.

At the moment I've gone back to Sygate. My experience with
Comodo was dreadful due to conflicts with some other
applications, pctools is not configurable enough and
Sunbelt/Kerio is very demanding of resources providing all
kinds of AS, popup blockers etc., all of which I do not need.

What is HIPS software? I gather you are saying it is
superior to resident anti spyware software.

Also, where do you get the old Kerio 2.1.5? That is
something I would like to try.

Thanks again.

Louise

Re: Comodo vs PcTools Firewalls

"louise" wrote in message
news:55k9bdF258vafU1@mid.individual.net...
> Bullseye wrote:
>> On Sun, 11 Mar 2007 00:50:46 -0500, louise wrote:
>>
>>> How important do you think a software filewall really is if you keep
>>> Windows updated, use an NAT router, run NOD32 and SuperAntiSpyware.
>>> Perhaps I'm into overkill anyway. I'm certainly into exhaustion :-)
>>>
>>> Louise
>>
>> The recommended setup is using a software firewall for application
>> control,
>> even if you have a router. What I don't understand is why you quit using
>> Sygate if you were pleased with it. There really is no reason to switch.
>> It's not like an AV that has to be updated with new signatures. I've
>> tried
>> both Comodo and PC Tools and don't feel either is nearly as good as the
>> old
>> Kerio 2.1.5, which I went back to. Don't get caught up in the hype about
>> leaktests, etc, as most of that stuff is meaningless in the real world -
>> even though the hype becomes popular in the marketplace. Sygate is a
>> proven a very good firewall, which you can used to control which apps
>> access the Internet. I believe it is a better firewall than most of the
>> newer ones, including Comodo and PC Tools. Also, have you considered
>> running HIPS software rather than AS apps? Much more effective, as it is
>> not signature based. My combo of Kerio 2.15, NOD32 and System Safety
>> Monitor has kept my system clean for quite some time. SAS is a good app,
>> and I use it for on-demand. However, running AS software in real-time is
>> a
>> waste of resources. NOD will catch things before it even gets to your AS
>> (at least that has been my experience). If anything does get through all
>> the signature software, a HIPS application will keep it from executing.
>>
>
> Thanks for your thoughtful reply.
>
> At the moment I've gone back to Sygate. My experience with Comodo was
> dreadful due to conflicts with some other applications, pctools is not
> configurable enough and Sunbelt/Kerio is very demanding of resources
> providing all kinds of AS, popup blockers etc., all of which I do not
> need.
>
> What is HIPS software? I gather you are saying it is superior to resident
> anti spyware software.
>
> Also, where do you get the old Kerio 2.1.5? That is something I would
> like to try.
>
> Thanks again.
>
> Louise

HIPS is an acronym for "Host Intrusion Protection System". HIPS software
looks at the behavior of applications running on the computer and intercepts
activity that is potentially dangerous. It's similar to outbound firewall
protection in that it pops up warnings and permission requests for the user
to evaluate and respond to. I think it adds a significant level of
protection - you just have to be prepared to respond to the additional
permissions pop ups while the software is learning your system. Sometimes I
will turn my HIPS off when I'm installing new software to avoid the pop up
storm, then scan the system later so it can incorporate the new application.
Currently I'm using SpywareTerminator which includes a HIPS module (as well
as real-time spyware detection, and it's free).

www.spywareterminator.com

Re: Comodo vs PcTools Firewalls

Bullseye wrote:
> The recommended setup is using a software firewall for application control,
> even if you have a router.

No.

"Application control" is a marketing lie snakeoil sellers are telling
you. You don't need it.

> Sygate if you were pleased with it.

With such security design flaws?

Yours,
VB.
--
"Pornography is an abstract phenomenon. It cannot exist without a medium
to propagate it, and it has very little (if anything at all) to do with sex."
Tina Lorenz

Re: Comodo vs PcTools Firewalls

On Mon, 12 Mar 2007 00:59:48 +0100, Sebastian Gottschalk wrote:

> Bullseye wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 11 Mar 2007 00:50:46 -0500, louise wrote:
>>
>>> How important do you think a software filewall really is if
>>> you keep Windows updated, use an NAT router, run NOD32 and
>>> SuperAntiSpyware. Perhaps I'm into overkill anyway. I'm
>>> certainly into exhaustion :-)
>>>
>>> Louise
>>
>> The recommended setup is using a software firewall for application control,
>> even if you have a router.
>
> Yeah, recommended by people who have no fuc^W clue that this simply doesn't
> work.

So are you a security expert, or just another moronic jerk who thinks he
knows it all?

>
>> What I don't understand is why you quit using
>> Sygate if you were pleased with it. There really is no reason to switch.
>
> Eh... except that it's totally broken and makes the system vulnerable in
> first place?

Like there's any that aren't vulnerable? All or vulnerable if the person
clicking the mouse is an idiot.

>
>> It's not like an AV that has to be updated with new signatures. I've tried
>> both Comodo and PC Tools and don't feel either is nearly as good as the old
>> Kerio 2.1.5, which I went back to.
>
> You mean this old software that has many known unfixed vulnerabilities?

Kind of like the newer software that is even worse.

>
>> Sygate is a proven a very good firewall,
>
> It's proven to be broken, that's rather like it actually is.

Again, do some research and then maybe your statements will have a little
credibility.

>
>> My combo of Kerio 2.15, NOD32 and System Safety
>> Monitor has kept my system clean for quite some time.
>
> Following your logic, a stone can keep away a tiger. Seeing any tiger
> around you?

Well, my logic has kept my computer with not so much as a tracking cookie
for the entire time I've owned my system. Why the tigers - are you
hallucinating. Better lay off the meth.

>
>> If anything does get through all
>> the signature software, a HIPS application will keep it from executing.
>
> Yeah, you'd wish.

Yes, and it works, even without drugs.

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Re: Comodo vs PcTools Firewalls

Post removed (X-No-Archive: yes)

Re: Comodo vs PcTools Firewalls

On Mon, 12 Mar 2007 02:13:05 -0400, louise wrote:

> Bullseye wrote:
>> On Sun, 11 Mar 2007 00:50:46 -0500, louise wrote:
>>
>>> How important do you think a software filewall really is if
>>> you keep Windows updated, use an NAT router, run NOD32 and
>>> SuperAntiSpyware. Perhaps I'm into overkill anyway. I'm
>>> certainly into exhaustion :-)
>>>
>>> Louise
>>
>> The recommended setup is using a software firewall for application control,
>> even if you have a router. What I don't understand is why you quit using
>> Sygate if you were pleased with it. There really is no reason to switch.
>> It's not like an AV that has to be updated with new signatures. I've tried
>> both Comodo and PC Tools and don't feel either is nearly as good as the old
>> Kerio 2.1.5, which I went back to. Don't get caught up in the hype about
>> leaktests, etc, as most of that stuff is meaningless in the real world -
>> even though the hype becomes popular in the marketplace. Sygate is a
>> proven a very good firewall, which you can used to control which apps
>> access the Internet. I believe it is a better firewall than most of the
>> newer ones, including Comodo and PC Tools. Also, have you considered
>> running HIPS software rather than AS apps? Much more effective, as it is
>> not signature based. My combo of Kerio 2.15, NOD32 and System Safety
>> Monitor has kept my system clean for quite some time. SAS is a good app,
>> and I use it for on-demand. However, running AS software in real-time is a
>> waste of resources. NOD will catch things before it even gets to your AS
>> (at least that has been my experience). If anything does get through all
>> the signature software, a HIPS application will keep it from executing.
>>
>
> Thanks for your thoughtful reply.
>
> At the moment I've gone back to Sygate. My experience with
> Comodo was dreadful due to conflicts with some other
> applications, pctools is not configurable enough and
> Sunbelt/Kerio is very demanding of resources providing all
> kinds of AS, popup blockers etc., all of which I do not need.
>
> What is HIPS software? I gather you are saying it is
> superior to resident anti spyware software.
>
> Also, where do you get the old Kerio 2.1.5? That is
> something I would like to try.
>
> Thanks again.
>
> Louise

You can still get Kerio 2.1.5 at the following website:

http://www.321download.com/LastFreeware/page7.html

If you do so, I would suggest using Blitzenzeus' ruleset, available from
here:

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,8023708

Also, there are older versions of Kerio available that aren't nearly as
resource-heavy as recent versions. Versions 4.1.2 through the present can
be found at the following:

http://www.filehippo.com/download_kerio_personal_firewall/

The HIPS question has already been answered by another person. The
simplest and most basic (at least my own opinion) is Process Guard. I'm
sure someone will throw some comment in here saying it isn't effective, but
for the basic user it's pretty decent. Free version available at:

http://www.diamondcs.com.au/processguard/

Another popular HIPS is System Safety Monitor, but a lot of people think
it's difficult to use or hard to understand. Another suggested Spyware
Terminator. I've used it, and didn't care for it - has a lot of bugs IHMO.
Just some ideas, anyway.

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com