So I got rid of Norton. And I got Avast! and ZoneAlarm. But I also have SpySweeper. And ZoneAlarm and SpySweeper apparently do not play well with each other. In fact, ZoneAlarm doesn't play well even when SpySweeper is off.
It was taking forever to open webpages, and I couldn't even open a link in a new window, which is ridiculous. My CPU was pegged, and I had to shut ZoneAlarm down, which means that I'm working without a firewall now. Sort of the computer equivalent of unsafe sex.
So. I looked at the Avast! site, and it doesn't seem to have a version with an integrated firewall. So I thought I'd ask if anyone here has any suggestions for good firewalls that won't hose me completely the way ZoneAlarm seems to be doing.
Posted by Boris (Member # 6935) on :
Actually, the little router that you (should) have between your computer and your internet connection works as a firewall (it won't stop traffic you initiate, but the simple resolution to that is to not initiate a malicious traffic exchange). Software firewalls, in general, don't work well. Just about every software firewall I've worked with has eventually hosed the computer to a point that it requires uninstalling the firewall to return to normal operation (plus some low level tweaking).
I'm also not a big fan of Spy Sweeper. It's great protection, but it does too much and uses too many resources. A lot of security software does that. Some security companies just believe in the "life in a bubble" kind of security. Firewall software, in general, uses the "life in a bubble" philosophy...imagine life in two bubbles.
Basically you really should be good with just Avast and ZoneAlarm, or Avast and SpySweeper. My general rule is that once you go beyond two major security offerings, you're a little too paranoid. Too much security will do the same thing to your computer as a virus.
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
We used to use ZoneAlarm but we gave it the boot. Now we use COMODO. It's anal retentive, but we like it.