Firewall that allows permission control?

[videohalp]

Besides Zone Alarm, any other firewall that notifies me when an application is trying to run or access the Internet? Also gives me control over if I want the application to run at all or allow to access the Internet?

[Dv8ted2]

Nearly all firewalls do this. Mcafee, Norton, and so on

[redwudz]

Firewalls like Comodo will ask you initially for permission for each application when it tries to 'phone home'. Some, like Java, I never let. You can make your decisions automatic in a week or so after it learns your habits, or set it so it asks you each and every time, though that gets tiresome. My HP printer software wants to check about twice a week for updates, so I often block it, since it rarely finds any updates anyway.

You can also set up individual rules for each program if you like. I assume most other firewalls can do similar.

[hunter99]

Using this for years and its free.

http://www.agnitum.com/news/outpost-firewall-free.php

[johns0]

My HP printer software wants to check about twice a week for updates, so I often block it, since it rarely finds any updates anyway.

What i do with hp drivers is extract the exe with 7-zip and install the old fashioned way through system/device manager and select the folder that was extracted,that way only the drivers get install,not the extra 250mb of crap that go with every hp driver install.

[lacywest]

Interesting

[bevills1]

Do you know how http://www.agnitum.com/news/outpost-firewall-free.php compares to Zonealarm and major differences between Zonealarm and it?

[fatbloke88]

you could also try Online Armor free http://www.tallemu.com/free-firewall-protection-software.html

[johns0]

Do you know how http://www.agnitum.com/news/outpost-firewall-free.php compares to Zonealarm and major differences between Zonealarm and it?

It did say on the site that Outpost Firewall was 64bit compatible but it isnt.

[hunter99]

Used ZA before Outpost but don't remember why I changed. What ever the reason it was so long ago it may not matter any more. My advice, try each one for a few weeks, (not at same time). I seem to recall that Outpost allowed, one shot allows on outgoing, a feature I wanted.
Know nothing about 64 bit, yes or no.

[wtsinnc]

This page from Wikipedia might be useful.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_firewalls

[dessieclive]

try Rising Personal Firewall

[redwudz]

My HP printer software wants to check about twice a week for updates, so I often block it, since it rarely finds any updates anyway.

What i do with hp drivers is extract the exe with 7-zip and install the old fashioned way through system/device manager and select the folder that was extracted,that way only the drivers get install,not the extra 250mb of crap that go with every hp driver install.

It's a all in one scanner, fax, photo printer, copier, and it runs over my LAN from any of my computers, so I sort of need most of those files, and if you delete them, the HP software keeps complaining. But, you're right, I should just sift through them and get rid of the ones that seem to be involved with the constant update checking.

To get back on topic, I really liked the older Syquest firewall, but the company was bought out and it wouldn't run with Vista. I found Vista's firewall about useless as it only filters incoming packets and, by default, doesn't stop any outgoing ones. That lets any malware 'phone home' whenever it wants. Don't know if W7 has the same setup. I do have anti-malware programs on board, but if anything gets past them, Vista's firewall is no help.

I've had plenty of minor issues with Comodo, but it has stopped quite a few suspicious packets, so I do trust it most of the time to protect my systems. Probably if I had RTFM first, I would have had less issues.