What's the best free firewall software?

http://download.cnet.com/Avast-Home-Edition/3000-2239_4-10019223.html

I have AV out the ying yang now. I just want a firewall , not a whole package.

try pctools.com then

Thanks for the input.

I looked at PCTools but decided to try Outpost Firewall 2009.

I tried the PCTools antivirus before and they get you into the buy later or Trial Pay stuff so I decided against it. I think there stuff (they offere many programs) is pretty good but only if you buy the full versions.

So far this outpost is pretty easy to use. It was highly rated buy users but has not been rated by the editors at Downlaods.com. It has a self learn period of one week and it also has preloaded sites like MS and adobe , Symantec etc. Big sites that are known to be OK so that you don't have to keep OKing every single site like windows updates etc. I'll try to remember to report back how I like it a month from now.

I used to run Black Ice. That was a good one but I forget what happened and I lost it. Maybe I needed to renew it for a fee or something. It was simple and worked well. After I try outpost for a while and after the self learn week I'll "Leak test" it to see if its any good.

I just had a bout with a clever virus that symantec caught quickly but couldn't remove or quarantine. When it quarantined it it locked up the system. It also prevented me access to a dos window and to my restore files. With help from John and Smokey's brother and a lot of my own time I got it out without having to reload windows.

Now I have Symantec Corporate and AVG 8.5 running in real time mode and I have Dr Web on the syetm which I will run once a week. Its amazing how each AV rprogram finds some the others don't but also misses some the others get.

I hate virus writers. They should get their fingers cut off so they can't work a keyboard! :)

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I hate virus writers. They should get their fingers cut off so they can't work a keyboard! :)

i totally agree...but i think their addiction runs deeper
and if you chopped off both hands
they would create virus's by pushing keys
with a pencil in their mouth

i'm not sure that they can stop you from getting to a dos window
tho
because you can boot up in safe mode and one choice
is with a dos window open
i've read however that true dos works best in
the non booted up mode...:read:

I could not boot to a safe window with DOS. This was a real bugger virus. I could get to dos with a Win 98 start up disc but the damned virus somehow prevented you from accessing the Registry , Winini and Sysyini. Don't ask me how it was doing it.

I beat it by taking the hard drive out and putting it in a USB external eclosure. I then booted with it unplugged and plugged it in and quickly turned of an autorun that it had installed. Then I just ran the AV program and it cleaned it out. Trickiest virus I ever saw.

I then had to go back in and "unhook" the command prompt window with a program I got online . Once I had the command prompt (dos) window I typed in a line to only re-install the restore part of windows. WHAT A BITSH. That's about when I started thinking of cutting peoples fingers off! :) Anyway , live and learn. The whole episode forced me back into a good habit of having a completely functional backup with boot capability and all the OS and program files working. Next time I just unplug the bad and install the good and Fdisk the virus infected drive and reclone the good system drive. Maybe a 1 hour deal instead of a ten day nightmare.

ten days of hell... geesch

i had an even worse dilemma when a lightening strike
reset my monitor to shut off after you booted up
in less than five minutes so then you couldn't
see the screen to do anything....

i incorrectly determined it was a virus
so i was totally looking in all the wrong places
forever...........and fudged the whole thing up
right down to the bios.....

it was at that point i spoke to someone in tech support
who was excellent at their job that told me
what to look for and i finally figured it out.... :smash:

Make sure your antivirus and pc is up to date.I've picked up quite a few over the past few weeks.Run Malewarebytes Anti-Malware if you have it also.If you don't have it you should get it.It's a free malware scanner.It's removed a few tricky ones for me.I have multiple programs running with shields but the virus still find a way in.I just reformatted on Friday for the first time in a couple years on this PC.I thought I was virus ridden but turns out windows update crashed my rig with it's new version of IE8.After reformat I had the same problem when updating the browser.Driver_IRQ_less_or_equal something like that in BSOD on boot up.Could run safe mod and restore.I use Firefox she uses IE.I'll just run an older version of IE for her until I can figure out the problem.This internet isn't safe anymore.