[Dragonfire24]

Question: What is a good firewall that I can use?

More details... I need a new firewall. One that is compatible with XP and also will allow me to use the Apache web server. I want something that is proven to be effective and well cheap or free would be great. Also light and easy on the system resources would be ideal.

I have been using the System Mechanic Pro suite by Iolo for several years now (Worked perfectly without any problems at all for about 3 years.) The other morning I came home from work and there was an update to the new product version so I updated. Once the antivirus loaded up it flagged part of the firewall as a trojan. This is where everything started...

I had to uninstall everything, which left my PC crippled, unable to go online due to "little or no connection". A netsock reset was able to restore that. But I was still left with problems with the program itself. This is where it gets more interesting. I found out then that Iolo is discontinuing its firewall, but they have no other solution available in its place. They never even sent me an email before about the product being discontinued... Irreseponsible corporate hijinks...


Further more, because of the problems that just popped up I had decided that it would probably be better if I started over with my operating system again. Thank goodness for Acronis... After backing up everything I wanted, I had a fresh start from when a back up made in May. (Of course I made a new backup now, after Windows was fully updated and I installed some of the more important programs I use.)

So that's my situation :D

[waller540]

Kasperskys firewall is very good in my opinion, even if it is a bit overpriced.
I usually choose a firewall/antivirus combined. There's some good information here:
http://www.antivirusreviewers.com