Give your overzealous security software the boot

About five years ago I installed the family version of Symantec's Norton Internet Security software on one of my PCs, rendering the machine unusable. Not only couldn't I get any access to the Internet, it was impossible to uninstall the program. I ended up having to reinstall the operating system and all my applications--except Norton Internet Security. At the time I said I would never again install a Symantec security program on any PC, but about a year ago I bought a PC that came with 90 days of Norton 360, and the program won me over. When the free trial period was over I even coughed up $80 for a year's subscription. Apart from the frequent nags about my need to back up (I prefer to use my own manual backup strategy), I'm happy with the Norton 360.

Now the other side of the coin: I've used CheckPoint's ZoneAlarm firewall--both the free and pro versions--for many years, and on many different PCs. The program would occasionally prevent a legitimate program from performing some operation, but on those rare instances I merely shut the firewall down long enough to complete the task, and then turned it back on. No problem.

Until this morning, that is. I spent four hours trying to update a Web site via ftp, only to be told that access to my ISP's ftp server was denied. I tried using the WS_FTP Pro ftp program, Windows Explorer, Firefox, and even a WYSIWYG Web editor, but nothing could get through to the server. I could access the remote system on another PC on my network, but I wanted to avoid having to move the files in question to that PC to complete the transfer. Just last week I had ftp'ed some files without a problem.

After several calls to my blameless ISP, a tech suggested that I uninstall ZoneAlarm. Not just shut it down (which I had already tried), but completely uninstall the app. This struck me as somewhat extreme, but after spending so much time trying to figure out the glitch, I thought it was worth a try. And what do you know: as soon as ZoneAlarm was off the system, I could access the ftp server without a hitch.

Customize your firewall's ftp access using these settings in the free Comodo Firewall Pro.

I suppose I could try to figure out why ZoneAlarm all of a sudden threw a monkey wrench into my server access, but it's quicker and simpler to rely on another free firewall. My ISP's tech guy said he trusted the firewall built into XP, which he claims Microsoft has improved tremendously. But its protection is one way: it doesn't monitor traffic from the PC to the Internet, just stuff inbound. Instead, I loaded the free Comodo Firewall Pro, which also scans your system for viruses, spyware, and other threats. Since I use a remote-access service to log into this PC while on the road, I chose to review requests for incoming connections rather than to block them automatically, which means I'll have to click through a few more pop-ups. But for me this is a small price to pay for the added convenience of remote access.

After you install the Comodo firewall it starts to train itself.

After you install the program and reboot, Comodo "learns" your system, running through the standard processes and services. It also learns as you open your browser and other network-connecting applications for the first time. Once its training is complete, you can click the Comodo icon in the system tray to view your blocked and allowed connections, as well as other traffic data. You also get a snapshot of your running applications, and your choice of five security and alert-frequency settings.

Get a snapshot of your system security on the Comodo Firewall Pro's summary page.

So what did my morning in tech-support hell teach me? First, that my ISP's tech support staff is worth their weight in gold (even if I did assume at first that it was all their fault). Second, that I'm glad there's a myriad of free options when it comes to PC security software. Third, that things change quickly in the computer world, and it doesn't pay to be glued to your assumptions. And fourth, if a program encounters a problem accessing the Internet, check for a conflict with your security software before you get on the horn to your ISP's tech support.

Tomorrow: tweak Windows XP for optimum performance.

[clagan]

Yes I have had all the problems you mentioned but also with Comodo. The documentation is not clear enough. I was unable to update my website, scan my photos etc after I installed it. I finally resolved all the problems, but I could have done without them in the first place. To use your example above... just how many users would know what the hell 'Allow outgoing FTP-PASV requests means'. Keep it simple, it's better that way. By the way I spent my life designing software.
Gerry

[doodler2]

You are absolutely 100% correct. I'm an "average" pc user and lived for a month with Comodo Firewall Pro. The horrors of that nightmare, including the computer surgery it took to get that monster off my system, are documented in my comments elsewhere in CNET.

[wirickal]

I just tried this program and it found all sorts of "viruses" unfortunately there are no viruses in these programs I know they are all old dos configuration files and unable to support a "worm.LJacker.win9x.........." this program is typical fare of the garbage scare ware out there pretending to be security software. Don't use it don't pay for it and by the way try to google that LJacker .4352 typical scareware.

[john55440]

"I'm happy with the Norton 360."

I'm happy with Norton Internet Security 2008. In it's default mode, it's a nonchatty program that just does it's thing in the background, but is highly configurable if you want to make adjustments. As for performance, I use it on my 2002 computer with only 512MB of memory, and have no complaints.

[ejevo]

It sounds like ZA was broke, rather than being overzealous. As others have said here, there are many different security products that have their own little foibles. Rather than indict ZA, I think you found out it is an only mildly great product, rather than a spotlessly great product.

I personally have used eEye's Blink Personal for AV, Spyware, & FW duty, although it isn't the most user-friendly item to configure. But it's free for a year, and free is usually good.

I've also used McAfee's Internet Security Suite and Trend Micro's Internet Security. Both are good products, but suffer from some minor (depending on your need) issues. McAfee's product liked to lose it's authentication for updates on occasion, and Trend Micro's technical support was MIA when emailed.

[ScotJP]

I found Norton 360 to be a resource hog and the backup feature buggy and slow. I've since installed Kaspersky 7 on two machines and it works great.

[Woodmon]

It would be good when referring to specific security utilities, or applications of any kind, that you would provide the specific application version number or the version of Windows operating system.

And it was stated "suppose I could try to figure out why ZoneAlarm all of a sudden threw a monkey wrench into my server access, but it's quicker and simpler to rely on another free firewall".

So is this what you recommend, when you have an issue with any application, rather than trying to resolve it, instead just toss it?

If you are married I hope your wife does not read your column.

Wow! If I did what you do I would end up with zero applications and no operating system installed on my PC. Actually I would have no PC. Nor an automobile or a home.

So you still have no clue on what was causing your connectivity issue and refused to research your issue? And when you come across a problem with Comodo Firewall will you just toss that too?

You've been dwelling in your cubicle for far too long.

[Jonathan Rothman]

I usually don't respond to either the articles or comments posted here, but I feel compelled to relate my own experience with "Comodo" firewall. I installed it a number of months ago and, at first, it seemed ok. Then one day, for no apparent reason, it completely "froze" my computer!!! I was totally unable to resolve the problem, other than to UNinstall it!! By then, ZoneAlarm issued a version compatible with Vista and I've been using it ever since. I've had NO problems with ZoneAlarm -- it does exactly what it's supposed to do and does it extemely well! "Comodo"? No thanks; I'll stick with a proven tool like ZoneAlarm