PCTools Firewall Plus - a free firewall, is it right for you?

review from ClifNotes, Mar 2007, permalink Personal Firewalls

PCTools is the home of the popular anti-spyware program called SpywareDoctor. When I saw that they had a free firewall program, I just had to try it out. So far, I'm pretty pleased with it. I'm not an advanced user when it comes to personal firewalls, but I know how they are supposed to work. This firewall hasn't been bombarding me with constant questions and it does pop up when I expect it to. After a few days of use, it only bugs me when I run a new program that tries to access the internet.

I saw one person's review at Download.com who said it was the world's most perfect firewall because it wouldn't allow him to connect to the internet at all. I had to laugh when I saw that, and I'd still be laughing if I hadn't accidently done the same thing myself. You should never block the Windows Socket Services. In my desire to limit Windows access to the internet, I did this, and the next time I rebooted I couldn't connect to my home network. Go ahead, you can laugh at me now.

I saw a few other people complain that the program was too complex or buggy for new users, but this only tells me that YMMV (your mileage may vary). In other words, it's a new program and it may not work well for everyone.

click to expand picture
Quote from the website
PC Tools Firewall Plus is a powerful personal firewall for Windows that protects your computer by preventing unauthorized users from gaining access to your computer through the Internet or a network. By monitoring applications that connect to the network Firewall Plus can stop Trojans, backdoors, keyloggers and other malware from damaging your computer and stealing your private information.


http://www.pctools.com/firewall/
requires Win2000, Win2003, or WinXP


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