The free ZoneAlarm firewall program just received a welcomed update that includes Vista compatibility. To the best of my knowledge this is the first free firewall that has been released for Vista, although Comodo did just reach the alpha stage with their’s.
For those of you who think that Vista is secure and doesn’t need a firewall, you might want to rethink your decision. It is true that Vista has a built-in firewall which can protect users to some extent, but it isn’t much different than the one included in Windows XP. It is designed to be unobtrusive to the user, which is nice because you don’t get bombarded with confirmations, but at the same time a malicious application could easily circumvent the protection it enforces.
While I prefer Comodo over other free personal firewalls, ZoneAlarm might be earning a spot on my PC simply because it is both stable, free, and now Vista-compatible. Once Comodo gets a more mature Vista-compatible release (for me that means a Beta release) out I’m sure I will be switching back over, but you’ve gotta take what you can get. And it’s not like ZoneAlarm is all that shabby…it has gotten great reviews in the past, although Comodo has beaten them in several different areas when it comes to testing.
The free Vista-compatible ZoneAlarm actually isn’t available on their site yet, but it can be downloaded directly from the ZoneAlarm server or from our download mirror. I’m sure they’ll get the site updated shortly with the most recent version, but for now you’ll need to use those links if you want to give it a shot.
Download the Free Vista-Compatible ZoneAlarm Firewall (Download Mirror)
Source: Washington Post’s Security Fix
Thanks CoryC!
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Tags: Freeware, Newly Released, Software, Firewall
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The first “free” firewall for Vista that I was able to find some time ago was PC Tools Firewall Plus 2.0
Not necessarilly a recommendation on it or anything like that.
Seems to have some outbound firewall leak notification/protection. Not sure how it stacks up by the pros.
I’m using the Vista Windows firewall for now until a few more players get to the “free” firewall table…Comodo, Sunbelt’s Kerio. I’m tucked away behind a hardware router/firewall and not (at this time) worried about outbound connections on my systems…so Windows Firewall it is until the rest come out and get “vetted” by the pros…say at Matousec
Jetico was my favorite firewall for my XP systems…they have a new Vista version…alas, that version is not free…Jetico Personal Firewall v2
Nice to see ZA is finally getting a free Vista version build out the door.
Yeah, I’m still struggling with whether I want to install ZoneAlarm, but Comodo has given no timeline as to when they will be making future releases of their firewall. If it’s going to be a month before it hits Beta, I’ll wait, but anything longer than that I would rather be protected now. Of course I’ve gone several months with the Vista firewall so maybe I shouldn’t be so concerned.
Run…
Run as fast as you can.
Hey guys just wanted to let you know. I installed the new Zone Alarm Free Firewall for Vista Business 32 bit and I had some speed issues.
After I installed it I noticed that my web browser reaction times were slightly slower than usual. I tested my internet connected on speedtest.net but it was the same. I used both IE 7 and FF 2.0 and same difference. Even Google pages were slower. So tonight I uninstalled it and what do you know? My web browsing is snappy and nimble again. I have no idea why, but it’s true.
Also when I logged back into windows after uninstalling and rebooting my network connection fluxed on and off and I had to ipconfig /release & ipconfig /renew to fix it. Strange stuff.
I’ve had that happen with firewalls before, but I have been using the Zonealarm lately and haven’t really noticed a difference. I’ll definitely be on the lookout though. Thanks!
Awesome, let us know if you find out anything. In the meantime, I’m researching how to customize Windows Vista’s firewall options with the MMC console. Also, I’ll be waiting for a new ZoneAlarm version to see if it fixes anything on Vista.
Nobody familiar with the little tool called ´Vista Firewall control´ ? Add´s whats missing in Vista´s firewall, which is control over outgoing traffic.
Works like a charm!
Some people like a firewall with more advanced options rather than sticking with the built-in firewall.
Doesn’t work on 64 bit.. sad…