We’ve always been a relatively large fan of the Comodo Firewall Pro software, not only because it is 100% free but also because of its award-winning reputation. The new version pulls out all stops bringing full support for both XP and Vista 32-bit and 64-bit versions! After playing with this for a few hours I would have to say that they did it again … they created another amazing firewall that has won my heart, and my computer. We’ve got a ton of screenshots for you at the end of the article, so make sure you stick around.
Before I get started I wanted to send out a quick warning to everyone running both Vista and Avast! antivirus. There seems to be a critical issue with Avast! that prevents Vista from loading at startup, and in order to uninstall Comodo you’ll need to boot into safe mode. Updating to the latest version of Avast! will help ensure that Vista can load properly, but the startup time will be significantly longer than normal. For a status update on this issue keep your eyes peeled on this post in the Comodo forum.
I finally ended up getting Comodo Firewall Pro installed after that little ordeal with Avast!, and aside from that rather critical bug the program is stellar. During normal use of my computer Comodo only consumes 3.5MB of my memory, which is amazing when you compare that to some of the other firewalls out there. And I ran several bandwidth tests both with and without the firewall enabled, and I came to the conclusion that the firewall had very little effect on the speed of my Internet.
At first I wasn’t too sure about the redesigned interface, but it is definitely starting to grow on me. The old one was much more vibrant and lively, but the new one makes Comodo feel more like a professional app. And the popup alerts will surely grab your attention.
Personally I’m the type of user that prefers to see what Comodo is doing, and I want to see any alerts that it feels would be good for me to scan. When finishing up the Comodo setup process it will ask whether you want to run the advanced firewall filled with all of the alert goodness, or whether you just want the basic protection where it does most of the authorization itself (there is a screenshot of this below). If you’re installing this for someone else who isn’t tech-savvy I recommend sticking to the basic mode so that they aren’t bombarded with popups that they don’t understand.
Alright, lets take a look at some of the new security features, and then we’ll move over to the plethora of screenshots!
–New Features–
- Clean PC Mode – This feature takes a profile of a new PC and all the applications in it and registers them as safe. Then, any new application trying to gain access to a computer will be denied access to the PC unless the user expressly permits it since it is assumed to be potentially unsafe. This feature prevents most types of malware and rootkits from getting installed and keeps a new PC virus and malware free.
- Defense+ Host Intrusion Prevention System – Defense+ is one of the most advanced Host Intrusion Prevention Systems available in any desktop security program. This new addition helps to secure desktops and servers against rootkits, inter-process memory injections, key-loggers and more.
- Advanced Network Firewall Engine – New features such as Stealth Mode to make your PC completely invisible to opportunistic port scans; Wizard based auto-detection of trusted zones; Password protection of firewall settings; Diagnostics to analyze your system for potential conflicts with the firewall and much more.
- Security rules interface – Users can quickly set granular Internet access rights and privileges on a global or per application basis using the flexible and easy to understand GUI. This version also sees the introduction of pre-set security policies which allow you to deploy a sophisticated hierarchy of firewall rules with a couple of mouse clicks.
- Training Mode – By selecting ‘Train with Safe Mode’, the firewall will learn how your trusted applications work and silently create rules for them.
- Application Recognition Database – Includes a proprietary and continually updated white list of nearly 1,000,000 safe executables. The integrity of every executable is checked against this database to determine whether or not it is genuine before it allows it installation rights. Firewall Pro will alert users of potentially damaging applications before they are installed.
–Screenshots–
(Click to Enlarge)
Hmm, no wonder my new PC booted slower than usual when I installed Avast! I’m heading over to the Avast forums to find a solution…it boots so slowly now…
Thanks for this post. I’ve always-ed used Comodo.
Hopefully Avast! or Comodo will be able to come up with a solution to the problem. It’s rather disappointing that the slow down happens.
AVG AV Network edition has a firewall integrated.
Do you think it may use more system resources?
Hard to tell unless you install it without the firewall feature i suppose.
BTW, how can i tell if my PC is 64 or 32?
Which processor you use?
I’m testing it now at XP….
Very nice so far, and it doesn’t even need forwarding for utorrent….
This defense+ feature looks pretty nice!
Good job comodo!
It has little to do with your processor unless you are running on an older system. It has to do with your Windows operating system. If you are on a store bought system, you can pretty much assume you are on 32bit (unless you paid extra and had to tell them you wanted 64, which I doubt if you are asking what it is.)
Pretty much everyone uses 32, except folks like me that want to run 4+ gigs of memory. You need Windows 64 to do that.
Pardon my ignorance but is this a virus program as well? I’m using Zone Alarm pro with virus protection and I am looking for another program that is less of a resource hog…and free!
It’s not a matter of what type of processor you use, it all depends on what version of Windows you have installed. The odds are pretty good that if you never installed Windows yourself on your computer that it probably has the 32-bit version.
No, this is not an antivirus solution. It is a standalone firewall.
It requires XP with SP2.
I’m still debating on this as i find my notebook performs better without SP2
Yay, finally:)But I am using the new NOD32 security center:\ Not sure which firewall I want lol.
While I’m glad some of you appreciate the new version. 3.0 I think they could have added a few more tweaks to the application. Oh like maybe a way to switch between GUIs say if you liked the look of the ‘old’ interface Ver. 2.4 and below verses this phony Vista Basic look for 3.0 I see part of the old interface made it into the final.
I tried the beta versions and was sadly disappointed intrigued with the lower memory foot print usage (2.4 version can be at times both a CPU and Memory hog, cmdagent.exe silly at times) but can’t get pass the sorry look of the new interface. (choice is great, duh)
Then there is the sorry shield (Task-bar Icon) with the chevrons running in different directions. The old school ‘Arrows’(In the Box) were ‘perfect’ and not distracting to the eyes that should have been Comodo’s signature. Sure these are all aesthetics but if it’s not pleasing to eyes and functional as well why load it.
I read over in the forums (Comodo’s) how folks found the old GUI complicated (Busy). I’ll bet their still having fits about the new one. The pop up alerts always appeared visually damaged on my system (Would not render correctly) Version 3.0 only. So I’ll be sticking with the old product till they ‘wake up over there’.
The above items were brought to their attention through a sent email. To which they responded ‘interesting points’ please join our forum. Duh!
I’m glad you enjoyed the new version Ryan, but it will have to refine itself a lot more before I’ll be upgrading to it.
I am glad to have something that works on Vista 64 finally.
Got it installed, but had lots of problems gaming in BF2, kept getting kicked by punkbuster because it was being blocked. Need to figure out some settings, but made me look like a cheater to all those that saw me kicked.
I may try it out sometime, as I’m using 2.4, but I’m becoming more and more tired of these kinda pop-up warning apps, asking me every second about what my computer’s doing. Like the whole defense+ thing. It sounds like the Zone Alarm one, where it asks you if you are going to allow outlook use of the keyboard. That’s about the time I walk away from the PC, thinking all this security is going overboard these days.
Is there such a thing as too much security? To the point where it owns the user? You bet your sweet bot-bot there is.
I will have to wait until there is a fix for this problem before I try CPF 3.
Hey – let us know when you find that COMODO and AVAST have worked out their differences and they can work in harmony.
Eset (who are the creators of NOD32) is new to the market, and while I would like to think that their firewall it top notch I’m sure it still needs a lot of work. After all, it took several versions for NOD32 to become a top-of-the-line antivirus application.
I think the new interface just takes some getting used to, along with the new icon. I wasn’t too fond of it myself, but after using it for the last week or so I’ve really come to love the new interface. It’s easier on the eyes, and seems extremely well organized.
You can flag applications as “trusted” so that the firewall is much more lenient with them. That’s what I do with some of my programs, and it solves many of the problems.
They realize the warnings and popups can get tedious, and that’s why they offer the “basic” option during setup as I mentioned in the article. That will hide nearly all of the popups and make it a lot more transparent for the user.
Will do, but I have a feeling it will be awhile. It seems as though neither company wants to take the blame for the compatibility issue. People in the Comodo forums say to head over to the Avast forums, and the Avast forums are directing people over to Comodo. It seems to be a big mess.
Thanks