I installed the latest Comodo Firewall Pro 2.4 a few days ago and noticed a weird problem. After some undetermined time, my desktop went crazy, firefox fails to properly render, and the same goes for windows desktop and other programs. Firefox had an error when I tried to open it after closing it but I didn’t catch it in time. I am using it on Windows XP SP2 with all the latest patches. Laptop is HP DV6000, Intel core 2 duo, 2GB RAM, etc fully stocked, wifi connection to DSL router. I am logged in as admin. Other security program installed and active include AOL active virus shield. I also have ad-aware SE personal but it wasn’t running or active at the time of the problem. Windows firewall was turned off also. Yes I have several custom rules since I have a fair number of applications on my system.
Since I disabled Comodo couple of days ago, I haven’t seen the problem reoccurred but I will continue to monitor it longer to make sure it isn’t some other program, this is just an educated guess on my part. Has anyone else seen a problem like this?
I’ve not seen anything like this happen before AFAIK, caliwildman. However, I do know that a lot of users report various strange issues with AVS and CFP (the Kaspersky scan engine apparently doesn’t play nicely with a lot of firewalls).
This apparently incompatibility (for some users) may be part of the cause of your problem. Of course, if you’ve been using the two for some time without issue and there haven’t been any program updates, that would probably rule out that possibility.
I have been using AVS for awhile now, 6 weeks or so I think, without issues, even with windows firewall, so I m not sure what is going on. I never expect an incompatibility to manifest at this level because it appears to have corrupted a windows system file meant for rendering everything on the desktop.
What LM is referring to is a incompatibility between the KAV engine (as AVS has) & all versions of CFP (2.4 & 3.0 Alpha). Incompatibilities can manifest in all sorts of ways. The desktop rendering failure might be because something is either chewing up all the CPU and leaving nothing for Windows (so, Windows didn’t get around to refreshing the desktop) or even causing direct problems with the shell and/or system drivers.
Ok got it. In that case, I guess I should uninstall CFP (:SAD). In the 2 days I have stopped using CFP, I haven’t seen the problem happen again and it would normally have happened within 2 days. This is too bad because I like CFP a lot but I need AVS more.
It’s your choice what applications you use, caliwildman…
The Kaspersky scan engine may be topnotch among the free AV products, but there are some other good ones as well. However among free firewalls, well there really aren’t any quite like Comodo… http://www.matousec.com/projects/windows-personal-firewall-analysis/leak-tests-results.php There are some other ones that are quite good, though, so you do have options.
If you decide not to use CFP, we wish you the best of luck with the firewall of your choice. If you have any questions we can help answer, we’ll be happy to do so.
LM
PS: You mentioned not having the conflict/issue when using WinXP Firewall; that is not surprising as that application does not offer much in the way of strong protection - both the AV and CFP install deeper in the system and CFP certainly provides a much stronger level of protection, just as it’s supposed to.
