OOhmh and Riggers:
I appreciate your above responses, but I think we come from two different worlds (metaphorically speaking of course…and evidenced by the fact that I don’t have a clue what “pinch of salt” means). In my world, a computer is an occasional tool and an occasional source of entertainment. We’re not afraid of technology, but we also don’t live and breathe it day in and day out because our primary interests may be focused elsewhere. We realize we have a responsibility to maintain our pc’s, but the process should be relatively simple and pain free. That doesn’t mean we’re lazy or not willing to learn more (indeed, we like the challenge of understanding new things) but we don’t want a situation where a software program is so complex that we start feeling like we have to serve it versus it serving us. The motto in our world is “Keep It Simple”. We like that motto, not because we’re Simpletons ourselves, but because trying to live a good and decent life is already complicated and difficult, so let’s not add to it if we don’t have to.
In my world, Comodo Firewall Pro version 3 failed me. Don’t take offense. Your world may be, and probably is, very different from mine and you may consider CFP the best thing since sliced bread. But I think there’s a significant population that lives in my world too and, at this time, I’m doubtful that CFP is a good fit. So, for the italicized reasons expressed below (which is copied from a post I made elsewhere), I uninstalled (successfully I hope and pray) CFP v.3 a couple of days ago.
Of course, the goal is to avoid malware. It sounds like my now-current protection…Windows Firewall…is not very dependable. So I may end up crawling back humbly to CFP on my knees begging for forgiveness sometime in the future. I’m not too proud to do that if I need to and if that time comes then maybe some CFP improvements and simplifications will have been implemented. I’ll check in here every now and then to see if CFP has made their product easier for us dummies. In the meantime, best wishes.
PS - We will have to agree to disagree regarding the tone of one of the other mentioned posters.
[i]To preface my comments, I’m probably an “average” computer user (certainly not a programmer or techie or a power-user). So these remarks are for those who probably fall within the novice to average computer skill level range. My hunch is that is probably most of us.
I have Eset Nod32, Superantispyware, and Spybot S&D on my system, along with CCleaner. Without too much difficulty, I have been able to fairly quickly figure out the basics of these programs and then progress to some of their more advanced features. About a month ago I downloaded Comodo Firewall Pro (CFP) version 3 based on the positive things I read about i. I failed to pay attention to what critics had to say. My learning experience with CFP was quite an eye-opener compared with the other programs I just mentioned.
In my opinion, a good software program should meet four criteria: (1) It should do it’s job reasonably well, (2) It should have understandable instructions and be fairly easy to figure out the basics, (3) it should not have major bugs that will cause system crashes, and (4) it should have an effective uninstaller that will sufficiently remove the program without leaving residual traces behind that interfere with your system. The significance of each of these four criteria will likely vary depending on one’s skill level, but for the novice to average computer user, my guess is they are essential. I believe Comodo Firewall Pro version 3 fails at three of these four criteria.
Regarding (1), my understanding is that CFP does very well in leak tests. Assuming that is an accurate understanding, then kudos to them. Regarding (2), CFP may be effective, but I never could figure out how it works…not even the basics. The terminology and instructions are difficult to understand and unless one has a lot of experience with firewall and HIPS concepts, it will leave you feeling dazed. Regarding (3), the last straw for me in trying to cope with this monster was when I ran a routine CHKDSK (Check Disk), which is something I do every few weeks along with defragging just to keep my hard drive well-maintained. I don’t even know how to describe what happened next other than to say my system had a major crash and would not reboot, not even in Safe mode. My wife and I finally got it restarted using something called Last Known Good Configuration. I now read in Comodo’s forums that a major bug in CFP causes system crashes like this when the user is running CHKDSK. To the more sophisticated computer user, this may not be an alarming event. But to the more casual user, it’s downright scary and it becomes a guessing game of what to do next. Lastly regarding (4), it’s also acknowledged in Comodo’s forums that the CFP uninstaller is impotent. My experience was similar as those mentioned in those threads, i.e., the uninstaller is so poor and leaves so much of the program behind that Windows still thinks CFP is installed and you can’t reactivate Windows Firewall. I spent hours last night ripping a plethora of remaining Comodo entries out of the registry until I got bleary-eyed. Even that wasn’t good enough. I then had to run a command and delete some files in Explorer to apparently reset Windows Firewall. I’ll find out later today or tomorrow if I was successful (hoping and praying).
I believe no novice or average computer user should have to go through this, regardless whether or not the product is “free”. Indeed, the time I spent this past month coping with CFP cost a lot more than what I would have spent buying a more user-friendly firewall product.[/i]