I’m in search of a new firewall. Zone Alarm has messed up one too many systems for me, and my favorite (Sygate) has become a part of Symantec.
I’m also switching over to Windows Vista (the 32 bit RTM build) and am looking for something to replace the Windows firewall.
Has anyone had any experiences with this scenario? Can you offer any advice on how to proceed?
TIA!
Hello and Welcome to the Comodo Support Forums,
Unfortunately at this point in time there is no Windows Vista compatible version of Comodo Firewall, Comodo Antivirus, Comodo Backup, Comodo Antispam, Comodo i-Vault, and Comodo Verification Engine. However this will change in the near future. You can expect Windows Vista versions of Comodo Desktop Security products late January to early February (around the public release of Windows Vista).
Justin
Thanks for the info. Are there any beta versions available that can be tested?
I’m uncomfortable running Vista with the Windows firewall and need something to fill the gap. I’m reluctant to “force” the installation of any firewall in Vista because of the problems that I’ve had with networking in the various beta versions.
Any experiences with forcing the installation on Vista?
I’d like to have beta version also to participate in testing!!
Sergey
Hello,
At this time I do not know of any Vista compatible beta versions that are currently available to the public. However just for you guys I have sent a message to one of the Firewall developers to see if the current Firewall Beta version that is public is compatible with Vista. I do not believe the current version is compatible with Vista but I would like to make sure before I say that it is not.
Thanks Justin!
The status of third party security products for Vista that operate at the kernel level (Firewalls and AV particularly) is still up in the air.
MS has designed Vista with a far more secure and robust kernel, to the point where third party applications CANNOT inter-operate with the kernel. Good for security, but mainly good for Microsoft, who, in a strange quirky kinda twist of fate co-incidence, just happen to be releasing a beefed up Windows Firewall and Windows AV product.
Now what are the chances of that? Who’d have thought it? (:LGH)
Ewen 
Ewen,
Even with that said I heard Microsoft still must provide security companies with Kernal access so other companies can build Vista compatible security products. Did this change?
MS opened core to 3. companies, but it is already too late since Vista is out.
Security companies are on their own, MS will not try to make it easy for them.
Even if CPF for Vista would be released today, it will take months to fix issues.
This is a difficult situation, if Microsoft opens the core to all companies then they risk their core being opened to hackers, if they open it to only a few companies then they risk other companies getting upset.
Hello,
I have just received a reply from one of the Firewall developers and he said that the current beta is not compatible with Windows Vista, however they are still working on it and a release will be put on the roadmap soon.
Thanks,
Justin
I would just add one small request. Can please let us know as soon as you will find out, what version should be Vista compatibile, so I will know, what should I be looking for. I know, that you can not say, that in 6 months it will be out, but at least, what version should be for Vista, eg CPF 3.1. Thanks forward.
Sure I can, also if you would like I can send you an e-mail with this information, just PM me your e-mail address if you would like me to e-mail you the info, otherwise I willl send a PM. If anyone else would like me to send them a message on this please PM me requesting I send you the information when it is available.
Hi, I registered just so I could post in this thread.
I’ve been running COMODO Firewall Pro 2.4.5.111 Beta for the past couple of days on Vista RTM, and it seems to be working properly. That is to say, the Application Monitor is working for me at least; I am not running the Network Monitor.
I had to run the setup EXE file in Windows XP compatibility mode, and Vista warned me during the installation about incompatibilities, but it installed fine and I am running it right now. I have noticed that when windows starts, it now takes a number of minutes to find my network, and COMODO gives me several popups about allowing “System” internet access, but that could just be a consequence of something not being configured right in the program (I’ve never used COMODO before).
If anyone would care to run this build in Vista and share your experiences with it, I would appreciate the feedback.
I’m willing to give it a shot - let me set it up and I’ll see how it works.
Not real good results, but I’ll have to work with it a bit more.
I installed the stable release 2.3.6.81 and the system wouldn’t boot - so I chose Lask Known Good Configuration and I’m back in. And, Comodo is functiong! Still haven’t checked the Windows Firewall, and Comodo is still downloading updates (but I’ll internet if I allow it - so I’m posting this before the confirmation dialog is clicked on).
Well, that was a colossal failure! After numerous reboots Comodo reported itself as working - yet all of the monitors were disabled when I accessed the main program. Attempts to enable them were fruitless - but it did allow me to activate! Also, the Windows Firewall was still on. I get error messages suggesting that the monitors will work if I reinstall the app.
But, the next attempt will be with the beta version that balmorro mentioned. I got the download from FileHippo and will install it now.
BRB with the results!
The beta works quite well. I can’t seem to enable the Network monitor - but it is accepting rules from me. Other than that the installation went well and I’m being deluged with prompts to allow this or that (firefox and system processes.
It appears that it may have broken the email scanner on my AVG Free antivirus - but a restart of AVG has fixed that. I’m enabling my startups and most commonly used apps one-by-one in order to ensure that I allow the correct things.
Well, that’s done - and everything still seems OK. I had to manually stop the Windows Firewall. I’m still having problems with the AVG email scanner. Any suggestions?
I’ve allowed all the .exe’s in the AVG folder and still get the error. It seems to occur when I get a prompt for “System” to access the internet. But it doesn’t give enough information to troubleshoot it.
Since I don’t allow my email to be automatically checked, I can work around this for now - but is a genuine PITA! Gotta love beta software!
Glad it worked for you (minus the AVG issues). Hopefully this will mean that an officially compatible version is right around the corner.