PC Tools Firewall V7 Beta

wolfstr · 02. Aug 2010, 01:15 PM

Then new PC Tools Firewall V7 Beta has been released http://www.pctools.com/forum/showthread.php?t=67028

MidnightCowboy · 07. Aug 2010, 01:31 PM

I'm still searching for the ideal firewall for Windows 7. So far Zone Alarm has been the only one to match my desired criteria for doing an informed job without attempting too much. This has always been the major issue with "do it all" types in that by trying to protect against everything including user error they usually end up causing this very thing on their own

I say "informed" because the Windows own firewall is as much as most folks will ever need, it's just that the third party alternatives let you know more easily about what is going on.

Having had a quick look at the PCTFW beta I have to say that it does now look like it's been written for W7 and not an adapted carry over from XP like a lot of the others still are. They've tidied up the GUI in general, improved the alert content and presentation, and made the whole thing more pleasant to work with. The advanced settings are also a lot more easy to manage from the individual application settings without having to resort to a choice of "Expert" or "Normal" at the outset.

So far nothing has slowed down (or stopped working

) so now I'll also try this on my spare W7 system which I've purposely removed part of the RAM from to simulate a lower powered machine. This one also has only a single core processor. The firewall install process was slow enough on my 4G dual core so it will be interesting to see how it loads into the other which hopefully I can get round to later this weekend.

wolfstr · 07. Aug 2010, 08:38 PM

OK MC. Let us know how it works out for you please. I am in XP Pro SP3 and have run the gamut of different firewalls. As of right now I am using Outpost free and seems to work well with avast. Actually so do did Private firewall. But...I do have my eye on PCTFW beta but am a bit apprehensive

I think maybe I'll wait 'till it gets out of beta and rid itself of a few bugs. Regarding Outpost...I'm not sure if they are going to keep updating the free version. I kind of would like to use one that updates once in awhile like PC Tools or Private.

MidnightCowboy · 07. Aug 2010, 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wolfstr

OK MC. Let us know how it works out for you please.

Well, the best laid plans of mice etc... didn't quite work out for me because the original memory in my spare machine died so I had to replace it with the upgrade. This has given me a 2G capacity rather than just the 1G I was hoping for and although memory is cheap these days I can't justify this expense just to create a lower powered test machine. If you saw the state of the rest of it you'd understand what I mean

Should have been RIP about two years ago and I can never understand why the thing keeps working. Anyhow PCTFW beta now installed in that too and running fine. It's only the first day I know, but this beta seems more stable than their last final. Maybe this is the Symantec influence at work here? They should know these things having bought out probably the best firewall ever made and then scrapping it.

The alerts are "colorful" but clear, stealths everything at GRC if you're into that sort of thing and so far no annoyances except a repeated popup for Sandboxie every time I start Firefox. Maybe there's a exclusion setting somewhere but I don't want to mess around with the advanced settings until I've given the default setup enough time to run.

wolfstr · 08. Aug 2010, 03:23 AM

Thanks MC. Yes, Sygate was my all time favorite. I think a lot of people were thinking PCTFW would eventually suffer the same fate because of Symantec. Hopefully it doesn't. Anyway, I think I will give the latest PCTFW beta a go.....I can always revert back to Outpost if need be.

MidnightCowboy · 09. Aug 2010, 12:46 PM

Only issue so far is the repeated alerts for Sandboxie "binaries" and some Windows services. Just an annoyance though really and no faults at all with the program. My second machine uses a wireless broadband modem which earlier versions of PCTFW would not recognize but functions perfectly with this beta.
Attachment 647

Terarus · 09. Aug 2010, 12:49 PM

Installed onto my xp, took a while to install at first and it froze my pc at first initiation. But after a reboot, it seems to be working smoothly. It doesnt seem much different to v6 in terms of the look and feel and it remains light and easy to use.

The HIPS doesnt seem to have changed much though. I tested it using comodo's leak suite and scored 230/340 on first attempt. However, when combined with a LUA account it easily hit full marks. (With automatically allow apps with valid digital signatures unchecked)

MidnightCowboy · 09. Aug 2010, 02:16 PM

These are the changes actually listed by the vendor for this beta version:

1. User modes have been removed - there is no Normal/Expert user modes anymore. It's one mode that is simple to understand for normal user and has advanced options for advanced users.
2. We have added more Extensive Security Permission (ESP) - Improved the produce Self Protection.
3. Improved the 'look and feel' of the Application rules.
4. More informative pop ups.
5. Different 'look and feel' for Profiles (not so different just a little).
6. Network shows adapter information and adapters can show which network is connected to them.
7. Fixed BUGs of previous version

wolfstr · 09. Aug 2010, 02:47 PM

Damn lol. I had my response all typed out and clicked the wrong button and deleted everything. Guess old age does that to ya.

Here goes again.......
So far With PCTFW beta no major problems except some minor ones while using Sandboxie. While using firefox sandboxed browsing some of my usual sites some completely freeze or lock up while sandboxed in firefox. Example, AOL mail. As soon as I click on that site everything locks up and I have to quit sandboxie to return to desktop. I experimented by disabling various firefox addons but still no luck. So I open up PCTFW and played around with Advance Packet Filtering settings. I noticed it was set on High. So I set it on medium. Tried sandboxie again...same problem...AOL mail would freeze. X'd out of sandboxie and set the PCTFW packet filter to Low ...back into sandboxie and AOL mail....and Voila ....no freeze up or lockup. Was able to access mail while in sandboxie with PCTFW filter set on LOW.
Now I wanted to see if the same thing would have if I sandboxed IE. I set the packet filter on High....went into AOL mail, IE sandboxed and no problem. Was able to access the mail account even though the Packet Filter was set on High as opposed to using firefox sandboxed with filter set on Low.
Also want to add, when I am not using sandboxie, while browsing my regular safe sites I use DROPMYRIGHTS program with firefox with addons keyscramble, wot, noscript, popup blocker, and refcontrol. And I have the PCTFW beta packet filter set on High with no problems at all.
I hope you all were able to follow all that

Bottom line is that I like PCTFW beta and I think I will keeping it. Looking forward to it coming out of beta.
P.S. I think Avast and PCTFW are nice combo.

MidnightCowboy · 09. Aug 2010, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wolfstr

So far With PCTFW beta no major problems except some minor ones while using Sandboxie.

I was able to replicate this too so there is an obviously a conflict with Firefox when used together with Sandboxie. Been using IE8 myself for a while and Chrome Plus (not sandboxed) so I hadn't encountered this issue.

02. Aug 2010, 01:15 PM	#1 (permalink)
wolfstr Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: The Great White North Posts: 226	PC Tools Firewall V7 Beta Then new PC Tools Firewall V7 Beta has been released http://www.pctools.com/forum/showthread.php?t=67028

07. Aug 2010, 01:31 PM	#2 (permalink)
MidnightCowboy Site Manager Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: South American Banana Republic, third bunch from the left Posts: 9,250	I'm still searching for the ideal firewall for Windows 7. So far Zone Alarm has been the only one to match my desired criteria for doing an informed job without attempting too much. This has always been the major issue with "do it all" types in that by trying to protect against everything including user error they usually end up causing this very thing on their own I say "informed" because the Windows own firewall is as much as most folks will ever need, it's just that the third party alternatives let you know more easily about what is going on. Having had a quick look at the PCTFW beta I have to say that it does now look like it's been written for W7 and not an adapted carry over from XP like a lot of the others still are. They've tidied up the GUI in general, improved the alert content and presentation, and made the whole thing more pleasant to work with. The advanced settings are also a lot more easy to manage from the individual application settings without having to resort to a choice of "Expert" or "Normal" at the outset. So far nothing has slowed down (or stopped working ) so now I'll also try this on my spare W7 system which I've purposely removed part of the RAM from to simulate a lower powered machine. This one also has only a single core processor. The firewall install process was slow enough on my 4G dual core so it will be interesting to see how it loads into the other which hopefully I can get round to later this weekend. __________________ Knows nothing and cares even less

09. Aug 2010, 12:46 PM	#6 (permalink)
MidnightCowboy Site Manager Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: South American Banana Republic, third bunch from the left Posts: 9,250	Only issue so far is the repeated alerts for Sandboxie "binaries" and some Windows services. Just an annoyance though really and no faults at all with the program. My second machine uses a wireless broadband modem which earlier versions of PCTFW would not recognize but functions perfectly with this beta. Attachment 647 __________________ Knows nothing and cares even less Last edited by MidnightCowboy; 05. Oct 2010 at 10:24 PM.

09. Aug 2010, 02:16 PM	#8 (permalink)
MidnightCowboy Site Manager Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: South American Banana Republic, third bunch from the left Posts: 9,250	These are the changes actually listed by the vendor for this beta version: 1. User modes have been removed - there is no Normal/Expert user modes anymore. It's one mode that is simple to understand for normal user and has advanced options for advanced users. 2. We have added more Extensive Security Permission (ESP) - Improved the produce Self Protection. 3. Improved the 'look and feel' of the Application rules. 4. More informative pop ups. 5. Different 'look and feel' for Profiles (not so different just a little). 6. Network shows adapter information and adapters can show which network is connected to them. 7. Fixed BUGs of previous version __________________ Knows nothing and cares even less

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07. Aug 2010, 08:38 PM	#3 (permalink)
wolfstr Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: The Great White North Posts: 226	OK MC. Let us know how it works out for you please. I am in XP Pro SP3 and have run the gamut of different firewalls. As of right now I am using Outpost free and seems to work well with avast. Actually so do did Private firewall. But...I do have my eye on PCTFW beta but am a bit apprehensive I think maybe I'll wait 'till it gets out of beta and rid itself of a few bugs. Regarding Outpost...I'm not sure if they are going to keep updating the free version. I kind of would like to use one that updates once in awhile like PC Tools or Private.

08. Aug 2010, 03:23 AM	#5 (permalink)
wolfstr Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: The Great White North Posts: 226	Thanks MC. Yes, Sygate was my all time favorite. I think a lot of people were thinking PCTFW would eventually suffer the same fate because of Symantec. Hopefully it doesn't. Anyway, I think I will give the latest PCTFW beta a go.....I can always revert back to Outpost if need be.

09. Aug 2010, 12:49 PM	#7 (permalink)
Terarus Senior Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 157	Installed onto my xp, took a while to install at first and it froze my pc at first initiation. But after a reboot, it seems to be working smoothly. It doesnt seem much different to v6 in terms of the look and feel and it remains light and easy to use. The HIPS doesnt seem to have changed much though. I tested it using comodo's leak suite and scored 230/340 on first attempt. However, when combined with a LUA account it easily hit full marks. (With automatically allow apps with valid digital signatures unchecked)

09. Aug 2010, 02:47 PM	#9 (permalink)
wolfstr Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: The Great White North Posts: 226	Damn lol. I had my response all typed out and clicked the wrong button and deleted everything. Guess old age does that to ya. Here goes again....... So far With PCTFW beta no major problems except some minor ones while using Sandboxie. While using firefox sandboxed browsing some of my usual sites some completely freeze or lock up while sandboxed in firefox. Example, AOL mail. As soon as I click on that site everything locks up and I have to quit sandboxie to return to desktop. I experimented by disabling various firefox addons but still no luck. So I open up PCTFW and played around with Advance Packet Filtering settings. I noticed it was set on High. So I set it on medium. Tried sandboxie again...same problem...AOL mail would freeze. X'd out of sandboxie and set the PCTFW packet filter to Low ...back into sandboxie and AOL mail....and Voila ....no freeze up or lockup. Was able to access mail while in sandboxie with PCTFW filter set on LOW. Now I wanted to see if the same thing would have if I sandboxed IE. I set the packet filter on High....went into AOL mail, IE sandboxed and no problem. Was able to access the mail account even though the Packet Filter was set on High as opposed to using firefox sandboxed with filter set on Low. Also want to add, when I am not using sandboxie, while browsing my regular safe sites I use DROPMYRIGHTS program with firefox with addons keyscramble, wot, noscript, popup blocker, and refcontrol. And I have the PCTFW beta packet filter set on High with no problems at all. I hope you all were able to follow all that Bottom line is that I like PCTFW beta and I think I will keeping it. Looking forward to it coming out of beta. P.S. I think Avast and PCTFW are nice combo.