Settin up a firewall for 64-xp

b0bd0d

I got 64-bit XP running on my desktop, and the free firewall I'm using, Ghostwall,doesn't really block alot of stuff. Automatic updates, dialing home, all that stuff is still getting through. Is there a better firewall out there? Also, how does one go about configuring a firewall? What ports do I want open, what ports do I want closed? Got some good websites out there?

Shark_MegaByte

Free version of ZoneAlarm.

It's not that configurable as far as opening and closing ports, but it goes through a learning stage where it asks about everything that tries to access the internet, so if you want to manage auto-updates, etc. manually... just tell it to deny permission, and don't check the box for "always do this for this program".

Ayulin

You could try Comodo Firewall Pro (it should be freeware; it's been a while since I checked). It worked pretty well for me, but isn't as intuitive as ZoneAlarm (I always had issues with ZoneAlarm and BitTorrent). You can do a lot more configuration of ports and program permissions than ZoneAlarm, and their forums are pretty good for finding out how to work with it.

This is only if you absolutely need to have outbound filtering, though (I'm guessing you do, since you mentioned dialing home and such). If you only need inbound filtering, the built-in Windows Firewall is just fine.

EDIT: Just checking their website now, and they do support both 32-bit and 64-bit XP/Vista (you need to download the appropriate file, though). It seems like they're offering it with free antivirus too, but you could probably disable that feature if you don't need it.

AngelHedgie

Ayulin wrote: »

This is only if you absolutely need to have outbound filtering, though

You always absolutely need outbound filtering. Always.

proXimity

Unfortunately, ZoneAlarm isn't available for 64 bit XP or Vista, otherwise I'd recommend that. I ran into the same problem, and ended up just using the built in Vista firewall.