14 DAY TRIAL // Despite the fact that we're living dangerous times, especially when having a computer connected to the Internet, I don't feel the need to use a firewall yet. My world order is about to change each time I get a new good firewall to review, and today that time has come again...
Comodo Personal Firewall is a firewall that's completely free and claims to be a good one too, but I can't say that at this point. All I can tell you now is that its latest version is 2.3.6.81 and the setup package has 7.9MB in size. After finishing the install process, the only "difficult" thing to do is registering for a lifetime license, but this is completely free, so no worries! If you are going to wonder why this program comes for free, you can find the answer to this question on the producer's website, because now we have more important things to do...
First of all, the interface of this program deserves some attention. Did I say "some attention"? No, no, Comodo Personal Firewall's interface will get all your attention, I am sure of that. Today seems a good day, because I had a good looking program already, and this one is the second. Again, the only word that can describe this program's interface is "flawless", and I am not in a good mood today, this is the reality - excellent graphics, shiny and well organized, this is the long version of the story. OK, so we have a free firewall that looks good, but is it able to keep up with its commercial competitors? This is what we should find out next, so let's get the show rollin'!
I'll get to the features part right away, but I must tell you what amazed me the most before all that. This program passed the PCFlank Leaktest, and the only thing that you need to know about this test is that only two of the main commercial products were able to pass, these two being Outpost Firewall Pro and Tiny Personal Firewall 2005!
As most firewalls do, Comodo Personal Firewall may be a little annoying in the first minutes as it keeps displaying popups that ask you to decide what to do, but this time, the firewall can recognize over 10,000 applications that are known to be safe, so instead of waiting for the popups to jump on you, just scan for the known applications and the program will set up things the right way. Is this cool or what?
It was a pleasure to see that Comodo Personal Firewall was recognized by the Security Center as the system firewall and so you can check its status using this Control Panel applet.
The three major areas of this program are Summary, Security and Activity. While the first one's purpose is obvious and has only one screen, the remaining two require some attention...
The Security area has five screens that can be accessed using the menu placed in the left part of the main window. The Tasks available in the screen with the same name allow you to define trusted/banned applications, add/remove/modify security zones, define a trusted network zone and scan for known applications, the action that I just told you about. Don't worry about the ease of use, because I am not a firewall expert either, but I managed to use all these tools easily.
Of course that if you ever run into any bigger problems, a comprehensive Help file that's only one click away can save your day, so don't hesitate to use it!
The Application and Component Monitor modules allow you to set control rules for the applications and modules, and I have to mention that the last one includes a Learn Mode that makes the firewall learn and build the component profile of the PC, so whenever an allowed application attempts to connect to the Internet, Comodo Firewall will add all the components it loads to the control rule list, and each of these components will inherit the applications 'Allow' status by default.
The Network Monitor helps you to add, remove and edit network filtering rules easily, while the Advanced area includes Application Behavior Analysis, Advanced Attack Detection and Prevention and a Miscellaneous section that includes alerts and general program settings.
At last, the Activity area allows you to check the currently active connections and their details, as well as the detailed activity logs. Do you need more? In this case, give this program a try and you'll see that Comodo Personal Firewall is just enough, and maybe even more!
The Good
Comodo Personal Firewall is a fast and reliable firewall that looks great and comes for free. Add the excellent features and comprehensive documentation and you obtain the best free firewall around!
The Bad
It was really strange to see that I was able to close this firewall easily using the Task Manager, although this shouldn't be possible...
The Truth
I am really impressed, and despite the fact that I am still not crazy about using a firewall, I will write down this name in my freeware hall of fame: Comodo Personal Firewall.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
