Comodo vs Windows Firewall

I was using NIS 2010 and then started using the 2011 version before I finally switched to MSE. Although in the task manager it uses around 65mb compared to about 10mb for NIS, the total amount of physical memory available is more with MSE (was NIS lying about it's memory usage?) and everything just seems smoother.


I've heard about Comodo firewall a lot and how great of a firewall it is, but I was wondering about how it's resource usage compared with the Windows firewall? I'm not sure how much memory Windows firewall uses, if someone could tell me, that would be great and I'd compare the two myself.

Thanks.

 

I'm sure Hungry Man will comment on this shortly since he uses Comodo as well and got me to use it.

Basically, Comodo is very light and effective. I'm not exactly sure how light but I can tell you it is lighter than MSE and does not cause any type of system slow down. I have uninstalled MSE and use Comodo Defense+ and Firewall as well as MBAM, (Which I use to scan at least 5 times a week) and Firefox with No script, WoT, Ad-block plus, and HTTPS Everywhere. I have yet to see my system lagging or acquiring a virus.

I would recommend it to you over the standard version of Windows Firewall anyday since it does a good job of sandboxing and keeping out the nasties you don't want to acquire.

 

What's Comodo Defense+? Is that their antivirus?

 

No, you have to purchase Comodo in order to get the anti-virus, although there is a free one year trial going on for that but I would pick MSE over the Comodo AV.

Defense+ helps sandbox programs and limits which programs can do what. Basically, with Defense+ you can sandbox Javascript and break malware.

 

I see. I'd rather just use their Firewall along with MSE...
Can you tell me how many MB Comodo is using in your resource manager? Thanks man. +rep.

 

In terms of MB Comodo only ever uses about 6MB of RAM. It also has VERY low disk I/O and CPU.

Firewall technology hasn't really changed much in the last decade. What Comodo offers over Windows 7's Firewall is that it tracks outbound requests as well as inbound, as well as the standard packet inspection services you'll find in most every firewall that's been updated in the 2000's. The GUI is also easier to manage and you can configure how "loud" it is and how often it alerts you.

What's so good about Comodo's Firewall is that it comes with Defense+. Defense+, in my opinion, negates the need for antivirus software.

To explain this you have to understand what most antiviruses are made up of. MSE for example is very simply, you have a blacklist and heuristics. Both of these react to files that are downloaded/ on your computer and it either says "this file is on my list of bad files" or "this file seems likely to behave badly" and then it decides what to do based on those two decisions.

Defense+ takes unknown files and sandboxes them. This limits what these files are able to do based on which sandboxing scheme you decide on. This allows you to run software that may be malicious but it won't infect your system. If you run the software and it's unknown it is first scanned, in the cloud, by Comodo's blacklist and heuristics. If the malware somehow isn't picked up by Comodo (it happens sometimes, though in my own tests very rarely) and it continues to run it is still stuck in the sandbox, which prevents it from seriously harming you. You can always delete that specific sandbox and its contents and that will remove the malware.

Basically, it comes down to this:

Antiviruses are bloaty and reactive measures. Defense+ is a HIPS (host intrusion prevention system) and it uses barely any resources.

EDIT: It is also worth nothing that you can force applications into a sandbox. I personally have Java and Digsby and IE9 forced into a Limited sandbox. This means if any of those applications are exploited the malware/ hacker will have to then try to break out of the sandbox.

Attached is a screenshot of my task manager showing resource usage of Comodo.

 

Well, I've installed it. Seems like a sweet piece of software. It is however using around 14MB for some reason...maybe it goes down with time?

What settings are you using? I've got it on "safe mode."

I did keep MSE installed but disabled Windows firewall...

 

It's maybe a bit higher because you just installed it and it's working on things? I don't know. I've never seen mine go beyond 8MB.

I have both my Firewall and Defense+ at Safe Mode. I have firewall alerts set to low.

Defense+ I have unrecognized files treated as Limited.

I have Java and Digsby sandboxed as Limited. I have IE9 and two Sony applications sandboxed as Partially Limited.

That's about all it takes in terms of setting up. You may have to whitelist some applications like games but otherwise it should work fairly quietly and effectively.

 

That's basically what I had, but I have sandbox disabled...

It's dropped down to 4MB...this is pretty sick software guys.... i'd rep you but stupid thing says I've given out too much..I'll hit you up tom.

 

Yup, Comodo is my favorite software for defending computers.

Play around with the settings and see what you like.

I used it with MSE for a while and then I realized that my antivirus was completely unnecessary.

I've literally downloaded dozens of malicious files and exploits and Comodo has prevented infection every single time.

To be fair I also have my default Downloads folder set to low integrity. But Java exploits were easy to deal with since I have java in a sandbox. I simply deleted the Java sandbox and that was it. Running scans with about 6 different very good scanners results in no results (I ran them in safe mode and normal mode just to be sure and even used RKill to make sure they were effective.)

 

To be honest I'd be fine not running any time of security software but I just prefer it...it's more of a placebo effect more than anything, so I think I'm going to keep MSE.

On that note, should I disable the defense+? Or keep it enabled? Or lower the threshold? Would it make any difference performance wise? Thanks man... (it let me +rep u )

 

Performance wise you'll see no difference with Defense+ enabled or disabled. It uses very little disk IO and RAM. I mean really really little.

Yes, I would keep defense+ enabled. I would also force Java into the sandbox as Java exploits are fairly common and very dangerous.

By automatically sandboxing unknown applications as limited or partially limited you stop malware from performing methods of infecting your system while allowing safe software to perform properly.

 

All credit goes to Hungry Man for showing me this and telling me about this but: here is the setup I use and enjoy using which Hungry Man has shown me.

Firewall: Safe Mode

General Settings
Create Rules for safe applications
Enable IPv6 filtering

Alert Settings
Low

All boxes checked

Advanced
All boxes checked except for Monitor NDIS protocols other than TCP/IP

---------------------------------

Defense+: Safe Mode

General Settings
Checked:
Create rules for safe applications

Execution Control Settings
Enabled
Everything checked
Treat unrecognized files as Restricted

Sandbox Settings
Enabled
All boxes checked

Monitoring Settings
All boxes checked

 

Forcing any applications into a sandbox?

 

I'm using the same settings now as Steven, do you recommend something else Hungry?

 

I would suggest two things -- the first of which I've personally seen stop malware from infecting my computer (through testing in VM's and my test Windows XP computer.)

1) Sandbox Java.exe, javaw.exe, javaws.exe for both program folders (86 and 64.) Java's a big vulnerability and I've found that Limited will secure your computer while still allowing Java applications to function. If you find a site not working you can try Partially Limited. This has shown to stop exploits on my computers.

2) Play around with settings and see what you can get away with. I've tried quite a few programs and some are able to sandbox and some aren't. The fact is that if an application CAN be sandboxed with no issues it should be, there's no real reason not to.

My internet-facing applications are Digsby, Chrome, and Java. I've found that I can't sandbox Chrome, which is fine because Chrome is already sandboxed but I CAN sandbox both Digsby and Java, which allows me to secure two of my three major security vectors.

Edit; To force a program into the sandbox simply go to your Defense+ tab, go to Computer Security Policy, and go to the "Always Sandbox" tab.

 

That's wrong. You can get Comodo Internet Security (CIS) which includes the Firewall, Defense Plus and the AV for free.

I've been using the AV and so far find it light and problem free. It also updates more than MSE

 

Ah, it seems you're right about that.

 

Isn't it just a 30-day trial? If not can you paste the link?

 

Not 30 day, there is a one year trial going around for that on the Comodo Forums. And hes right, the anti-virus is free off Comodo's official site.

Here is the one year free trial with Geek Buddy if anyone wants it:
CIS Pro (new package) free for 1 year!

However, If you want to use an anti-virus alongside Defense+ and the Firewall I would recommend something like Avast or Microsoft Security Essentials since they have better detection rates.

 

Comodo Internet Security is free and comes with the antivirus.

It does not come with Live Support or any of their guarantees.

I personally can not attest to Comodo's antivirus... I've never used it. I can tell you right now that Defense+ on its own is better than an antivirus in my own opinion. That doesn't mean you can't run it with Comodo's antivirus or anyone else's though. I just feel it's overkill.

CIS free: Free Download - The Best Firewall Protection and Anti-Virus Scan Software from Comodo

 

I just checked the logs and the av looks for an update about every 30 minutes. Of course that appears to be overkill, but it's actually updated the database twice since midnight.

 

As it should be. Making checks to a server won't slow your computer down and updates are important.

But, of course, I don't think AVs are necessary with Comodo, just helpful.

 

Eeh, When I go to Sandbox Java, Its telling me to select a path from my system and I can't find Java. Where is it usually located?

 

C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\bin\java.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\bin\javaw.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\bin\javaws.exe

C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\java.exe
C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\javaw.exe
C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\javaws.exe

 

Thank you, Going to do this now.

 

Quick question...
When you open up Comodo, it shows the firewall status and the defense status right... but does it also show the sandbox status? Or are there just those two. Thanks.

I ask because I could have sworn that previously it showed all three... but now it only shows 2 on my new install.... even though sandboxing is enabled...unless I've lost my mind. If it does show all three, any ideas why it doesn't for me now?

 

The sandbox option does not have its own separate tab/section. It is merged in with Defense+ since it is considered to be apart of Defense+

In the Defense+ tab, there should be two lines that read like this:
0unrecognized files observed/will be treated as Restricted
0 applications currently running in the Sandbox

You should be able to click the underlined numbers/word and access the options to change them individually. It has never shown all three individually for me in their own separate tabs.

 

Interesting. I'm going to give this a go!

 

Comodo from what I've researched it's top notch for something that's free. I just disable the sandbox thing and defense and boom I'm protected with little annoyances. The virus protection lasts forever and I don't know how good it is compared with the ones you buy but it seems at least good.

 

Is Comodo Firewall easy to uninstall?

I used Comodo a few years and it was a pain to remove at that time. Even after uninstalling, it didn't remove completely and still blocked applications.

Its been some time now though so I'd like to try it again and see whats it like now but I'd rather not go through the same difficulties in removing it like last time if I don't prefer it.

 

I just installed it to try it out and had no issues uninstalling it.

 

I don't use Comodo Firewall, i use Comodo Internet Security Premium Free - don't know if it is still free- it came with anti-virus too. It currently eats with cfp and command agent 4mb each but it varies with use.
It has been good in my opinion.

 

Thanks for going through that. I've decided to try out Online Armor instead and its turned out to be very good. I decided against Comodo for the time being as in both Comodo and Avast forums its been said there is problem between the firewall and Avast Web Shield.

 

Hey,
I am thinking about giving a shot to Comodo, since i heard lots of good things about it, but there is one thing bugging me. At this moment i have Zone alarm free firewall and i have one problem. I am using external wifi usb with antenna to connect to quite far internet spot. Now the problem is whenever i have ZA on i am losing internet connection for few seconds(which usually means disconnect from internet comunicators, streams, games), but when i turn ZA off problem disappear. I don't know what might be the problem, but just wondering if you might know if i will have similar issue using Comodo. Well it's unlikely that someone will know it, but i take a chance

 

No delete? .. I already answered.

 

Never liked ZA - too many popups and warnings and whoknowswhat. Windows firewall was always enough for me. But the ONLY firewall besides WF I liked was Comodo firewall. I suspected once that it was having issues with proxies I was using, but after some update it works well in all scenarios. I would install it and check for the issue you are describing.

 

But if you install Microsoft Security Essential, I think you do not need to turn on the windows defender. MSE does the same job as defender but more so it turns defender off. There is NO need for defender when MSE is installed

Defender is a cut down application that protects against some adwares & spyware but not viruses or most trojans. . MSE is a full fledged anti-virus program that is designed to protect you against everything.

Comodo firewall is quite good.

 

Windows defender is turned off when MSE or Comodo is installed. But not with some other popular antimalware though.

 

I love comodo always used it never had any problem's when uninstalling I use Comodo Internet Security Premium

 

Comodo is a very good firewall.
But I have eset smart security on my PC, it works as anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-malware and firewall.

 

looks like I'm going to try it as well.

for the time being, I've used AVG, ZoneAlarm, and currently Avira + Windows Firewall, but I'm tired of the ads that pop up from Avira lately, and frankly I never liked anything windows provided.

so where to download the version with the anti-virus included ?

 

I was under the impression that ESET firewall that comes with smart security was not exactly... good.

Speaking of firewalls... in relation to the thread topic, I would have to say that between Comodo and Windows firewall, both are pretty much equals in terms of protection, whereas Comodo might offer more control (though Windows Firewall seems to be able to block outgoing/incoming connections as well - at least in terms of programs).

For that matter, I would venture on to say, if you have a hardware firewall activated (the one located in a router such as ADSL), then you should be fine... and I personally see no need in installing extra programs that basically offer the same thing on top of the existing one that comes with the OS (unless the OS one is inadequate, but I think Windows 7 firewall is really one of the best you can get already integrated).

 

^To be honest, ESET is doing pretty well in a test like on-going 'real-world' AV-Comparatives 'Whole Product Dynamic Test'; link .

Comodo with Defense+ and the 'sandbox' option, offers a different set of security layers than Win7 FW imo.
Whether it's needed/desirable behind a NAT is a different question but a HIPS and sandboxing is separate from setting up FW rules.

 

Avira does Not like Comodo Firewall's Defense+ ... it throws a fit ... so I disabled the Defense+.

Q: I wonder if that is a Smart move though!?!?

G!