PC Tools Firewall any good?

After looking through the "best free security software" sticky thread, I noticed that the two best firewalls are offered by Comodo and PC Tools, rated "excellent-100%".

After trying Comodo, I found it incredibly annoying and difficult to deal with. I was wondering if anyone here had experience with PC Tools Firewall Pro and whether or not its any good.

Thanks in advance!

 

I used it for about 2 months , for some reason it would not keep port open on utor and voip , they would close for no reason and no rule i made kept it open , now for free i use outpost free and ports stay open . PC tools fw is rated highly but just not right for my system i guess . and comodo , well that just farked my computer , never again

 

How about just leave it to Windows Firewall to deal with if you are not concerned about outgoing requests?

I personally stopped using any 3rd party firewalls after Vista.

cheers ...

 

i use comodo, and yes, it is annoying. but i am assured when i see the popup because i can see that it working and i am in control of what goes in and out of my laptop. windows firewall is off, i never knew that to stop anything going OUT. i have MSE on for viruses, having changed from avg.

 

read about what comodo has inside , not sure i like it
http://www.calendarofupdates.com/updates/index.php?showtopic=16253

 

Yeah Comodo added the sneaky installation of the ask toolbar recently in their last few versions, but anyone who doesn't bother reading(even if in diagonal) the installation(and therefore the chance at not having promotional softwares installed) process is kinda meh in my taste anyways.

 

Not really - and the link states the reason why - Beginners.

Yes, somehow there is logic - software is free, it needs to have some income, if just for webhosting... but still.

 

Beginners should be the people who read everything(note the key word "should"); it's pretty common logic to actually read up as much as you can(or at least try to get informed) when you're new to something. Of course, my mistake is assuming people are careful or that they care about what they're doing. After all, some people charge others for installing stuff so that's pretty much proof that some aren't cut out for it(or don't have the time but I'm not addressing those).

And yes there is logic I wasn't denying there wasn't. Freeware needs some form of support and promotional softwares like toolbars and such are common use. I mean, as a user, it's not asking a lot to actually check the things which are checkboxed during installation. Comodo or whichever freeware isn't forcing you into taking their promotional softwares or endorsement softwares, they're just pushing it in with their installation. The presence of such a thing as promotional or endorsements shouldn't be what makes you decide the validity of a product, the actual product should.

 

A SECURITY app that associates and installs crap ware from sleazy companies is no good in my book , and it was on PAID software not just free , on norton it can be disabled but you can not un-install it , I don't want or need Ask search assistant or toolbar . I just knew norton would screw up ! Lean mean software was just too good to be true !

 

@Forever_Melody: i can agree with the points here. yes comodo have to make money. but there is the option of disabling it, even though it is a small box. as long as there is a box to untick when installing any software i am ok.
i have never installed any software using 'auto' or 'quick' or 'easy'. always go for custom install.

 

@jerry: Well it all depends on your point of view I suppose. most MS products will want to endorse Bing, which is also an MS product, but I don't blame them for it. In the same line of reasoning, endorsement for other companies' products is part of the world. I haven't had experience with Norton so idk, but I know that the applications which I have used with endorsement products(CCleaner and Comodo namely) all had the option of not installing it during installation.

@gazzacbr: Yes, that's what I was saying. There's the option of not installing endorsement softwares during installation(even during the "easy install"). If the software still gets installed, it's kind of the end user's fault.

 

I use the built in firewalls in my linux distros and windows machines. The best firewall is a hardware firewall. (built in a reputable router) 3rd party software firewalls are only a nuisance and a headache when setting up VPNs or for everyday tasks. Not to mention they slow your network traffic horribly.