[alicez]

I posted the following question on the PCT forum:
　
"We have been using PCTFW for many, many years on our WinXP, Vista and Win7 computers.
We heard somewhere that PCTFW might be discontinued for WinXP and possibly Vista and Win7.
Is that true?
(Hope we will be able to use if for years to come!)"
　
And received the answer:

"Yes, that's true. Any development on Firewall technology will be done ONLY in PC Tools Internet Security. Best Regards - Mikołaj "
---------------
Does that mean we will not be able to use the PCTFW much longer on the XP, Vista and Win7 computers? Or, we can continue to use it but there will no longer be any updates/upgrades, etc.?

As I mentioned, we have been using the PCTFW for many years and have been well pleased with it and would hate to uninstall.

If we had to uninstall the PCTFW from WinXP, Vista and Win7 computers, can anyone recommend a similar (Free) firewall that we could use to take the place of the PCTFW? Something not too difficult to install and set-up, etc.? (We are novices with computers, firewalls, etc.,)
Hope someone can help us.
Thanks for any help.
..

[dvk01]

I have removed your overlarge fonts to make it more readable

From what I can see and the usual thing that happens when a company discontinues a firewall is that it will still work in its present form, but you will not be able to upgrade it or reinstall it or get any updates to it.
You might still want or think you need a firewall on XP but in W7 the inbuilt firewall is more than sufficient

[alicez]

Is there a "best" free Firewall that I might use on my Vista and Win 7 (64-Bit) computers that would be compatible with most other programs and be fairly easy to set-up and use?

Some have suggested:

Zone Alarm Basic Firewall
Comodo Firewall
Online Armor Free Firewall

Since I am unfamiliar with firewalls, I don't know which to consider. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks for any help.

[TOGG]

My limited experience with firewall programs suggests that they can be problematical when first installed and that you have to be willing to study all the instructions and Help files to have any idea about what you're doing.

I'm using XP Home and had Zone Alarm for some time but can't now remember why I stopped using it. It was probably something to do with the bloat and complexity which occurs when the makers of such software are unable to resist adding extra 'features'.

I was happy with the basic Comodo firewall with its Defense+ feature enabled (which did require user input), but then it had an antivirus grafted on which had to be downloaded and then discarded during installation (or something like that). I was on dialup at the time and struggled with large downloads.

The Online Armor firewall I use now hasn't caused me any real problems but it can be a bit intrusive at times. Personally, I don't mind knowing what's going on and responding to requests for my input but, if you're a 'set it and forget it' user, you might want something simpler (assuming there is such a program). Hopefully, you'll get some more helpful suggestions.

[lunarlander]

I use Comodo at work and it has worked OK. It has an internal list of 'safe' programs and automatically allows them to connect to the internet. I don't particularly like this feature but it is simpler to operate. If it encounters a program which it doesn't know and that program wants to access the internet, it will then ask you. The Defense+ part of the program hasn't popped up any dialog boxes, but then, we have a strict usage policy and nobody is allowed to install programs on the PC, so I guess Defense+ has nothing to do.

[TOGG]

In case it's of any help to you, here's a link to an article I consulted when I was checking out firewall options;http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-firewall.htm

Despite the fact that it claims to have been updated as recently as 4th June, the information in the 'Quick Selection Guide' is well out of date, at least the details given about Online Armor are! The current free version is 5.5 and it updates itself daily.

Bear in mind that most of these testing or review sites, however well known, are just collections of opinions and are no substitute for trying things for yourself.