[sluggo123]

I am having a problem trying to locate a free anitvirus and firewall that will run on Vista 64. Has anyone using Vista 64 found some good malware and a firewall that works?

[mich2212001]

Avira AntiVir Personal can run Vista 64bit (it's free)
download from here http://download.cnet.com/Avira-AntiV...-10322935.html

[mich2212001]

not sure about firewall, u can use windows defender & windows firewall

[pcdebol]

Avast antivirus gets good reviews. Zone Alarm free will get the firewall job done. Threatfire for behavioral detection. All are free and with this setup you are protected almost as well as the top pay security suites.

For 40 dollars US you can get Bit Defender internet security which may be the best one out there for 3 machines. It does everything these three do then goes a little further. File vault is cool if you have a few docs you do not wish people to see. Gamer mode gets rid of those pesky firewall problems when you play games. I just switched from norton and am very impressed. Unlike that other company I will fail to mention this one just works with no headaches and is worth a few bucks.

[sluggo123]

Unfortunately Avast and ZA and most others will not run Vista 64 Bit, they do fine on Vista 32. Every thing in the future is going to 64 bit because of the increased memory which I need as I work with images. But as the transistion begins on finds some things that just will not run on 64 bit. I have downloaded and will try COMODO Firewall and Antivirus. Thanks for your help.

[pcdebol]

You may be right about Zone Alarm their road map said they would support 64 bit Vista by Nov 2008 but their web site is not clear on weather they do or not. After digging around on the site the free firewall does not support 64 bit the fine print is enough to kill a person. All of their other products support it though.

Avast has supported 64 bit Vista since the day 64 bit Vista was released. January 07. I have been running it on a 64 bit Vista machine since then because it was the only product to support 64 bit Vista at that time.

Here is a tip for you when looking for 64 bit supported software. I've been running it for two years now. If the software says it supports Vista and has nothing written specifically saying 32 bit only it is supposed to support both 32 bit and 64 bit Vista. Requirement to put Vista logo on software. Actually I have found that everything that ran on 32 bit Vista runs fine on my 64 bit machine after patching the software with the exception of utilities, drivers and 16 bit apps of course. If you run into a driver crunch with some old hardware you can try the 64 bit XP/server 2003 drivers they work about half of the time.

[DerekIT]

With a typical NAT router combined with a good antivirus (Avira as mentioned before) and windows firewall/defender you should be just fine for normal home use.

[JamesFrance]

I am pleased to see you are trying Comodo, which supports 64bit and many Comodo forum members are running that.

The antivirus now has around 2.5 million signatures, but the best part is the Defense+ HIPS which should stop anything installing unless you allow it, so my av component has a very easy life.

If you need any help with configuration do let us know and also it would be good to hear how you get on with it.

[sluggo123]

21 Feb 2009 I attempted to put ZA on my new Vista 64 bit, it said no can do. 32 bit only. Strange, when I tried Avast, it said the same thing. I was deeply disappointed for I have been usng those two for years now. But the Free Comodo sure is looking good so far.

[techservices24]

You can try Avira antivirus and Comodo firewall.
Both of them are quite effective software programs.

[sluggo123]

Originally Posted by pcdebol

You may be right about Zone Alarm their road map said they would support 64 bit Vista by Nov 2008 but their web site is not clear on weather they do or not. After digging around on the site the free firewall does not support 64 bit the fine print is enough to kill a person. All of their other products support it though.

Avast has supported 64 bit Vista since the day 64 bit Vista was released. January 07. I have been running it on a 64 bit Vista machine since then because it was the only product to support 64 bit Vista at that time.

Here is a tip for you when looking for 64 bit supported software. I've been running it for two years now. If the software says it supports Vista and has nothing written specifically saying 32 bit only it is supposed to support both 32 bit and 64 bit Vista. Requirement to put Vista logo on software. Actually I have found that everything that ran on 32 bit Vista runs fine on my 64 bit machine after patching the software with the exception of utilities, drivers and 16 bit apps of course. If you run into a driver crunch with some old hardware you can try the 64 bit XP/server 2003 drivers they work about half of the time.

I ran into a problem with COMODO at first, then when I looked again I had downloaded the 32 bit version, went back and found the 64 bit version and it worked fine. May have had the same problem with Avast, but when I tried to download the free version of ZA and it said it would not work on Vista 64 bit version, and I got the same message from Avast I did not look to see if there was a 64bit version.

Just as well, Avast let many virsuses and trojans through. I always had to run it everynight and it would find what it let slip through while the computer was running. Most free versions are like that now and they tell you up front if you want constant and full protection you must purchase the software. You must have the paid up version to actively stop much malware. I did not like that.

Comodo looks as if it will be very hard for any malware to get through. If may try the the Avira antivirus suggested here. I have not heard of it before. I do not like suites as one of the two items, i.e. firewall/antivirus is not so good while the other is great, so I like to mix them up getting the best of both worlds so to speak. Avira will be worth investigating for sure.

Thanks for the tip on the 64bit XP server drivers.

[sluggo123]

Originally Posted by JamesFrance

I am pleased to see you are trying Comodo, which supports 64bit and many Comodo forum members are running that.

The antivirus now has around 2.5 million signatures, but the best part is the Defense+ HIPS which should stop anything installing unless you allow it, so my av component has a very easy life.

If you need any help with configuration do let us know and also it would be good to hear how you get on with it.

James,
Thanks for your advice and input. I will try to let you know how Comodo works out. Right now it seems to be working OK. I just love the way ZA used to work before it was sold to the new company that owns it now. I see now some people are reporting many of the computer crashes and blue screens may be caused by the new ZA. Some have said after changing it for a different firewall they seldom have those things happen. I do not know if that is so or not.

[JamesFrance]

I used to run Zone Alarm until 2 years ago, but when it updated I kept getting BSODs, so went looking for a replacement and found the original Comodo Firewall 2.

Since then I have been a beta tester for them and never once experienced a BSOD even with early versions.

Since running Comodo Internet Security from the first beta in I think last October, I have run occasional scans with Superantispyware and Malwarebytes and neither of them has found anything at all except one false positive from Malwarebytes which they removed. I too had problems with Avast finding things it had let slip by and changed to Avira which seems excellent.

If you mix the Comodo firewall with another antivirus, your Defense+ configuration would be different and you would get more popups to answer. The complete CIS program with default configuration should ask very few questions.

[sluggo123]

Right now I am getting a 30 or 40 pop ups in Comodo wanting to know if it should let this program or that program change the registry or talk to someone online everytime I am trying to work with downloaded programs. Most of them I have no idea what to answer.

[JamesFrance]

If you are downloading programs you should select 'installer or updater' and then approve installation mode.
That should stop the popups for the installers.