[bellgamin]

Tiny Personal Firewall (TPF) is said by many to provide equal or greater protection than Zone Alarm. Yes, TPF is FREE for personal use.

Check it out at...

http://www.tinysoftware.com/pwall.php

Be sure & look at their comparison chart. It's the best one I've seen for giving you a quick overview of all the major firewalls - prices, program sizes, capabilities, etc.

TPF really IS a much smaller program than any of its competitors -- hence its name: "tiny."

TPF is MUCH more configurable than any other firewall, & thus has the reputation for being a bit more complicated to set-up. They have an extensive On-Line User's Manual. I skimmed thru it & I THINK I could set it up & use it okay. Oh... & TPF does have a Wizard for making filters when undefined situations are encountered.

Why am I checking out firewalls? I now use Zone Alarm (ZA), and it works fine. Problem is, it's only a matter of time (I think) until hackers reverse-engineer entrances into the more popular software firewalls. Since ZA is THE most popular firewall, my guess is that it's gonna be a prime target (for the same reason that the Outlook e-mail client is the prime target for e-mail trojans, etc.)

I would appreciate your thoughts. Am I being too paranoid? Do any of you have experience with TPF? If so, what are your conclusions? Is it really as good as their website makes it appear? Etc etc....

Regards,
Bellgamin
=============
Como frijoles? (Spanish for How have you bean?)

[Sharon D]

I might check that out, bellgamin. When I first boot up, my system resources are at 92%. Right after I startup ZA my system resources drop down to 84% or so. That's quite a drop! sharon

[bellgamin]

I downloaded Tiny Firewall & did preliminary checks VERSUS Zone Alarm.

Tiny uses 3% of system resources. Zone Alarm uses 8%.

Tiny uses 4 files, 828K. ZA uses 224 files, 3.02meg

Tiny's "Rule-setting" Wizard pops up for new applications, ports, etc. It's easy to use, & you can tell it to remember the okay stuff. It also allows you to customize the rules. I am pretty much accepting the Wizard's suggested rules because I am tudumto do otherwise at this stage. On this basis, Tiny is easier to set up than ZA, so far.

Both Tiny & ZA get kudos by various reviewers, including the Leak Test at...
http://grc.com/

So far Tiny looks good. I hope others who try it will add their comments & conclusions.

[Sharon D]

Hi bellgamin. I downloaded and tried out Tiny and you're right, it uses few resources. The problem is I'm so used to ZA, and find it much more user-friendly. I just wish it didn't use so much resources. I had a lot of problems figuring out Tiny. Once you have it completely figured out give me a shout and let me know how it works.lol

BTW I still haven't gone through my favorite downloads, but when I do, you will be the first person to know! Have a good weekend sharon