# Zone Alarm or Windows firewall?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zone-alarm-or-windows-firewall/373211>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [September 18, 2006, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zone-alarm-or-windows-firewall/373211 "2006-09-18T19:05:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zone-alarm-or-windows-firewall/373211/1 "2006-09-18T19:05:57Z")

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I am finally replacing my old P3 box with a band shinny new kick ass computer. I am on broad band.  
Which firewall do you think is best and why?  
I had issues once with Zone alarm and had to re-image my lasst machine and have been using the default Windows firewall since.  
Should I go ahead and use the Windows firewall for the new box, or go back to ZA?  
Or is there a third choice?

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**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zone-alarm-or-windows-firewall/373211/2 "2006-09-18T20:41:32Z")

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The Windows Firewall is next to useless. Definitely install Zone Alarm. The free version will give you a lot of protection, mostly by giving you control over what programs are allowed to contact the internet and when.

Are you using a router with a firewall? If not, you should.

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**Author:** ![Nightsong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nightsong/32/3083_2.png) [@Nightsong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightsong)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zone-alarm-or-windows-firewall/373211/3 "2006-09-18T20:47:53Z")

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I had Zone Alarm for a long time, but had issues that cropped up after an attempted upgrade and decided to try out Kerio.

So, here’s a third choice for you:  
[Kerio Personal Firewall](http://www.sunbelt-software.com/Kerio.cfm). You can download the full version as a trial, and if you don’t pony up the cash and plunk in the registration code in 30 days, it will revert to a free version where password protection and remote configuration is disabled. (And how often will a typical user use those?) It is a bit more chatty and complex than Zone Alarm though, so depending on your level of comfort you may find it a bit too much.

I’ve never liked the built-in Windows firewall: it let all kinds of programs access the network without warning me they were doing so. Ditch it, as it’s worse than nothing: it makes you think you are protecting yourself, but there are gaping holes in its armor.

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\<\< BUFFERS=20 FILES=15 2nd down, 4th quarter, 5 yards to go! \>\>

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**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zone-alarm-or-windows-firewall/373211/4 "2006-09-18T23:45:18Z")

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Yes, I have a hardware firewall (router)  
Kerio huh? I will take a look. Anybody else got an opinion?