Comodo Firewall Experience

[aztony]

About 3 weeks ago, based on the results of a series of Metasploit tests done by a knowledgeable member at Wilders, I decided to install Comodo firewall to beef up my XP rig as we approach its EOS. The last time I'd used Comodo previously was maybe 4-5 yrs ago. The one thing I found quite a put off was that to get the firewall only you must download the CIS installer and then do a custom install to select the firewall component. The same would be true if you only wanted the AV component.

I experienced no issues with the installation. On the restart this firewall sprang into action blocking everything that was trying to load. Once i got a handle on that I set about configuring it. Now I am not new to firewalls, but where one could have the typical firewall pretty much configured in a few hours, or less, it took me a few days to get the setup to my desired objective, and the next couple of weeks fine tuning it. That meant spending a lot of time with Event Viewer. Unless you can live with its default settings this is not a set and forget firewall.

Another thing that was a turn off is the bloat. Even after opting out of Geek Buddy, the AV, and a number of other extras, it leaves a sizable footprint just shy of a 100MB. But once setup where you want it Comodo firewall is a Pitbull. This is one aggressive firewall. (no complaints here).

Unfortunately, on the XP rig, I experienced a number of intermittent freezes, and the browsers (regardless of which one used) took forever to open. So I decided to return to Online Armor as this P4 with low resources ran much smoother with OA. I also installed Comodo firewall on my Win7 rig and it is smooth as silk there.

Now I read on some forum, CNET's I believe, a number of users complained about not being able to get Comodo uninstalled, or having to jump thru hoops to do it. My experience was as follows: I 1st booted to safe mode to attempt to uninstall there. But the uninstaller would not run in safe mode. So restarted the PC. After Comodo loaded I closed the GUI from the sys.tray and then went to task manager to terminate its running processes. I then tried to uninstall using the program's installer. A message on screen said I can't run the installer in safe mode, or there is a problem with the installer, to contact my computer admin. I tried Windows add/remove program option. Same thing. Also tried Revo, same thing. I rebooted, closed the GUI after loading but left the other processes running. I then tried the Comodo uninstaller once again and it started the task without a hitch.

Just to see if I got the same problem with the Win 7 PC, I duplicated what I'd done the 1st time, which was closing the GUI, terminating the running processes before attempting to uninstall. This time the screen message said I did not have a requisite authority level to proceed, and to contact my computer admin. I clicked on the the Revo icon on the desktop, no authority to open it either. I clicked on the Panda icon, no authority to open it either. In fact, no program I tried to access would allow me to. I am the administrator, and I was beginning to get pissed. Until I realized what Comodo was doing. If for any reason this firewall is compromised, and or, forced to shut down it locks every program from being accessed. My ire gave way to deep respect. Privatefirewall did the same thing, except it let you know the moment you tried to shut it down in the task manager by locking the system.

My overall experience with Comodo firewall, I'm still assessing. But so far it is a keeper on my Win 7 rig.

 

[Amiga500]

I have used the comodo firewall since my first day of using a windows based computer.(version 4).

I have never had any issues at all with comodo but ive had endless problems with others
It simply works and i see no reason to use any other.

I am in no way being critical of other firewalls but comodo has been the only one that simply does his job with no problems and it has got lighter with every new release.

The comodo forum has always been very helpful and comodo staff always post in there with any help needed.

I 100% recommend comodo firewall although different configurations may incur different results.

 

[NSG001]

@aztony, sorry to hear about the problems.
Only used their security suite on vista and win 7 and had absolutely no problems.
Currently have cis 6.3 tweaked working on a win7 machine flawlessly.
As Amiga500 has said post your findings to their forums and sure someone will help you troubleshoot.

 

[aztony]

@aztony, sorry to hear about the problems.
Only used their security suite on vista and win 7 and had absolutely no problems.
Currently have cis 6.3 tweaked working on a win7 machine flawlessly.
As Amiga500 has said post your findings to their forums and sure someone will help you troubleshoot.

There is nothing to troubleshoot. I simply recounted my experiences with the firewall on my XP and Win 7 systems. The old P4 XP pc did okay with it, but I did not like that it would freeze intermittently. That didn't happen with Privatefirewall or OA. But I am impressed with this firewall's array of features and its highly configurable nature, and as I said, I am keeping it in place on the Win 7 pc where it has been flawless.

 

[Littlebits]

aztony you are not alone, many other users also experience the same issues. Users that have used Comodo for years have got accustom to the problems and can easily work their way through them but first time users get a lot of surprises that they don't know how to deal with.

Comodo needs on-going tweaking and manual maintenance to keep everything running smoothly which make it a turn off for many users.

Thanks.

 

[aztony]

aztony you are not alone, many other users also experience the same issues. Users that have used Comodo for years have got accustom to the problems and can easily work their way through them but first time users get a lot of surprises that they don't know how to deal with.

Comodo needs on-going tweaking and manual maintenance to keep everything running smoothly which make it a turn off for many users.

Thanks.

Agreed. It can be daunting for first time users who are inexperienced with security programs. While not an expert, I am quite knowledgeable. Even so, early on, I spent a good hour or so pouring thru the help file. This firewall is not one to be assuming/guessing with.