Comodo Firewall Newbie

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I’ve been having a Vista adventure that has involved Zone Alarm and Firefox, but I won’t refer you to those threads. I have just now installed the Comodo firewall product in my Vista OS and I’d like to have a verification that I’m understanding what’s happening. I was expecting the “training” chores that I’ve been through with ZA but Comodo seems to be a little bit trained already and that’s what I’d like another Comodo user to verify. The first thing that happened after installation is a couple of popups requesting approval for Avast and then SpywareBlaster to access the web. That’s OK and I expected that would happen, so I gave my OK to both.

What surprised me is that I next (after the required reboot) ran my MailWasher, Firefox and Thunderbird apps and didn’t get ANY popups asking permission, so I was immediately wondering if “outbound monitoring” was functioning. As you can see in the attached screenshot it DOES appear that Comodo “noticed” those apps being run. So, it seems that Comodo operates on the premise that anything I execute is assumed to be OK and anything that executes without my intervention (like the Avast/SpywareBlaster example) requires my approval. Have I got the essence of it?

If so, that should make the lengthy “pain” of a training time a lot less and I’ll find out more as tonight wears on.

BTW, in its initial spyware scan of my two drives, Comodo found three bad guys on my XP drive that both AdAware and Spybot did not report to me!

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Al,
Are you sure that Comodo Firewall is Vista compatible?

The last time I checked ( not too long ago ) it said that they were “working” on a Vista version, that would be out “soon”.

Supposedly, I was on their notify list to let me know when the Vista version was ready. Not have heard anything from them, I assumed it was still a work in progress?

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Note: the system requirements at Firewall 3.0 for Computer Security – Overview. Vista is now supported.

Joe

--Joe

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Joe & AL,

Ok for Vista, so it says.

So much for their automatic notification. I’m DL it now and will give it a try. Thanks.

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Yeah Bob, first thing I checked! Here’s a clip from their web page and the release notes for this version only mention fixing something in the Vista 64-bit arena. So, I didn’t track how far back they added Vista.

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I’ve been using Comodo Firewall on Vista for some time, I disable their Defence+ option and initially had Comodo in training mode and Comodo quietly ran in the background with very little user interaction required. I now run it in safe mode and only occasionally get messages from Comodo.

I am now waiting for Comodo Anti-Virus 3 which is due to be released on beta very soon. It is planned to have a short beta period before going final.

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I disable their Defence+ option

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[/indent]May I ask why, Tony? I understood it to be a malware protection feature and NOT an AV scanner. Am I correct in that understanding? Since the initial scan found things that my two stalwarts did not, I figured on letting it run for awhile to see what happens. Do you have any bad experiences with it? Since you say you’re waiting for their AV product, I figure you’re satisfied overall.

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I have Windows Defender running and for me it was overkill. Running scans with Defender, Spybot and Lavasoft Ad-aware have never picked up anything more malicious than tracking cookies for several years. When I first installed Comodo Firewall I let it run the scan but it found nothing.

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Thanks, that’s cool. I think I’ll let it run for awhile to see what happens. I was only concerned to make sure that it didn’t conflict with Avast. One of these days I’m gonna give Windows Defender a spin too!

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I’ve been running Comodo ever since I got my new laptop back in April (that came with Vista installed). Never had a problem with any anti-virus I tried – real easy to use.

The difference between Genius and Stupidity:
A Genius knows their limits.
- Albert Einstein

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I guess this is a result of not understanding the difference between training and safe mode, Tony. Mine is in Safe Mode which is what it defaulted to when installed.

Well, as much as it may sound like it, this post is NOT a complaint about Comodo! It’s more of a surprise after what I experienced the first day or two. I’m satisfied that it’s “watching my back” but today, the number of warnings was a tad on the high side and that’s a conservative statement. I save most of my software installs or updates for the weekend, after I’ve done my weekly backup images. Today I’ve had software to install in both XP and Vista, such as Adobe Reader 9, Paint.Net 3.35 and a couple of others. When I did so, the Comodo popups began to fly like mad. It seems that every little built-in subset of the installers triggers a warning, so I just about had to keep my mouse on the OK button and click away! One of ’em (see attached) was even the result of “accessing the screen.”

It may be that I could avoid some or all of this by changing the mode of Comodo’s firewall, but I may be a glutton for punishment too. It’s a learning experience to see what it’s watching for.

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Al,
I have Comodo installed now on the Vista side of the house and so far it seems to be running OK.

Question?
I noticed that Comodo did NOT turn off Windows Firewall. I had to go into the Services list and manually disable it. I would have thought that Comodo would have done this automatically. Did it react that way when you installed it

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Doggone it, you’re right Bob. Old age slipping around in my brain again for I meant to mention that when I started this thread. I also had to turn off the Vista firewall but I didn’t go to Services to do it. I just visited the Security app of Control Panel and did it there. I just now checked to make sure it stuck and it looks like it has. The top part of this clip is what the Windows firewall says, BUT the bottom (below the red line) is from the Security summary screen. Thanks for reminding me of the oversight!

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I have installed COMODO [Thanks for the heads up Al].Seems to be going ok.I have turned off Vistas firewall.Do I need to turn defender of as well?

Gus

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No, there is no need to turn off Windows Defender – it is a different kind of application (it protects against spyware and similar malware).

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Hi Al,
When you’re on an install mode and have lots of apps to update/install you may want to check off that third selection I’ve highlighted. That will leave Comodo in installation mode where a lot of your clicks won’t even be asked for.

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Thanks Bob. I saw that box down there and was tempted but nervous. If I use it the next time I run an install, does that setting stick for everything or will it go back to prompting when it finishes the install?

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That setting will stick for 5 minutes, then Comodo will prompt you to turn it off or continue.
Works sweet. Btw I’ve recently also switched to Comodo from using the Windows default firewall after being dis-illusioned with it defaulting to inbound protection only.
In my search for other firewalls I re-visited Outpost Suite Pro (I still have a valid license for that one) but was also turned off when part of my task bar ‘disappeared’ on my laptop (i.e. battery meter, local network, sound control) and the constant attention ‘it’ required. Uninstalled that one real quick.
Loaded Comodo (had run it before on my XP) and am still pleasantly surprised with it’s versatility. I don’t mind ‘training’ a firewall so long as my decisions for certain software ‘stick’.
So far on Vista SP1 am a happy camper with Comodo, Defender, Avast

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I had ZA for a year recently and it offered both a “self-training” mode where it said it would learn to recognize your normal usage patterns and not ask annoying questions right away, and the “full paranoia” mode where it asks about everything. It may be that when you installed ZA the self-training feature did not exist or was not the default or that you disabled it. However, it does seem to be the way most software firewalls now start off. It is inherently less secure to assume that the initial period of use is malware free, but I think the vendors view this as a necessity to have new “average” users accept the product. If “power” users want to answer more questions, they can change the settings.

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I don’t ever remember any self-training mode of ZA, Jefferson, but I NEVER objected to the popups from ZA asking my permission to run something! They didn’t happen that often and frequently were the result of a program having been updated, etc. In spite of all the naysayers (Woody included) I’d still be using ZA if the thing worked OK in Vista, but it apparently doesn’t, as my last few successful days without it can attest!

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