Refined for 2010, the Security Starter Kit will ensure that your sanity lasts way longer than your resolutions through a collection of must-have programs to protect your Windows computer.
In our six categories this year, we offer the core essentials of Antivirus and Anti-spyware, as well as ancillary but important categories such as In-browser Security, Firewall, Encryption, and Parental Control. If you're looking for more than security, there's also our Windows Starter Kit. Essential utilities have earned their own kit, too: the Windows Utilities Starter Kit.
Firewall
Comodo Internet Security
Comodo Internet Security merges Comodo's well-respected free firewall with its antivirus program. While the AV is good, the firewall is better, and thankfully users can choose to install each component separately. It's eradicated most of its resource-hogging ways and gives users what they want: a flexible yet simple firewall that's great for beginners but also provides a smorgasbord of information and plenty of options for advanced users.
Online Armor Free
Online Armor has a professional feel that is typical of freeware versions of advanced security tools, pared down to its firewall options. The installation is blazingly fast, taking under 30 seconds from double-clicking on the installer to running the firewall. Once installed, Online Armor defaults to running its installation wizard, which it calls a Safety Check.
In addition to the firewall, which configures as much as possible during the start-up wizard so you're not bothered later, Online Armor comes with a keylogger guard, tamper protection, malicious script and worm protection, and limited autostart protection. The paid versions offer more, such as antivirus and anti-malware protection, phishing filters, online banking protection, and e-mail filtering. Even with these limitations, if you're not satisfied with the much-improved Windows firewall, Online Armor defends you from a wide range of sophisticated attacks.
