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- Quick specs
- Price: Free
- Operating system: Windows Vista, Windows XP
- Date added: September 28, 2009
- Total Downloads: 1,078,338
- Downloads last week: 5,485
- See full specifications
- CNET editors' rating: stars
- Average user rating: stars out of 375 votes
See all user reviews
CNET editors' review
Reviewed by: CNET Staff
This freeware firewall won't replace user vigilance, but intermediate users will appreciate its configurability. From the primary interface to the packet content logs, simplicity is the key to PC Tools Firewall Plus Free Edition.
You don't "set and forget" any good firewall. This application makes it easy to set filtering rules, provided you know what you're doing. That's why we don't recommend PC Tools Firewall Plus Free Edition for novice users. This program expects you know the uses of UDP, ICMP, ARP, TCP, and a few other computer protocols. However, adding a new filter is as easy as answering a few questions in a wizard.
There are numerous filters preset to block many known problems. You'll only find a brief explanation for each, so you'll need to research elsewhere anything you don't understand. This application's Help file is a simple quick-start guide. Novice users will be overwhelmed and advanced users underwhelmed, but intermediate users wanting basic filtering would do well to install this firewall.
Publisher's description
From PC Tools :PC Tools Firewall Plus Free Edition is a powerful personal free firewall for Microsoft Windows that protects your computer from hackers and intruders. Firewalls control the network traffic in and out of your PC by monitoring applications that connect to the network. Firewall Plus can stop Trojans, backdoors, and keyloggers from damaging your computer and stealing your private information. PC Tools Firewall Plus is advanced technology designed specially for people, not experts. Powerful prevention against attacks and known exploits is activated by default and advanced users can also easily create their own packet filtering rules to customize the network defenses. The program is recommended for use alongside of AntiSpyware and Antivirus software like AVG or Spyware Doctor to protect PC against Spyware, hackers, worms, and viruses.
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User reviews
- Average user rating: 3.1 stars out of 375 votes
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
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Showing 5 of 8 user reviewsSee all 8 user reviews
This software version | All versions -
Version: PC Tools Firewall Plus Free Edition 6.0.0.74
"^New version needs improvement"
Pros: Previous version was fine
Cons: New version is rough at edges
Summary: I have changed to Comodo Firewall Free version
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Version: PC Tools Firewall Plus Free Edition 6.0.0.74
"pc tools firewall free edition 6.0.0.74"
Pros: well it is better than last time allway use this one every year [updated]
Cons: pass on this
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1 out of 1 people found this review helpful
Version: PC Tools Firewall Plus Free Edition 6.0.0.74
"if upgrading, You will pull out your own hair..."
Pros: The user interface and functionality of the previous version was great. Like night and day from using the the built in windows firewall. Kudos..
Cons: I love this free product from PC Tools, but it would help significantly if it installed correctly if you are upgrading from a previous version. This does not appear to be the case, however.
Summary: The implementation and funtionality of this product is very good, but be prepared to walk through hell will gasoline underwear if you are upgrading from the previous version...
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Version: PC Tools Firewall Plus Free Edition 6.0.0.74
Pros: Better than Window's firewall and allows both expert and non-expert settings.
Cons: Not sure if it is really a con but tends to inform you about your software trying to use .dlls when in Expert mode. Nice to know if they were kicking off .dlls that were not their own, but don't see any reason to know they are using their own.
Summary: In short I feel safer than reply on Windows since Windows and security don't seem to go together.
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1 out of 1 people found this review helpful
Version: PC Tools Firewall Plus Free Edition 6.0.0.74
"Wow. This is a geek's firewall dream."
Pros: Shows you all the traffic. Detailed packet inspection-based rules allowed. Novice or expert mode.
Works with Vista SP2 and Windows 7.Cons: If you make a mistake in your rule selection, you can't edit individual rules.
Summary: Far more traffic info and control than ZoneAlarm. I've used ZoneAlarm for almost a decade, but PCTools beats ZoneAlarm by far. It is more lightweight, too. I much prefer it to ZA.
- See all 8 user reviews Write review
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