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Windows ships with an effective suite of security tools, including a firewall, but third-party firewalls are popular with many users. Many are free, and the most popular ones do a good job keeping millions of users safe from cyber attacks, hackers, and other intrusive threats. Privacyware's Privatefirewall has all the features and most of the extras that most personal firewall and host intrusion prevention freeware (HIPS) offer, like its Process Monitor and Port Tracking tools. Its chief advantages are its intelligent tracking feature and its extensive explanations. Privatefirewall monitors your online activity privately to learn your usage patterns. It detects and blocks anomalous usage patterns that could signal an intrusive attack on your system. As with other firewalls, you can easily allow any activity. But Privatefirewall's system is designed to make allowing regular programs less frequent (and annoying) while still protecting you from threats.
Privatefirewall's user interface is easy to understand, and so are its various features and settings, thanks to a right-hand panel that displayed a detailed explanation of everything we selected. The Main Menu opens with two main functions, Internet Security and Network Security. Sliders let us choose High, Low, or Custom security levels much like in Windows. We could add trusted and blocked sites, too. Privatefirewall enables separate Profiles for Home, Office, and Remote connections, a handy option for laptops. We could import and export the program's settings, including Process, Email, and System Anomaly Detection settings. This interesting tool displays Training Statistics that show which programs it analyzed and when; we could set its Sensitivity level and also limit the training period. The program's Help file offers more detail than the user interface in explaining the anomaly detection feature as well as the Port Tracking tool and other features.
The true test of a firewall is in how well it protects your system. We tried a variety of probes and simulated attacks, and Privatefirewall kept them at bay. Since the firewall that fails exits the marketplace quickly, we expected nothing less from Privatefirewall. Its intelligent monitoring and its detailed documentation set it apart from the other free firewalls, though.
Publisher's Description
From Privacyware:
Privatefirewall is a Personal Firewall and Host Intrusion Prevention application designed to help individuals and businesses protect Windows desktops and servers from malware and unauthorized use. Privatefirewall addresses the operating system and application level vulnerabilities and intrusion techniques that hackers exploit to gain access and cause damage to private systems and data. Privatefirewall provides an excellent layer of additional protection to the Windows operating system. Beyond unparalleled personal firewall protection, Privatefirewall leverages proprietary HIPS technologies that model and monitor system and application behavior to identify and block activity characteristic of known malware, hacking, phishing, and other threat types. Privatefirewall ranks among the best performing desktop defense applications tested against the industry's most rigorous leak, general bypass, spying and termination tests and is among a short list of free personal firewall and host intrusion prevention software (HIPS) products that fully supports Microsoft's Windows 7 Operating System.
What's new in this version: Version 7.0.29.1 has added support for Windows 8 and Copy Remote IP/s to Clipboard.
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All versions:
4.0 starsout of 115 votes
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Current version:
4.6 starsout of 18 votes
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My rating:
Write review
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"A recommended fast, light, free firewall!"
Version: Privatefirewall 7.0.29.1
Pros
Loaded security features and it works quietly in the background. No issues working with MSE and on a Vista OS.
Cons
None as of the moment.
Summary
My other computer is installed with Comodo Free Firewall. I like Comodo very much.
This Privatefirewall is my second favorite. -
"the best of the best"
Version: Privatefirewall 7.0.29.1
Pros
It's the best FW on the internet. Easy to use, light on system resources, effective and give a strong protection. The HIPS works perfectly and monitors all the activity on pc.
Cons
maybe the look of the UI. But it's not definitively a problem
Summary
I've used Comodo Fw for a year but with the latest update, this FW became unstable and makes my pc lag or freeze! PF does his job perfectly and don't slow down my pc
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"terrific utility"
Version: Privatefirewall 7.0.29.1
Pros
Power Firewall for Dummies; very clear, very intuitive, lots of control, good job of alerting (very little delay), great layout, versatile and well done.
Cons
Some other firewalls track and report data in other ways than this program does.
Summary
I needed a firewall with more control than W7 provides, and I tried a half-dozen; I kept this one. I use this one. I count on it. You may too.
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"very good firewall"
Version: Privatefirewall 7.0.29.1
Pros
For free great
Cons
none for free
Summary
works and does the job
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"Will get your job done"
Version: Privatefirewall 7.0.29.1
Pros
I love this program. Just what you want from a firewall program. Monitor your in and out programs. Simple. Also it has a strong HIPS component which can detect any malicious activity due to malwares. I recommend this product to people who are not novice because of the interface. It took me some time to figure out the way it works. But once you get it its very easy and customizable. There is absolutely no system lag by using this program. I have a regular Dell Inspiron i3 processor laptop and I dont see any system slow down. I use this along with Avira free antivirus and my system boots in less than 30 seconds. Put it in training mode for a day and I am pretty sure it will never nag you. For people who need extra protection like sandbox, virtual kiosk etc then go for comodo. I am an educated internet user and I know what I am doing. So I dont prefer bloated softwares like comodo firewall, yet its a good alternative for amateur users.
Cons
I gave 4.5 stars because of a small glitch in the program. Sometimes I just reset the settings to default and click on file -> settings then the program hangs for 2 minutes, but it does not hang forever. Hope they fix this soon.
Summary
Very satisfied with this program. Absolute freedom and peace of mind while surfing the internet knowing that I have the best free antivirus(Avira) and best firewall
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"Piece of crap, little customization"
Version: Privatefirewall 7.0.29.1
Pros
free, looks like a strong firewall
Cons
Little to no customization
No way to allow certain programs
No way to easily make rulesSummary
Uninstalled after less then 2 hours.
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"Complete and total grabage"
Version: Privatefirewall 7.0.29.1
Pros
Its free so it has that going for it
Cons
The program does not completely uninstall when using either the built in uninstaller or another program like Revo. After installation I was able to boot to the desktop but my system slowed to a crawl at that moment with the only visible screen being the privatefirewall startup screen, so I booted to safe mode to uninstall this piece of crap, ran the built in uninstaller and Revo because Revo apparently thought it was still installed, restarted and got to the desktop where the same exact thing happened again. I was unable to use my computer after installing this so I had to wipe both hard drives and restore from a backup,waiting 6 hours for a restore to complete is unacceptable
Summary
Stay away from this flawed piece of crap, IF and When they fix this issue I MAY try it again but for now it belongs in the trash can
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"Being using it for over a year now. GREAT software"
Version: Privatefirewall 7.0.29.1
Pros
Free and gets the job done
Cons
having to uninstall the older version in order to install the new. Installed the last version 7.0.29.1 without uninstalling the previous and couldn't connect to any wireless connection unless disabled from startup.
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"This is the one that all freeware fans should check out"
Version: Privatefirewall 7.0.29.1
Pros
All good!! I have tried and compared all top rated free firewalls out there. This firewall does everything I love for a firewall. It Works with no glitches,and does a superb Job. This comes from a very big comodo fan. I personally like a good hips program in a firewall. Once you program this one, it just does a great job! Sweeeeet work, thanks!
Cons
Really,, Hmmm, Can't seem to think of one. That really pisses me off, nothing to BLAME!!!
Summary
You've got nothing to lose,,only unwanted crap from the internet. This one is definitely worth checking out. Till next time,, Peace!!
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"Simply awesome!"
Version: Privatefirewall 7.0.29.1
Pros
Lightweight and powerful software with great support. When I needed help bacause of conflict with other software they responded immediately.
Cons
some people may not like the look
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