With the antivirus market crowded by giants like AVG and Avast, ZoneAlarm has to differentiate itself. ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall does just that by giving users two of the most important security features in one simple to use program.

Features

ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall includes many powerful features for both their antivirus and firewall. There is real-time protection against viruses, as well as auto updating definitions and scheduling. ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall will only check for new definitions once every 24 hours, while its paid versions will update as soon as new definitions are available.

ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall's firewall features a log of the different programs that are accessing the internet. The firewall will also give users a list of programs and their "Trust Level," which is a good way to quickly glance at suspicious applications. There is also phishing and spyware protection built in.

One surprising feature of ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall is "Game Mode," which allows you to temporarily suspend ZoneAlarm's popup notifications for uninterrupted gaming. Users can also set it to allow all firewall requests, which is obviously less secure.

Performance

Performance of ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall is very good. Quick scans take only a few minutes. Full scans will take some time but are still an improvement over older ZoneAlarm programs. The speed increase is a result of a redesigned scanning engine. Still, we found ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall to be resource intensive on our system and slowed our boot times down. Competiting antivirus applications were quicker and less resource heavy.

Conclusion

While other programs have more advanced features, ZoneAlarm has successfully combined two of the most important security features for the average user and all for free. This makes it a very useful program for virtually anyone needing this type of protection.

ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall is a comprehensive application that provides basic firewall and antivirus features for the average user.

Download ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall 10.2.047.000 in Softonic

Viruses, spyware, adware, keyloggers and hacks: all of these PC threats are what eScan Internet Security Suite searches out and alerts you of every time you run a scan. It offers a high level of protection, which has both advantages and disadvantages.

Once installed, eScan Internet Security Suite has an easy to understand interface that is clear and simple to navigate. There is a protection section, where the file and mail antivirus tools are located, along with antispam, web protection, firewall tools and more. Unfortunately, the process just to install the program tends to be arduous, requiring a restart and often interacting negatively with any other antivirus or computer scanning programs already on your computer.

eScan Internet Security Suite's scan section allows you to search your various drives for viruses and other threats. There is also a tool button that includes system information, restore and a button to download a program called "Hotfix." This is actually a download button that updates eScan Internet Security Suite, if necessary. In fact, it's actually a little unnecessary, as there is another update button on the interface too.

On our system, we encountered problems with the eScan firewall, which were eventually fixed but an irritation. It appears the eScan firewall software is too strong! Otherwise, eScan Internet Security Suite is a very average security app. It doesn't do anything not offered by competing apps, and is quite heavy on system resources. For slower computers, eScan Internet Security Suite also has a tendency to freeze up or crash from time to time.

eScan Internet Security Suite is a comprehensive application that will keep your PC clean and safe.

Download eScan Internet Security Suite 11.0.1139.825 in Softonic

PC Tools Firewall Plus is surprisingly easy to use; you can start right away, without having to configure anything, something that beginners will be grateful for. These novice users will also be happy to see that the basic functionality of PC Tools Firewall Plus can be tweaked in terms of approved or blocked programs, in the Applications area. However, if you prefer to have more control over the program, you can always use the Advanced Rules section. There's also the possibility to switch between Normal user and Expert user on PC Tools Firewall Plus, either during installation or in the program's configuration menu. In this way advanced users will get more detailed messages from the firewall and will also be able to tweak it further.

PC Tools Firewall Plus logs all network activities, as well as the number of packets and bytes blocked. But there's one thing I missed: the possibility of having several security levels (like in ZoneAlarm, for example) with which you can quickly change the program's settings.

All the functions in PC Tools Firewall Plus are easily accessible in the firewall's eye-catching interface, just by clicking on their correspondent buttons on the left side. The main window features direct access buttons to the most important areas in the program as well.

With PC Tools Firewall Plus both novice and advanced users can effectively protect their computers by choosing which apps should access the Internet and also blocking any unauthorized attemps to break into your PC.

Download PC Tools Firewall Plus 7.0.0.111 in Softonic

Like any other similar application, Comodo Firewall filters all ingoing and outgoing internet traffic to and from your PC. The firewall must be trained during the first few days, so that it learns to distinguish harmless programs from potentially risky processes. In the case of Comodo Firewall, you can count on its large database – with more than one million programs – to expect a reasonably short training period and effective detection rate.

The interface in Comodo Firewall is clear and intuitive. It’s divided into several tabs (Summary, Firewall, Defense+ and More) which give you access to the program’s main functions. Both the security level and alert level can be customized, depending on the security you need – and also on the number of desktop notifications you want to see.

One issue we noticed, however, is the fact that Comodo Firewall doesn’t seem very good at remembering permissions. Sometimes it kept on asking about programs and connections we had already authorized before.

In any case, Comodo Firewall is the perfect firewall for novice users, thanks to its easy configuration and a user-friendly interface. Also, it’s much lighter on system resources than other similar apps.

Comodo Firewall is a light yet effective firewall which offers different levels of protection and is easy enough to use for everyone.

Download Comodo Firewall 5.4.189068.1354 in Softonic

It’s true that third-party firewalls don’t seem that necessary since Microsoft decided to include a built-in firewall in Windows XP, but ZoneAlarm is still a reliable, efficient security tool to protect your system from any unauthorized accesses.

ZoneAlarm features a simple, straightforward interface where you can select the level of security for your computer (none, medium or high) and set the type of program control you want to have. This allows you to control exactly which programs access your internet connection. There's even a Game mode that disables most alerts temporarily, so that you're not interrupted while playing on the PC.

The configuration options in ZoneAlarm Free Firewall seem to have been reduced – at least from what we can remember from older versions – but iregardless, it’s still an extra layer of security anyone can benefit from.

With ZoneAlarm Free Firewall you can protect your computer from hackers, unauthorized access and other online threats.

Download ZoneAlarm Free Firewall 10.1.079 in Softonic

Firewalls can be frightening things to work with if you don't know how to configure them - blocking traffic you need and letting in traffic you definitely don't want. Privatefirewall has a highly intuitive interface, however, which means that almost everyone will be able to use it easily. Beginners will have no problems setting things up, while it will also appeal to advanced users because it has so many configurable options if you want them.

Privatefirewall's main settings are divided into Internet Security, Network Security and trusted and blocked sites. All of these feature security levels that can be customized and completely pre-configured, but if you wish, you can set your own configuration rules made to your liking and tailored to your needs. Privatefirewall also features an applications and processes monitor, port analysis and P2P tracking, etc. in addition to developing detailed reports on monitoring results.

Privatefirewall is an excellent, powerful firewall that will fulfill the needs of all but the most demanding users.

Download Privatefirewall 7.0.22.6 in Softonic