Looking for simple firewall

[silverwolf0]

I am trying to find a firewall that is simple and user-friendly to put on my sister's computer, as ZoneAlarm which I've previously used is bogging down everything and slowing startup times. I've also tried Comodo, but having a popup show up every second is putting the PC on too much of a lockdown. I am not sure if my sister really need a firewall beyond the one that comes with XP, but she likes to download lots of little random games and programs and I want to be able to control outbound traffic to block any programs that shouldn't be accessing the internet, although I really don't know whether and to what extent her PC can be compromised if a bad program can phone home.

 

[atomiser]

the eset smart security suite (more than just a firewall) is excellent, you can get a 30-day trial for free, i would thoroughly recommend giving it a whirl.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

I am not sure if my sister really need a firewall beyond the one that comes with XP, but she likes to download lots of little random games and programs and I want to be able to control outbound traffic to block any programs that shouldn't be accessing the internet

If you want to control outbound..XPs firewall won't do..as XPs firewall does not do any outbound blocking. If you're behind a NAT router...XPs firewall isn't doing anything useful either..as it only blocks inbound..and your NAT router is already doing that.

Do you have Comodos training mode on? It can be configured to be one of the least annoying firewalls out there with a lot of pre-built in safe rules.