Install and setup a Strong Firewall (stop the Leaks) XP In 5 Parts

NOTE The COMODO File is also Good for Vista too

Part 1 Introduction

I have got a Poll running to determine what People Have in Terms of Software Firewall Security the Primary line of defence against the nasties that the Web can fling at you at anytime and of course it is the secondary Firewall if you use a Router which has a Hardware Firewall Which is a Factory set filter

In all cases the adjustable "Filters" are on the Software Firewall
These as "Default" Must be able to stave off an attack By shutting down the Destination Point (called a Port) If there is No permission for a signal to be transmitted ..Has to do this several hundred times per second
On the other hand an Open Port May be The right route? Or, a Nasty will get by into the computer either to wreak chaos Or be stopped in its tracks by the secondary line of defence which is the Anti virus Programs and Spywareblaster/AdAware and so on.
Again if this wall is weak or non existant Your computer Won't Last Long exposed to the Raw blast off the Web!

First thing to do when you Connect your New computer to the Internet for the First time(with Broadband) is Check if the Windows Firewall is switched on
Open the Control Panel look for Windows Security Center Open this window and there are 3 indicators here Firewall,Antivirus and Windows update, All Must be Green (On) The Security Links to adjust them are below these
Only one that you must all set Manually and that is the Auto Update timer For your Security patches download on "Patch Tuesday" from Windows updatr or Microsoft update

Note The status Lights in this panel: Green is ON Yellow is Faulty (recheck setting!)and Red is Off
Click the Bar here for advice which says
[quote]Why you should only use one firewall.
If you have more than one firewall installed on your computer, you should not have both firewalls turned on at the same time. Two firewalls turned on at the same time can cause compatibility problems that result in some programs not working correctly.

To help protect your computer against viruses and other security threats, you should always have one firewall installed and turned on. Windows includes a firewall that is turned on by default. (However, some computer manufacturers and network administrators might turn it off.) If you want to install and run a
second firewall, turn off Windows Firewall.[
For instructions about turning off Windows Firewall, see Turn Windows Firewall on or off.

Now I shall say something important
[color Red:]Windows Firewall is as Effective as Holding a Paper Hankerchief for shelter in a shower
Do No rely on It for Protection (as some People in the Poll are doing) It exposes itself to the Wrong site then the secondary defence is working overtime ![/color]

Now I 'm Going to show you How to Install and Set up COMODO Pro Firewall(which is Freeware) Which Has a small Built in antivirus Protection Tool working with it, But You'll Need something like Avast! to give you Maximum protection OK?(That is Freeware also)
I chose this because of how easy it was to setup without Fuss also it was Updating Often(every few months) Windows Firewall is Patched once in a blue moon ... and My Old McAfee Personal Firewall had to Be changed Manually to a New Pay? version every 1 to 2 years Or risk an eventual "Lock out" of some sites(Which is what happened to me...crashed my connection!)

PART 2Download and Installation Procedure
This is straightforward I shall Point out any Potential Snag and Precautions Such as What if another firewall is in Place? What do I do ?

TOP TIP If 2 firewalls are in Place then it won't connect or B)Go very slow and Stop (as I did On my 1st attempt)
2nd Go I got the New firewall running Fine NOTE This is 2 firewalls Plus the Windows Firewall!

Part 2 (A) Downloading COMODO Is straight forward or is it? Lets examine what Sort of computer Well The specs say You need Windows XP (SP2) Most People Have upgraded to that or SP3
Next, Here is where several People have made a fatal error... Have they assumed the menu box
(selection Box) is for XP & Vista Operating Systems? STOP AND THINK! No, it is for a 32 Bit & 64Bit system The former is for Most computers
http://www.personalfirewall.co...wnload_firewall.html
They are 2 entirely different sized downloads! 32 MB for the 32 Bit system and 46.5 MB for the 64bit
Very Difficult to spot If you do not Know
But to make 100% certain Open My Computer click on the C: Drive then Click on the Windows folder,
Now There are a lot of Folders Here and there are 2 which confirm the Bit Number
They are the Twain Folder (For printing tasks) and the Larger System Folder (about 1.25GB in size)
These are Labelled twain_32 & system32 If you are running the machine with 64 Bit software these become twain_64 & system64 There are several others But these are on the top on the Pile and easiet to find.

I actually believe 1 or 2 fast 64 bit computers are trying to run with the wrong 32 bit Version so they will get the Firewall giving the odd Wrong indication Worth a look see and sometime the opposite may be true? Sometimes on the computer forums they blame the Antivirus Program ,even its own Antivirus Routine (Only Firewall with this feature) for the glitches There is an opt out on the Installation for this feature.(I have it running fine .No worries )

Ok you have Made your selection, and you have downloaded, as a File NOT RUN!
Next.
An Important Quote from the Site regards the Instalation setup Take a moment to think about these options
[quote]During the setup process you will be given the choice to:

Install the Antivirus as a standalone
Install the Firewall as a standalone
Install both Firewall and Antivirus
[/b]
Option #1
Install the Antivirus as a standalone
I doubt if it'll be as good as Avast! But you cannot access the Web Unless you have a firewall of some description !
But As I said earlier Windows Firewall is Only as effective as a paper Hanky in a storm and even if its got Avast! working(as a Back up ,Avast! will be shouting for attention constantly
I rate this 2 out of 10
Option #2
Install the Firewall as a standalone
Up to You ,Need a decent A/V Program to back it up .The Best Free Program is Avast! from www.avast .com which is updated daily(Blue popup and Announcement) Alerts is an Alarm Announcement & sound.
Some other "Popular" A/V programs either Update Manually once in a Blue moon or every new version and their "warning " is a small plain window
For this way I shall award 7 to 9 out of 10[.b]
Option #3
[b]Install both Firewall and Antivirus
My recommodation Though the Only issue is the Choice of 3rd party A/V program to run with it Avast! runs Happily No conflicts. Important to remember this point if the firewall or A/V starts acting up
An 8 /10 if no other anti Virus catcher is running and the full 10/10 if the Program is in operation too
PS Heads up... If You Buy the Subscription The only thing you'll get is aome additional online support.Chances are you'll never need it or you never have been on a forum to see how others are faring?
Or, read the Help Files or FAQ's

Part 3 Installation time
This can only be done one correct way Both with and without an Old Firewall program
As I had a Faulty Firewall In Place I'll show you how to Remove every trace in a few easy steps

1 Go offline!
2 On the Firewall Icon on the Start menu Select Exit or Disable Firewall and Antivirus Programs
2A Can if you wish Open the Control Panel> Windows Firewall Click Off and a Red shield will show in the Corner by the Clock
IF you only have Windows Firewall as "Protection" Then do this (and go to #4)
3 Open the Control Panel "Add or Remove Programs " folder Locate the Firewall Progam and delete it
4 Next Locate the Folder with the New Program click on it and it will Install
5 There may or may not after the the Program Has been loaded a Message to Reset the Computer.
Do It regardless!
Final Check
6 Keeping offline Check on the "Security Center" on the Control Panel that the Firewall line Has a Green lightalso the Anti Virus Line below it If Red its disabled ,Yellow indicate check setting The conflicting firewalls (If this advice has NOT been followed) can produce a Yellow Be aware of this
6a) Resetting often switches on everything. So This is a critical safety check OK? If there is an" Enable" option if still disabled, then click on it

NOW ...Go online

COMODO will run a 1 Time scan of the computer/Registery and Update the Antivirus list which is locked down .
NOTE If there is a Version Update available (A Popup message) The New data overwrites the old program Run It (takes a few minutes) and You must Reset when it finishes.
Good News is you can surf while this is Loading and afterwards too ..."Switching Off" counts as a Reset Too
Does Not Scan this time as the old data has been used to set up the New version

And thats it, you've "Clean installed" a New Firewall.

BTW Windows Firewall still lurks in the Background but is disabled unless the Primary firewall Gives trouble and then blocks almost everything !!

Part 4 ...The shortest part!
Things to watch daily
New programs and Updated files/programs
A Window will Pop up offering Installation Mode click Yes otherwise you'll click on every file to be checked and the files will be checked quicker (SEE ALSO PART 4 re: Trust ...1st paragraph!)

Sometimes the COMODO Page is displayed on a restart or Startup...WHY?
What its telling you is that its Passed some Files (Update?) that Need your Permission Have to be online
To fix this See references to the My Pending Files window Below
PS Installation Mode when running has a small prompt box that ask to return to the Previous mode Only shows when the Firewall has completed the updating click Yes to close the Box and Installation mode

Unless you have something else to Fix?...Tip Several different Items can be processed together You can safely tick the Select all tick box in My Pending Files

Part 5
Housekeeping/TroubleshootingTips

COMODO Firewall usually gets it right When updating and Installing a New Item or link .
Also it isn't going to leave a door open to the Outside world It will warn you or Just stop the Program or link from peering through the door and the same will report it cannot continue
So you think somethings amiss , Possible Misinstall? or the Firewall Does not like the Program
It is more than likely the 2nd scenario The real reason is COMODO does not Trust the program to Run. But, may allow some access to certain features (as I have found) so there is some Joy
But the question is. How to we get COMODO to ensure that it gives or has given all the Trust and the program/ works as it should?

And I with little "Hands on" experience of COMODO Found out how with some deft Mouse work and a few minutes checking and Everything is in Order
Despite the Confusing Links Therein(They are duplicated and fix the same items) The Only Link to check and update Is located on the Summary page under Proactive Defence
You'll note 2 items the Upper Is the Active "Trusted" Running Applications
and the Lower is Files waiting for review Click the link... New window Opens to My Pending Files
This route indicates how many items may need to be OK'd? But as you'll see its a No Brainer once you Know the routine

By the way ,the Master Firewall Security setting is in the Network Defence section and Should be in Safe Mode ONLY! (There are 2 higher and 2 lower levels) But Use these at your Peril. You get Little to work with the outside world or risk losing control !

Now, I told you everything is Duplicated. Here is the other (easier) way to open the My Pending Files Window
Just click the Link Defence+ Shield with the red Cross
and you'll see the My Pending Files section on the left which opens the same window
The other Section you will populate will be the My Own Safe Files again Its a No Brainer

To work and this is best done when you are online as the COMODO server has to verify Files (and Strange Programs) Do it offline and the Pending File area will fill and You get some 50/50 things happening such as requests for Virus update or Permission to access the Internet or nothing Happening !

By clearing the Pending Files area restores the Automation to a normal level And you Have editorial Control With the Purge button delete a suspicious Item or test it out against the COMODO server archive
with the Submit Button then decide(Can also post it on the Web Forums for a check but may take some time if they decide to reply)

OK This is what I found in the My Pending Files Window
I made an Avast! Program version Update And yes, that was working running updating but Every file out of the zip file was flagged for review (15items) Also 2 Client Files From the BOINC Manager Program
Plus at the top of the List the Principal links to those programs (I think it was 4 links?)

Firstly make sure all the Boxes on the Left are ticked
Now From top to Bottom on the right of this window, there are 6 Buttons:
Add = Brings up Running items for checking (Only needed if there is problems with accessing ect)
Move to = This directs Programs Headers (Top of the list) to the My Own Safe Files area or the My Blocked Files section
Remove = Delete key ?
Lookup...= This lets the COMODO A/V inspect them and give an opinion in a New window OKing the safe files and removing them In my case Half of these were removed if its not in the database then it will prompt you to the next button (Takes 5 seconds for an answer) Remainder are marked as "?" these can be "Submitted".Read on....
[Submit... This does much the same thing except it shows them to the COMODO server (Takes a few seconds Online for an answer) May see some more go?

By now all you should be left with is the Program Links at the top of the Page with their Locations
And they will be labeled "Untrusted["b] Now Select these and Untick any other Item that may be still in this section
and click on the Move to button then click on the My Own Safe Files link
Anything left behind can be" purged"by the Purge button If its an old leftover file from a deleted Link or B) Removed with the Remove button Though I expect a "Cleaner" Program like CCleaner will have digested this "tail end"

If you get muddled Browse through the "Tip of the Day" Links which are well written in Plain English and the Help files are located on the Miscellaneous link Page (though they are a bit wordy)

Looks an awful lot to do but In real time it'll take a minute or 2 to Check

Last Word
A decent Firewall is an Investment and a poor one or None is a Very poor/ Bad Investment
Get a good firewall and it will look after you Abuse it and You can expect trouble without warning
COMODO. once you get used to it,and follow the routines (as above) Ticks all the boxes and will not land you in trouble (or the brown stuff)

Additional information and clarification regarding Parts 4 & 5

quote:

Sometimes the COMODO Page is displayed on a restart or Startup...WHY?
What its telling you is that its Passed some Files (Update?) that Need your Permission Have to be online to fix this

It also is displayed on Startup Randomly even if there is Nothing to Check But... To be sure, Close the Window Click on COMODO Firewall Pro from the Start Menu (reopen the Window) and see if there is any change in the Numbers on the ProActive Defense Section
and Choose Installation mode if there is an update Version and you will get more "Privileges" according to the "Tip Of the Day"
I have not had time to discover what is meant by this
Here is part ot the text from the Help file section(re: this subject) which you can Interpret at your Leisure

quote:

'Installation Mode: Installer applications and updaters may need to execute other processes in order to run effectively. These are called 'Child Processes'. In 'Paranoid', Train with Safe' and 'Clean PC modes',

Defense+ would raise an alert every time these child processes attempted to execute because they have no access rights. Whilst in one of these 3 modes, Comodo Internet Security will make it easy to install new applications that you trust by offering you the opportunity to temporarily engage 'Installation Mode' -
which will temporarily bestow these child processes with the same access rights as the parent process - so allowing the installation to proceed without the usual alerts.

If you are installing a new, unknown application. Defense+ will alert you with a pop-up notification and, as you want to allow this application to continue installing, you should select 'Treat this application as an Installer or Updater' at the Defense+ alert. You will subsequently see the following: (Pic missing)

Clicking Yes will engage 'Installation Mode' and so grant child processes with the same access rights as the parent process.

Training Mode: Defense+ will monitor and learn the activity of any and all executables and create automatic 'Allow' rules until the security level is adjusted. You will not receive any Defense+ alerts in 'Training Mode'. If you choose the 'Training Mode' setting, we advise that you are 100% sure that all applications and executables installed on your computer are safe to run.

Tip: This mode can be used as the “Gaming Mode”. It is handy to use this setting temporarily when you are running an (unknown but trusted) application or Games for the first time. This will suppress all Defense+ alerts while Comodo Internet Security learns the components of the application that need to run
on your machine and automatically create 'Allow' rules for them. Afterwards, you can switch back to 'Train with Safe Mode' mode).
Disabled: Disables Defense+ protection. All executables and applications are allowed to run irrespective of your configuration settings. Comodo strongly advise against this setting unless you are confident that you have an alternative intrusion defense system installed on your computer.

Keep an alert on screen for maximum (n) seconds - Determines how long Comodo Internet Security will show a Defense+ alert without any user intervention. By default, the timeout is set at 120 seconds. You may adjust this setting to your own preference.

There are some Help pictures to show you but they won't display here
As you can see there are Modes/settings which even I have not used ,and there is an element of Risk!
The Default Mode (no alterations) is good enough for most users.

Ps You can alter the Defense+ security level on the COMODO Tas Bar Icon (Right-click Menu)I Default is "Clean PC Mode" with 2 higher and Lower Levels like The Firewall Security Level Which also can be changed here.Advice do not touch either as It may invite trouble Or Stop things working properly

Small update/Help

I have Avast! antivirus running and it updates daily
But on the Firewall it is always flagged as an "Untrusted File" on Restart(COMODO window is shown)
It's safe... Click the Move button to move it to the "My Own Safe Files"

Same may happen with other Security Updates?