Seeing as my software firewall has started to BSOD my machine (outpost), I am looking at either leaving my PC sans firewall, or looking for recommendations for replacements.

Any suggestions?, don't bother with one?, or get one?

start reading online...

this is way too complicated.

if you want my personal completely unexplained opinion: don't bother. stick with xp 'firewall'.

I use Comodo @ work (free) and Outpost @ home. Never had Outpost cause any BSOD even though I'm also using Kaspersky AV, which can cause problems to get them to play well together.

I've been on Comodo for about 10 months and Outpost for about 2 years now. Would recommend Outpost, but you are having problems with it. Comodo is OK too but IIRC it lacks "gaming mode" and can be a overwhelming/annoying with popups.

Ps. I agree with george_tsiros: can quickly get complicated.

you do not need a software firewall.

Use the firewall in your router

Quote from Biohazard :

you do not need a software firewall.

Quote from tristancliffe :

Use the firewall in your router

This is along the lines of my train of thought........

If you have a router already acting as your hardware firewall you may still want a software firewall to control which programs have access out from your PC. I use NOD32 as my AV/firewall suite and I've had no problems so far (except from iRacing but that's an issue the iRacing team say they are going to address in the future...).

DONT USE NORTON!
thats just my advise.

I am quite a fan of the hardware firewall that came with my mobo (though rarely use it), but that isn't an option everyone gets. If I am on a dirty network I just use the Windows own firewall, on my own network I let the router do all the work. I don't see there is much need for a software firewall.

Quote from Stefani24 :

DONT USE NORTON!
thats just my advise.

Why? I've got one of their programs and it has worked fine for me.

Norton really is bloatware to the max.

Nod32 Busines Edition or Zone Alarm , Best options in Firewall´s

As I've just posted in another thread.....

12 years on the internet, no antivirus, no firewalls, no antispyware on 4 computer systems with 4 Windows versions connected to 5 different internet providers without so much as a hiccup.

Don't randomly download stuff you don't know about and keep the computer resources freed up from the anti-stuff software running. When you get a message on MSN that says, "Look at this!" from someone you don't know, don't look at that, it is a virus or whatever.

It's all very simple really. I'm continuously amazed at the people I hear about clicking on stuff in MSN, AIM, email, etc, then complaining about getting a virus or shouting in victory that their 1337 software "caught" it.

Quote from Stefani24 :

DONT USE NORTON!
thats just my advise.

Hey, I've got Norton360 2.0 and its the best software firewall+antivirus+PC otmization I've ever used. (believe me, I already tried many software firewalls)

But I believe that if you don't do anything important on the computer (such as bank accounts, online transfers, credit cards) and if you don't download random stuff (as said by mrodgers) you can live well with windows firewall and maybe without it.

But I just don't feel secure if I do any banking/credit card transfers and I'm not using a firewall and antivirus software (in this case, Norton). I feel the need of using a software to protect my data/transfers etc and keeping it up-to-date.

Quote from tristancliffe :

Use the firewall in your router

nat isnt a firewall