Best Firewall for W7

I have Bitdefender Total Security installed on this Windows 7 desktop PC. Whilst renewing my subscription I noticed that the Bitdefender firewall was disabled, and that I could not enable it. I have asked Bitdefender for an explanation but so far no reply. I then discovered that my Windows 7 firewall was enabled, whether by default I know not.  Some reviews I have read say that the Windows 7 default firewall is perfectly adequate for home / domestic use.  On the other hand it is possible to pay mega bucks for one of the top rated non-Windows versions (Bitdefender did not seem to figure amongst these). Question: Is it worth shelling out for protection which, according to what you believe, is provided perfectly satisfactorily by W7?

Hi Sam,

 

Personally, on the Windows 7 Pro Virtual Machine that I use occasionally, I've found that a combination of the free Microsoft Security Essentials suite, combined with Malwarebytes Premium and using the Windows built in firewall is more that sufficient protection.

 

MSE has minimal performance impact and is just as good (in my opinion) as any commercial anti virus or security suite that you can still buy that fully supports Windows 7. Of course, you need to not go to 'shady' sites when using Windows 7, but you shouldn't do that regardless of which protection you use. Combine Microsoft Security Essentials with Malwarebytes Premium set to real-time protection, which I can confirm works perfectly well alongside Microsoft Security Essentials and you'll be getting as good as (if not better) protection that Bit defender is probably giving you. (IMO).

 

I can also almost guarantee that the combination I've suggest will have a considerably less performance impact on your computer than Bitdefender, as I tested the suite myself some time ago as well. The performance hit was quite noticeable when I installed it to my VM, as was Avast, AVG, Norton and a couple of others I tested at the time that slip my mind at the moment.

 

Hope that's helpful.

 

Regards, Andrew

 

P.S.. Having said the above, I'd still (in the strongest way possible) recommend you upgrade your Windows 7 box to Windows 10. Free upgrades from 7 to 10 (despite the claims all over the web that they're not) are still available.

Edited by achzone, 20 October 2021 - 07:56 PM.

Hi Andrew. Thanks for the quick reply.
I could go along with what you have suggested were it not that I have literally now just renewed my Bitdefender annual subscription. There seems to be little general agreement over what is the best security suite. This one got top marks from some sources at the time and I have just stuck with it since. I am myself not aware of any noticeable performance hit but no doubt my criteria are less stringent than your own.
I combine it with Malwarebytes free not Premium because we established that otherwise there would be a clash of real time protection.
I can interpret your words therefore to best end up doing nothing in the circumstances (given that I would be reluctant to sacrifice Bitdefender Total Security unless I had real cause to doubt its capabilities). But keep also the combination with the W7 default firewall in answer to my question.
I suspect that MS Security Essentials might clash also but could be persuaded otherwise.

W7 vs W10 is a separate topic. My desktop will not support W10 but I have a second PC that does but which is my second preference for tasks such as these. This can lead to a complicated life sometimes ..

No antivirus nor firewall is enough to protect you on Windows 7.

 

Also, you must run Bitdefender as admin to change its settings.

I have no particular desire at this stage to change Bitdefender's settings beyond what can be achieved via the Control Panel. Everyone seems to have their own views over the comparative strengths of the various AV / firewall combinations. I originally went for Bitdefender on the basis of repeated recommendations in Computer Which? I cannot handle W 10 on this PC so I am banking on W7 + Bitdefender being the least worst compromise, barring evidence to the contrary.

Hi Sam,

 

Hi Andrew. Thanks for the quick reply.
I could go along with what you have suggested were it not that I have literally now just renewed my Bitdefender annual subscription. There seems to be little general agreement over what is the best security suite. This one got top marks from some sources at the time and I have just stuck with it since. I am myself not aware of any noticeable performance hit but no doubt my criteria are less stringent than your own.

 

Indeed. If the horse has already bolted for you regarding paying for a commercial AV, then I would say, by all means, continue with it. Bitdefender will, without doubt, provide you with a suitable level of protection as well, so I can't see a pressing need to replace it and waste the money you've already spent.

 

As to which AV is the best, my goto has always been the independent AV-Comparatives website, which publishes quarterly reports on AV performances via real-world test scenarios they regularly conduct.

 

Their latest available published report can be viewed at this link, part of which I've included below for you.

 

 

 

I combine it with Malwarebytes free not Premium because we established that otherwise there would be a clash of real time protection.

 

I can assure you from personal experience that there is no clash of real-time protection. I use Malwarebytes Premium's real-time protection on every machine I've ever run and have never experienced problems. A few exceptions may need to be entered into both MWBP and Bitdefender settings to ensure no clashes occur, but that's a once only and trivial task to perform. By its very design, Malwarebytes has been created to run alongside other AV products seamlessly, and I know from personal experience that it does that very well indeed.

 

I can interpret your words therefore to best end up doing nothing in the circumstances (given that I would be reluctant to sacrifice Bitdefender Total Security unless I had real cause to doubt its capabilities). But keep also the combination with the W7 default firewall in answer to my question.

I suspect that MS Security Essentials might clash also but could be persuaded otherwise.

 

I can't speak from experience of MSSE but I do remember some time back getting confirmation from - I think - MWB that their real time protection would clash with similar protection from Bitdefender. Which is why I have stuck to the free version ever since. Turning it around one could I suppose ask if the actual level of protection could be ENHANCED by having two real time protection programs running concurrently.  Topics for the experts of this world ..

Turning it around one could I suppose ask if the actual level of protection could be ENHANCED by having two real time protection programs running concurrently.  Topics for the experts of this world ..

 

I'm by no means an 'expert of the world' when it comes to AV effectiveness, but I do conduct my own tests occasionally using .onion purposely infected sites on the dark web to compare the results of different configurations of protection for myself.

 

With that understood, in my own tests over the years, I've discovered that many flavours of Antivirus' had failed to prevent an infection when used on their own, where software such as Malwarebytes was successfully able to prevent an infection from taking place when it too was active. 

 

The same is true for some tests I conducted not long ago with HitmanPro Alert that successfully prevented ransomware infections from taking hold, where Microsoft Defender and MWBP failed to prevent damage to my test bench systems.

 

As a result, my own defences now include the following on all Windows 10 machines I own.

 

Microsoft Defender, Malwarebytes Premium, and HitmanPro Alert. All are configured with real-time protection active, and I've had zero clashing or any other issues as a result.

 

With the above three products active, I've found I can visit any infecting website on the dark web without getting infected. That's sufficient enough proof for me

 

Cheers, Andrew

BitDefender's firewall is top-tier for both incoming & outgoing connections. Windows FireWall mainly monitors incoming connections. However, it can be set to monitor outgoing connections, as well, if configured by user to do so.  

Edited by bellgamin, 21 May 2022 - 12:24 AM.

Hi Sam,
 ......
A few exceptions may need to be entered into both MWBP and Bitdefender settings to ensure no clashes occur, but that's a once only
..... 
Hope that helps.
 
Regards, Andrew

Like?

I have to date not dabbled with the Settings in either Malwarebytes (free) or Bitdefender, though I did disable the real time protection in the former. I'm not sure exactly what I would seek to do.