>>125474Repost from /comp/:
The only Windows software firewall worth a damn is Zone Alarm Pro. Period. Not the free version, and not anything else out there today. ZAPro is the ONLY software firewall that protects against Process Injection, Launching, Parallel Stack, Unloading, and LSP Injection attacks. Most of the others protect against some, but no others yet do them all WELL.
That said, ZAPro isn't even as good as iptables (Linux), and neither ZAPro or iptables is as good as a real hardware firewall or a dedicated Linux box running a firewall distro.
Get a good router, use it's firewall, get ZAPro (or setup a $20 Linux box running a firewall distro), install AVG or Avast!, keep up to date with OS and software, and you're about as secure as you're going to get on a Windows box.
[concerning which Linux firewall distro to use]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_distributions#Special-purpose_distributionsIPCop and ClarkConnect are the most popular, but try out any of the firewall distros listed at the link and see if any strike your fancy.