Comodo Firewall Redux

Question

Many members here might recall the fall from grace of Comodo's free firewall, due to the default installation of the Ask/HopSurf toolbar, considered by many experts as spyware. I was sufficiently disappointed in the vendor's behaviour that I uninstalled the firewall, despite my total satisfaction with the product. I figured that if one can't trust the vendor, one can't trust the product.

It now appears Comodo has listened to its detractors; the latest version, COMODO Internet Security 4.1, no longer installs or even offers these unwanted toolbars. I can confirm this is true, having gone through the installation process on my 32 bit XP Operating System.

I am conflicted here. Trust lost is not easily re-established, and I can't fully recommend this firewall yet. But I will congratulate Comodo for doing the right thing in dropping these unwanted toolbars.

In any event, I would emphasize that this is a demanding third party firewall, which I would not recommend to novices.

Download info:

COMODO Firewall Only

32 Bit Operating Systems
http://download.comodo.com/cis/download/installs/standalone/cfw_installer_x86.exe
Size: 56M ( 58612168 )
MD5: 10e7108e9394473ae566a48a910b2a2c
SHA1: 485b9f4e394507fb8e1f3a1854259a4014ac7701

64 Bit Operating Systems
http://download.comodo.com/cis/download/installs/standalone/cfw_installer_x64.exe
Size: 58M ( 60334536 )
MD5: e2727de95e1c9f91d7e3dee5dce1188a
SHA1: f41e5178e246464e946658b20f54970e28009b1e
----------------------------------------------------------------

iroc9555 · Answer

Hi Joe.

That (Ask/Hop Surf toolbar) I forgot to mention in the June update. A big hand for Comodo:emotion-21:.

If any one missed my notes on June 3 Updates be aware that if you are an Avira user, download the installer from the web page and not from the forums. Also Sandboxie user will not be able to run Comodo alongside it since Comodo has made it harder to change any kernel hook driver in order to patch against the KHOBE vulnerability:

https://forums.comodo.com/bug-report-cis/dont-update-if-you-use-sandboxie-t57169.0.html

Regards.

joe53 · Answer

Thanks, Hernan. As a Sandboxie user, I guess that explains why I could not complete the CIS 4.1 installation process (it failed at the last step) and thereby give it a more full review.

iroc9555 · Answer

Joe.

I think something else is happening in your rig since CISPremium 4.1 or CFW 4.1 (I do not know which one you tried) did not finish the installment. The problem with Sandboxie is that Comodo does not allow Sandboxie to start when booting the PC. Furthermore, XP OS are not reporting this incompatibility.

https://forums.comodo.com/news-announcements-feedback-cis/tzuks-reply-to-the-cissandboxie-start-problem-t57342.0.html

Hope it helps.

joe53 · Answer

Hi Hernan:

In retrospect, I think I ran the firewall installation sandboxed (doh!) which probably accounts for its failure to install.

In any event, I was not seriously contemplating changing back to Comodo's new FW (I'm quite happy with OutPost's) but did want to confirm it is now free of the Ask/HopSurf Toolbar. I'm pretty much satisfied that it is, although the EULA still references HopSurf:

Thanks for the link.

ky331 · Answer

FWIW, Comodo still offers the HopSurf toolbar as a separate download:

http://www.comodo.com/home/browsers-toolbars/social-media-authentication (dot) php <=== Link deactivated, since we're not recommending this.

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Joe wrote: "In retrospect, I think I ran the firewall installation sandboxed (doh!) which probably accounts for its failure to install".

That's one of the reasons why I'm reluctant to use (or to recommend) sandboxes, or reduced-privledge accounts [especially on XP], as they can "handcuff" the user when trying to do legitimate work. Yes, I realize they can help trap/control malware... and for those who "play risky", it may indeed be worth their while.

joe53 · Answer

Joe wrote:   'In retrospect, I think I ran the firewall installation sandboxed (doh!) which probably accounts for its failure to install'. That's one of the reasons why I'm reluctant to use (or to recommend) sandboxes, or reduced-privledge accounts [especially on XP], as they can 'handcuff' the user when trying to do legitimate work.   Yes, I realize they can help trap/control malware... and for those who 'play risky', it may indeed be worth their while.   Sandboxes can cause problems, but in this case it was due to a deliberate decision on my part to use it, given my misgivings  over Comodo's past behaviour. I'm still in the learning curve here, as far as using Sandboxie goes. Sandboxie is not invoked by default when installing software, and has not in general interfered with any of my other updates or software installations.

Virus & Spyware

Comodo Firewall Redux

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