I need some recommendation
 

I have just lost my firewall, and I though that it's the perfect time to decide for another one, seeing as that old firewall was getting on me nerves.

So I ask you, oh technical abandonian crowd: which good, free and not resource-hungry firewall do you recommend me?

Thanks for your time, people!



P.S.: BTW, I have Windows XP, an ADM sempron 2600 processor and 512 megas of RAM.

There's not many free firewalls around now but here's two you can try the zone alarm is free for non-commercial use only and the DCFirewall I know absolutely nothing about but it's free:clap:

Once you've installed a new firewall you can do some port tests at Shields Up to test your PC's security it's worth doing as there's no point having a firewall if it's not doing it's job!
Just scroll down the page to the "Shields Up" section.

I used for a while the comodo firewall pro. but then got rid of it because it was too annoying but it is a good program
and it is free.

I would also recommend Comodo Firewall which I'm using at the moment. While you can configure it to either learn itself what is safe to pass and what not, or to ask you each time where you can check a box so the program learns the step for a future reference with that program / occurrence, it is a strong firewall with easy interface that stealths your system and all ports perfectly.

Hardware Firewall
 

Slightly different answer than you are looking for but are you using a router inbetween your ISP line and your computer? If so, are you using the hardware firewall in your router?

No, I am not using a router: it's the only PC I got, so I didn't think the investment was worth it.

Some PCs, usually those which are behind a specific router, like mine, does not accept ZoneAlarm as a firewall - it will just block all traffic or let everything flow freely. An other variation, and my personal favourtie is 'Keiro-Sunbelt Personal Firewall'. Not that complicated, but it still gets the job done extremely well. I even don't use a virus checker :p

P.S.: It should run on your PC without any problems. My PC is like yours - not a powerhouse -, but I haven't sighted any problems, even with my older Intel Celeron processor (that was slow, man.), and with an ATI 9600 vidcard. Now I have a newer vidcard and processor, slightly faster, but if you close the firewall you'll sense no difference.

A connection is either inbound or outbound--both include traffic in both directions, don't get confused, it's about whether it's you or a remote node who started the connection; whether you're the server or the client.

Inbound connections (solicited by just anyone and accepted by a "listening" program or service in your computer) can be dangerous, if there's a vulnerability in your system.

Outbound connections (solicited by a local program or service in your computer) by definition need your computer to be infected to be dangerous. If a program is connecting outside from inside, it must be already inside--duh. So if you should manage to prevent infection effectively, you wouldn't need outbound filtering in your firewall.

FACT: No antivirus program can prevent you from getting infected. There's always some nasty any of them will miss, because they allow by default.

Access restrictions (XP, Vista) or a very thorough HIPS on the other hand, can prevent infections--unless a vulnerability in them is exploited successfully--as long as you don't invite them by circumventing those of course (Trojan horse).

Most programs don't need to listen as server (the most notable exceptions are P2P "clients"), so filtering inbound connections is much much much less hard work than filtering every outbound connection.

The Windows firewall filters inbound connections, so you'll be safe (and pass every ShieldsUP test), as long as you don't let your local system get infected.

The one in Vista even includes some non-intrusive outbound filtering--although it could probably be leaked (circumvented by stealth) if tried a little hard. So can certainly be leaked ZoneAlarm Free, and many others. A mere firewall (network traffic control) cannot guarantee that a program will connect outside stealthily (such as hijacking another program) unless it includes extensive HIPS (application control) features.

If you still want to go for an impregnable outbound firewall, and if you try Comodo and it works for you, you won't find a stronger one. It includes a _full_ HIPS (meaning that _all_ activity is thoroughly monitored, not just network traffic). It has very little resource usage, all things considered. You can opt them full HIPS down to a level that it just makes the network firewall leak-proof, without controlling further activity. Otherwise it includes some tools to reduce need for user intervention when working with programs from really trustworthy sources ("trusted vendors" for digitally signed programs, "clean PC mode", temporary "installation mode", "training mode"--they also work for the firewall component). It now comes bundled with its own Comodo Antivirus, although that's not yet one of the best, and again you can opt it out during installation.

Hope it helps.

Hey, thanks for all the info, Japo! Although I was aware of some of it, it was still helpful