[W3FSY]

After reading about some members updating to later versions of firewalls, I thought I better make the move and put the latest version of Online Armor (Free) on my computer as my version was a few versions old. Being a member of the Emsisoft Forum, back on January of this year and using my old faithful Online Armor v 4.0.0.44, I inquired at the forum about updating to a newer version. (I was deeply concerned about conflicting "shields" between my Avast A.V. and Online Armor.) Some of you may have noticed my signature had contained the old version 4.0.0.44 that I thought was the greatest.

In the past, I've used Zone Alarm (Free) and knew I didn't want to go back to using that firewall. I did my scans (MBAM, SAS and Avast AV quick scans) on all accounts prior to deleting my old version of OA. Re-booted twice after deleting from Add/Remove Programs the old version. Ran ATF and then downloaded the new version. Knowing I had a clean Windows XP operating system, I selected to run the OA install set-up as "Trusted". In no time, I was running the new version and I'm amazed at how it operates (user friendly). The latest version makes automatic decisions on programs that are used and it is almost unnoticed as to speed of accessing any programs.

(I'm passing along this info not to "Down" Zone Alarm and want to make that point.) I did make OA "Exclusions" for Avast AV and also SUPERAntiSpyware programs and have Avast "Exclusions" for Online Armor as well as it is recommended so there are no conflicts in accessing the Internet.

Ron

[JudyC]

We're glad you had such a positive experience with the new version Ron. Thanks for your feedback and the information you included about setup and exclusions.

People's experiences with software will vary and that's not a slam at any program, it's just that no one can predict with any degree of certainty how any given program will perform or run on a computer because of all of the potential hardware/software variations (unless of course, there are "known issues/conflicts" and we try to include that info when it available to us).

[mumsboys]

Thanks for your feedback Ron. I'm sure it will help others in the future

[W3FSY]

Your welcome, ladies. Hope this will be of help to others that should try the Online Armor Free firewall.

I posted at Emsisoft Forum that I had updated to the latest version after using an old version of OA and got a reply from one of their Software (Development) employees on the Emsisoft Team reminding me that the Free version now allows the firewall to automatically check on a daily basis and that upgrade installs would not need to be done. WOW! It does provide daily updates as I saw it showing in the OA history. I just wanted to pass that bit of info along to everyone. Previously, you had to delete the old version. Then download and install the new version if available.

[Ally]

This sounds like a really good firewall for those who use XP, Ron. Thanks for all the great info!

[JudyC]

[W3FSY]

I used a direct link from my old version of OA and no toolbar was offered.

Click on the "Free Version" one to download:

http://www.online-ar...m/downloads.php

Ron

[JudyC]

Thanks, Ron. We changed our link to the new version hosted on Softpedia. We prefer to do it that way if at all possible, rather than on a page offering several versions. We've gotten chewed before when people get the wrong product.

[Scoot]

Thanks for the link to both of you. I've decided to finally get a new firewall set up on my old XP desktop after I got an email from a site I only looked at (a vet's office in another state). I know they can pick up your ISP, but dunno how they got my email. All scans afterward were clean, and I have the payfer MBAB. I had a lot of problems with Zone Alarm with my router setup, and was only using the Windows firewall. Anyone pefer Outpost to Online Armor? Just trying to get some opinions. TIA!

[JudyC]

Scoot, the best advice I can offer is to pick one and try it. If you don't like it, you can always uninstall it, reboot and try the next.

It's really impossible to recommend one product over another because of all of the differences in computer hardware, configuration and installed software. What may do beautifully on one computer may be a disaster on another. Case in point, I absolutely loved the Kerio (Sunbelt) firewall, but have one computer that cannot run it without throwing continuous blue screens of death. I was never able to figure out why and neither was Kerio support. I finally wound up installing the PCTools firewall on it and kept it until it became problematic. I uninstalled that one and am currently using the Outpost firewall on that machine.

Both Outpost and Online Armor are good firewalls and have good reputations (and that is what we base our decisions on for products featured in our Links section), but if you look on their forums, you will see posts from a certain percentage of users who have encountered problems, some solvable, some not. So, cross your fingers, pick one, install it, configure it and see how it flies. If you have problems, check in the product's forum for a solution or post asking for help. If you find you or your computer just can't work with it, uninstall it and try the other.

[Scoot]

Thank you, Judy! I'm all for ease of use, so will do as you suggested and give one a whirl. Seemed like I was always fighting ZA over one thing or another .

[JudyC]

You're welcome and same here, Scoot. I'm all for setting it and forgetting it as far as firewalls are concerned and I had the same issues with ZA. It seemed every update brought connection problems and I finally got tired of dealing with it.

Also, no matter which one you choose, make sure to completely uninstall Zone Alarm and reboot before installing the other firewall and check after installation that the Windows firewall has been disabled. Ideally, this should happen automatically, but sometimes, it doesn't.

It would also be a good idea for you to post a HijackThis log in the Malware Help forum afterwards so we can make sure all of Zone Alarm is gone and your other firewall is up and running as it should.

[Scoot]

Oops...did not mean to leave you hanging there, Judy . I have some other fires not related to my computer to put out at the moment, but will definitely get back to a firewall. Pretty sure ZA is gone because I never reinstalled it after I got the new hard drive. Have a Happy Thanksgiving if I don't get back in here before then .

[JudyC]

Thanks and you too, Scoot. ZA removal sometimes leaves a related service running on XP that is not needed and uses up some system resources, but it's not critical (unless you have minimal RAM) and we can certainly wait to check at a more convenient time. As you said, since you have replaced the hard drive and never installed it on the new drive, it would be highly unusual for it to show up unless you placed some backed up files on the drive that contained some ZA related folders/files.

[W3FSY]

I will attempt to explain how one "Excludes" a program from being scanned as I mentioned in my first post.

To exclude a program such as "Avast A.V." from the Online Armor firewall program. Click on the OA program icon in your task bar to open the Online Armor program> select Options> Exclusions> click on "Add" to create the path or program to be excluded. Windows Explorer opens> scroll down to Local Disk (C:)> select Program Files> Alwil Software> Click on Avast folder to highlight it. Avast folder and sub-folders will be "added" from being scanned by Online Armor firewall.

(If you feel like you want to add the sub-folders as well as I've done, you can add Defs, Set-up & Web Rep in the same way as explained for the Avast Folder.) I also have SuperAntiSpyware (SAS) excluded from OA firewall as they also use HIPS scanning.

It is recommended and a good idea to exclude Online Armor firewall from Avast Anti-Virus program as well so the programs operate without questioning each other when doing their high-speed scanning.

[LA-Lili]

Just a note -- as a long-time user of the Kerio, then Sunbelt free firewall, I was sad to see their support discontinued. Also still love my Windows XP, so finding a free firewall that was effective and can be used with this platform was wonderful. Knew I needed to do the switch before year's end, so went through the process today and Online Armor (Free) Firewall is now installed and running fine. Pretty intuitive, and so far, I like the way it guides you through the tasks to allow and/or block certain programs. I did let it go through and scan my system to make sure that I had taken care of any problems prior to letting the program run.

Thanks for the suggestion, Ron, and to you, Judy, for always keeping us up to date with the latest important changes for our systems, no matter what versions we are running! Appreciate all the knowledge passed along.

[JudyC]

You're welcome Lili and I'm glad to hear you are happy with your new choice.

[LA-Lili]

[W3FSY]

I just downloaded and installed the latest version of Online Armor Firewall released on Feb. 10, 2012. Rather than make a new thread, there is a lot of info in this thread that is needed when installing the new version.

The latest version is 5.5.0.1557 as you may notice from my signature. On Feb. 9th my daily updating stopped and it asked me to enter my "License Key". Of course, I had no license key and kept getting error messages when trying to update manually. I would get up to 19 updates downloaded out of 72 updates. The new "Free Edition" has a license key to it.

La-Lili, Son of Dracula and others that have installed OA earlier version 5.1.1.1395, you may have noticed your automatic daily updating has ceased and you need to uninstall and download the latest version. (See post number 7 of this thread.) I want to make note that they are offering a "30 day - Trial Premium Version", but in small print at the bottom you will see "Free Edition" when you are doing your installation should you only want a Free Firewall without the extra features of the Premium version. Click on "Free Edition" to continue with your installation should you only want a Free Firewall without other protection.

With doing a new "clean install", you are offered to perform a "Trusted" install if you know your operating system is "clean". You will have to enable your "Exclusions" for programs with installing a new version.

Ron

[LA-Lili]

Thanks, Ron -- updated yesterday -- must say if I hadn't checked in here I wouldn't have known it was out of date as I don't usually think to check that daily just assume it's updating. Guess I'll have to be more aware -- makes me nervous as there was no obvious indication that it had stopped with that process. Thanks again, all updated now.

[W3FSY]

Glad to hear you got the new version and things are as they should be, LA-Lili. I've been using OA (Free Edition) since the 3.5 version. (At least 4 years. Always found it very user friendly.)

Mike Nash from Tall Emu owned it back then. He sold OA to Emsisoft Software a few years ago.

Ron

[RobynAU]

When I read your post about the new version, it dawned on me that I hadn't seen an update in several days. I've only had Online Armor a couple of months, so am still learning. But this download was easier that the first time.

Thank you so much for the heads up, Ron!

[W3FSY]

Your Welcome, RobynAU.

Your "Status" Page that reminds you of your Computer Protection that is being provided - displays the last "Update" that you have received with your firewall. When it shows as the last Update being Feb. 9th and is not the current date, that indicates your program is not updating and you are in need of installing the latest Online Armor version 5.5.0.1557.