Ashampoo Firewall - good but only free with registration

Notes from ClifNotes, Aug 2006, Updated Nov 2007, permalink Personal Firewalls

One of the frequent contributors here, Bill Allin, commented that he is trying out the Ashampoo firewall. I got curious and decided to try it too.

This free firewall offers true two-way protection that not only prevents intrusions from the internet, but can also stop unknown programs on your PC from contacting the internet.

After downloading it from Download.com, I installed it and had no problems. It starts with a short configuration wizard that asks you to choose either an expert or easy mode. Even though I'm no expert, I decided to try the expert mode because it offers more protection from wi-fi connections if you are on the road with a laptop.

After running it awhile, I found that the firewall was not slowing my PC down. There were plenty of prompts at the beginning. Every time you start a program that wants to connect to the internet or your local network, it asks you to accept, deny or create a rule for the connection. I found this to be very simple to understand and after a day or two, the prompts have not been coming up except when I happen to try out new software.

There is only one drawback to this free offer that I can complain about. After installation the firewall tells you that you have a 10 day trial period before you have to register it. This may be confusing to some people. Even though you have to register this program, they don't ask you for any money. The registration requires that you give out your email address and any other information that you supply is optional. You will receive at least two emails during registration and it looks like they add you to a newsletter that they send out occasionally.

I can recommend this firewall despite the need to register it. I really like it so far.

click to expand picture

Quote from the website

Small and efficient instead of big and confusing

If you don’t have a degree in computer science, using a firewall program can be quite frustrating. In addition to all the confusing jargon, current firewalls are getting to be very big programs. Sometimes you have the feeling that you’re installing an entire office suite instead of a basic network tool.

The brand-new Ashampoo FireWall FREE is different. Its Configuration Assistant guides you through every step of the simple setup process. And Easy Mode makes using it a breeze – you don’t need any special technical knowledge and everything is explained clearly.

Ashampoo FireWall FREE is also amazingly compact. Even with its four additional security tools it’s a tiny program that uses very little memory and computer resources. You get the heavy-duty protection without heavyweight overload on your system.

This program can be classified as RegisterWare because it requires an email address.

Home page for Ashampoo Firewall

Ashampoo Firewall is now free

tips from TopFreeware, Aug 2006, permalink Personal Firewalls

From TF

I sent this to a reader, Gabor, who was looking for free firewalls. Here's what he said.

From Gabor

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