Guess what? About a week ago, we did a short review on Comodo Firewall Pro version 2.4. This week, we bring you yet another short review on its version 3.0.15.277 which was released on January 11, 2008. We gotta say that it really does looks impressive but how well does it perform to our expectations.

On the side note, however they are still actively promoting version 2.4 due to a bigger download button which might sway visitors from clicking on the tiny “Click here for download” for its v3.0. Tricky huh. See over here. Okay, it is time for our review, read on!

Installation

For Windows XP and Vista users
32-bit version - Download
64-bit version - Download

View Comodo download site for new versions!

* Windows 2000 users have to install the older version 2.4. Go to Download section.

On running the installation, we spotted a brand new theme so as to assumed the GUI(graphic user interface) will have a new look. The first configuration we needed to select was whether we wanted to activate Defence+ which is the version 3 highlighted feature.

Defence+ is supposed to tighten the computer’s security against malware trying to gain access to the internet and at the same time prevent malware from attacking the computer weak spots. We will talk more about Defence+ later.

The other two configuration was to choose whether to activate Comodo’s Certified Program and whether you are using any P2P programs such as bitorrent. Installation took less than 5 minutes. Computer has to be restarted then.

On restart, the firewall system starts to scan the hardisk for certified program to be added to the Safe list. This task took quite a while. At the same time, permission pop-up starts to appear as to which program is currently trying to access the internet.

Program Interface

Under the Firewall tab, there are many options a user is able to manage like defining a New Trusted Program, Blocking a specific program, View Active Connections and so on. The View Active Connections in version 3 looks more organized compared to in version 2.4.

Under the new Defence+ tab, you will find almost every function is useful such as ability to protect files and folders, quarantine a file, view and terminate processes, protection against registry changes and the list goes on.

Conclusion

A combo of Comodo Firewall Pro v3 and a proper anti-virus suite will help save the day. Usually, the anti-virus software will act as the first layer detection. If that so happens to fail, there’s always a second layer protection from Comodo.