Free Firewall & Security Software -- These are some of the best personal firewalls and Internet security products and services that are available free for personal use.

Personal Firewalls

• Zonealarm -- See free/plus/pro comparison and download.
• Kerio Personal Firewall -- See free/pro comparison and download.
• Sygate Personal Firewall -- See free/pro comparison and download.
• See our firewalls page for reviews and more choices.

Important Installation Tips -- Before installing personal firewall software on a Windows XP computer, be sure that the firewall built into Windows XP is turned off. Never use two software firewalls at the same time. Completely uninstall one before installing another. Use the vendor's uninstall utility or if not available, use the Windows XP add/remove software tool in the control panel.  After you install a firewall, be sure to check it with a service like the Security Space Desktop Audit to make sure that it is configured correctly. Testing your firewall is the only sure way to tell that your computer is really being protected. See our installation page for more information.

Ad Blocker -- WebWasher for Windows, Macintosh and Linux includes filters for web bugs, referrers, cookies, and urls. See our Privacy products page for more information.

Anti-Trojan -- Try the online GFI TrojanScan and take a look at a² free. See our anti-Trojan page for more information.

Anti-Virus -- AVG AntiVirus, AntiVir Personal Edition, Avast! 4 Home Edition, and F-PROT for DOS. See our Anti-Virus page and Free Antivirus: Finally Ready for Prime Time, Scott Spanbauer, PC World, November 25, 2003, for more information.

Browsers -- Internet Explorer (IE) based AVANT includes pop-up stopper, flash filter and records cleaner; and MyIE2 includes ad blocker and privacy protection. Both programs support the RoboForm password manager and form filler (see below). For a complete alternative to IE, take a look at Mozilla 1.6 or Firefox 0.8.

Email Encryption -- Pretty Good Privacy, PGP Corporation; and the Hush Mail email service. See our Privacy products page for more information.

Internet Explorer Security Tool -- Qwik-Fix from Pivx Solutions includes: IE Zone Fixes, RPC/DCOM to prevent any RPC related vulnerabilities, HTA mime-type vulnerabilities, Windows Messenger vulnerabilities (blocks desktop spam as well), and ADODB.Stream file writing and related Trojan exploits.

Password Managers -- RoboForm and AccountLogon; see our Privacy products page for more information.

Privacy Cleaner -- IE Privacy Keeper. See our Privacy products page for more information.

Security Suite -- Computer Associates eTrust EZ Armor includes firewall and anti-virus; free for one year; limited time offer.

Security Testing Services -- Free basic security audits from Security Space and Hackerwhacker. See our test page for more information.

Spam Stoppers -- FuseMail Personal is a free online email service with spam filtering that collects email from all of your other mail boxes. For your desktop computer, take a look at SpamBayes and Ella for Spam Control. For more information, see our anti-spam page.

Spyware Find, Remove & Block

• Try the Earthlink Spy Audit online service to find spyware on your computer.
• Use SpywareBlaster & SpywareGuard to block spyware from loading onto your computer.
• Use IE-SpyAd and AGNIS/ProWAGoN to block nasty ads that can infect your computer.
• Use Spybot Search & Destroy by PepiMK Software and/or Ad-aware (one free and two pay versions) to find and remove spyware on your computer.
• See our Anti-Spyware page for more information.