(Solved -I hope) Need Firewall Recommendation for W2K Guest

[rec]

I am trying to set up a Windows 2000 guest on a Ubuntu 9.0.4 host VBox. I tried Online Armor and got the host crashes. Then I read the forum and decided to change firewalls. Comodo sounds like a good solution, except it requires Windows XP or later.

I am looking for something that monitors both inbound and outbound transfers. I would also like it to be free for personal use.

[vbox4me2]

Sygate used to have a good one, you'd have to search around for it.

[rec]

As an update, I have found that I can (sometimes) run Online Armor. Based on advice from the OA forum I have switched from version 3.5.0.32 to version 3.2.026.free. It appears that something happened during their update cycle and the latest version has problems with W2K. The system is still not fully stable. If I allow OA to start as a part of starting the VM, I still get crashes with the 3.2.026.free version. If I manually start OA after W2K finishes all of its initializations, OA seems to work ok. I haven't tried it enough to be sure.

Also, OA seemed to work better before I installed the Windows guest services. Of course the limitations of working without guest services are intollerable.

rec

[rec]

Another update. W2K guest and Online Armor seem to be happy now. The switch to version 3.2.026.free and setting up some firewall rules for Online Armor appears to have solved my problems. I am even allowing Online Armor to start up with the launch or W2k.

This combination has been stable for several days.

The only issue that I have noticed is that sometimes if I let the W2k guest sit idle for several minutes I sometimes lose the keyboard. This is quite eratic and have not been able to troubleshoot the problem. I doubt if it is related to my original Online Armor problem.

Overall I am pleased with the way virtualbox works.

[sej7278]

i'd say ditch w2k, but how about using iptables on the host as the firewall?

[MarkCranness]

Kerio Personal Firewall 2.1.5 works on Windows 2000.

http://web.archive.org/web/200404041805 ... en-win.exe
http://tinyurl.com/kpf215

(The file at the link above is the same vesion I downloaded from the Kerio site on Sept 2003.
MD5: 0da51e1414eb4622860795278ac756be
CRC32: ed34b942)

It is old and leaky(*), but works well and is very configurable.

* Leaky, don't worry: For comparison, Windows XP firewall is 100% 'leaky' by design. Leaky means that the firewall won't necessarily stop malware running on the PC from making outgoing connections to infect other PCs on your network or the internet. KPF 2.1.5 can be configured to restrict outgoing, but sneaky malware can bypass those restrictions.
http://www.viruslist.com/en/analysis?pubid=204791977
If you get infected, having a leaky firewall may be the least of your worries!

[jadams2337]

I am running Windows XP in a VirtualBox, and the host system is Ubuntu 9.10. Do I need to use a firewall in Windows XP, or is the Iptables firewall in Ubuntu sufficient?

jadams2337

[Sasquatch]

I am running Windows XP in a VirtualBox, and the host system is Ubuntu 9.10. Do I need to use a firewall in Windows XP, or is the Iptables firewall in Ubuntu sufficient?

jadams2337

Depends, do you use NAT or Bridged? With the latter, iptables won't be of any use for the Guest. It's always a good idea to have the same kind of security in the Guest as on the Host, so firewall and anti virus.