Online Armor on Giveawayoftheday (May 26, 2009)

[lanux128]

today's offering at GAOTD - Online Armor.

• http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/online-armor/

[cyberdiva]

Yes, I saw this and was somewhat interested, since I'm still using Sygate  .  However, I also read Michael Horowitz's review in CNET, and I'm not sure whether OA is what I want.  Of course, I'm not sure I know what I want.  I also wonder whether there's any substantial advantage to getting the commercial version of Online Armor rather than the highly regarded freeware version.  Do any DC members have experience with Online Armor, free or commercial?

[Steven Avery]

Hi Folks,

Yes, Online Armor is fine, it has some fundamental HIPS protection, I especially note direct disk access prompts. And  I put two posts in on the GAOTD thread.  The OA forums are kewl, plus Wilder's has lots of discussion.

One restriction on the Free that I noted was that the restricted ports were unchangeable.  Plus backup stuff is I think lighter and easier on the Pro, you have to do some stuff by hand on the Free. Config flexibility, certain other techie features .. beyond port-by-port .. is Pro only.  So it is certainly advantageous to get the Pro, and they have some sort of $10 - 2 yr. thing available too.

Not sure what all the differences are, there is a chart, I have not run the Pro and am not too firewall-savvy, suffice to say that the Free is very good, the Pro is superb.  In the past I have used mostly Zone Alarm, Kerio / Sunbelt and I have Comodo ready to be deinstalled on a work puter. Today Outpost is the main solid freebie alternative to OA .. a recent addition to their line, PC Tools also possible.  Generally I would bypass firewalls that come from anti-virus companies trying to expand to a suite.  Unless you really like the Suite as a whole, which is a lot of eggs in one basket.

With OA you have a small, really competent company, I combine them with Avira anti-virus.  I was a little surprised to see GAOTD (expected more likely Bits Du Jour).

So unless you are very happy with what you now have .. e.g. a suite that fits you fine or a long-term accommodation to Outpost, Kerio-Sunbelt, PCTools, crikety old Sygate .. a bit dated now .. or another .. I suggest this as the best to do.  

Note: you want to put special attention to whether an existing firewall can be successfully turned off, or needs a full deinstall, and how to do a deinstall.  I would google that for any firewall ready to be decommissioned.  

In general, Wilders has a ton of info, and many there are OA simpatico.

Shalom,
Steven Avery

[cyberdiva]

Hi, Steven.  Thanks very much for your response.  It helped me decide to give up on "crikety old Sygate" and take advantage of the GOTD offer for Online Armor.  So far, all has gone smoothly (knock on wood, salt over my shoulder). 

[Dormouse]

One nice thing about the offer is that there is no need to install it now, just need to 'purchase' it. Can then install it at a time of your own choosing.

[tomos]

One nice thing about the offer is that there is no need to install it now, just need to 'purchase' it. Can then install it at a time of your own choosing.

If i'd a known that   ah well

[J-Mac]

Well this prompted me to finally install a software firewall again. I had been running NOD32, a router w/SPI, and a host of other small but effective scanners, HIPS protection, etc. ever since I tested what was supposed to be the first full release of Sunbelt's redone Sygate firewall - and it messed up my system so bad I had to reinstall Windows.

OA appeared to install OK, but after the required reboot it immediately jumped into a BSOD. Now who said these don't happen anymore?? 

Fortunately I have Who Crashed, a utility for reading crash dumps that I found right here on DC. Sure enough, the culprit was oadriver.sys. I had to power off using the Power button and restart that way. All seems to be OK now but I am naturally very leary. Also I turned off all protections except OA's firewall itself and HIPS protection. NOD32 covers the rest for me and I don't want or need two programs looking after the same things.

Jim

[cyberdiva]

Jim, according to some of the stuff I read yesterday before deciding to install Online Armor, the initial installation often produces what looks like a BSOD, except that after some minutes it revives.  Someone, perhaps Michael Horowitz in his CNET review, took OA to task for not warning people that this was normal and expected behavior during the initial installation.

I've now got OA installed and running, though I'm still a little uneasy with it.  It produces a mini-BSOD for about 45 seconds every time I reboot.  That, too, was something someone mentioned, but I'm finding it VERY annoying.  The last thing I wanted was to increase my already too-long bootup time.    OA also seems to have caused some havoc with my system tray, with some icons appearing only on some reboots.  My linksys wireless network icon, for example, at times simply isn't there, even though I can access the Internet.  When that happens, if I right-click on the bottom taskbar and click on Customize, NO icons are listed!  This never happened before I installed OA.  I'll probably start experimenting with what I can turn off and what I want to leave on, since all I really want is a firewall.

[J-Mac]

Jim, according to some of the stuff I read yesterday before deciding to install Online Armor, the initial installation often produces what looks like a BSOD, except that after some minutes it revives.  Someone, perhaps Michael Horowitz in his CNET review, took OA to task for not warning people that this was normal and expected behavior during the initial installation.

I've now got OA installed and running, though I'm still a little uneasy with it.  It produces a mini-BSOD for about 45 seconds every time I reboot.  That, too, was something someone mentioned, but I'm finding it VERY annoying.  The last thing I wanted was to increase my already too-long bootup time.     OA also seems to have caused some havoc with my system tray, with some icons appearing only on some reboots.  My linksys wireless network icon, for example, at times simply isn't there, even though I can access the Internet.  When that happens, if I right-click on the bottom taskbar and click on Customize, NO icons are listed!  This never happened before I installed OA.  I'll probably start experimenting with what I can turn off and what I want to leave on, since all I really want is a firewall.

Seriously? A BSOD as part of its standard behavior? Wow. I have already disabled most of the extra "frills" that are not firewall-related; why do developers think they have to add features not related to the intent of their software? Auto-scanning for programs that they have on a blacklist? Since when is that a firewall thing? Anti-Spyware, OK, but not in a firewall. I want a firewall to monitor network traffic and stop the bad guys. Not try to act like a mini-A/S & A/V program.

Thanks!

Jim

[cyberdiva]

Just a quick follow-up to say that I've now uninstalled Online Armor.  I did so for two reasons.  One is that, in response to problems I wrote about in the OA forum, someone there who seemed to be knowledgeable told me that yes, I probably had made a mistake replacing Sygate with Online Armor, since OA and McAfee Enterprise are known not to play nicely together.  Had I been happier with OA, I might well have given up on McAfee, which has protected me well but has also caused me a number of problems.  However, I ran into enough problems with OA in the short time I used it that I decided to remove it.  I'll probably try to put Sygate back, at least for now.  It never had a problem co-existing with McAfee.

[ohiocrochetgranny]

I downloaded Online Armor on May 26th from Giveawayoftheday.  While attempting to clean up my PC I accidentally deleted the program.  I did manage to re-install the program but my license is missing from my PC too.  Can anyone help with this problem?
Your time and help is much appreciated.
Thanks

djspoohett@gmail.com

[Dormouse]

I downloaded Online Armor on May 26th from Giveawayoftheday.  While attempting to clean up my PC I accidentally deleted the program.  I did manage to re-install the program but my license is missing from my PC too.  Can anyone help with this problem?

How about contacting Online Armor?

[ohiocrochetgranny]

It was the license that Giveawayoftheday gave out on May 26, 2009.

[app103]

GiveAwayOfTheDay is an extended trial, that lasts only until something messes up the install, such as you uninstalling, deleting (by accident or on purpose) or formatting your PC.

The goal is to get you to try different applications, long enough that when something like that does happen, you will be more likely to buy the application.

So, if you really do like it, download the trial and install it, and before the trial period is up, buy it.

[tomos]

I downloaded Online Armor on May 26th from Giveawayoftheday.  While attempting to clean up my PC I accidentally deleted the program.  I did manage to re-install the program but my license is missing from my PC too.  Can anyone help with this problem?

or install the free version - it's good, I'm not sure what you'd be missing

[Grorgy]

If you go to the user area of the online armor site you can log in and get your licence key.  While app is generally correct the makers of online armor gave a full licence with all the benefits of same in this instance and not just a trial, so, so long as you remember what email address you gave them during the registration process you will be able to retrieve your licence key