On PCs with Windows 10 there is a basic protection against viruses and Trojans offered by Windows Defender, which is regularly updated together with the operating system and able to intervene in most cases of infection. If, however, we found ourselves badly with the integrated antivirus and wanted to replace it with a more effective solution and with more protection features to completely lock the PC against any possible security problem, we can try the Comodo suite, the only truly free one as well to protect your PC against viruses, against external intrusions and dangerous programs by installing Comodo Antivirus, a complete free solution that integrates antivirus, firewall, sandbox and advanced access control to files and folders.
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1) The components present in Comodo
Before going into the installation and configuration of the Comodo suite, let's see together what the various components indicate (in addition to the antivirus).
Firewall
A firewall is a protection, to be imagined as a wall, of the internet connection.
When a computer connects to the internet and there is a firewall in the middle, the data transmitted by the applications must be authorized by the administrator who must therefore open the ports for the programs.
A firewall can be both hardware and software type.
The hardware firewall is, in fact, the router that can be configured to block certain external connections and acts as a filter preventing someone from entering the computer from the outside.
A software-type firewall is instead a simple antivirus-like program, which can be configured by the user to authorize or not authorize programs to use the internet and to prevent someone from outside entering the system and controlling it illegally.
The firewall is included in Windows 10, but that of Comodo is much more effective (it is activated by default).
Sandbox
The sandbox is a controlled environment where you can start any new program (downloaded from the Internet) without danger, since all the files required by the program are "virtualized" so as to prevent deep changes to the system.
If the file is harmful, it cannot exit the sandbox anyway, it will remain "trapped" inside until we delete everything.
It is basically active on Comodo.
HIPS
HIPS is an advanced control system that allows you to intercept practically any type of threat, controlling everything that is done on the PC (even simply moving the mouse generates codes that are analyzed by HIPS).
Given the difficulty in using it if you are not an advanced user (many startup windows may appear on first start), HIPS is basically disabled on Comodo, but we can activate it to obtain a very high level of protection at the expense of simplicity of use.
Behavioral control
Behavioral control works on each file started, created and modified by sensing which resources are used and which paths are exploited by programs and processes.
If a program does something "out of line", the control intervenes by warning the user of suspicious behavior, outside the standards.
Really very useful for blocking new threats and more dangerous viruses, but it could generate a few too many windows with Microsoft digitally unsigned programs (since they do not have a known behavior, they would make the control suspicious).
Basic on Comodo is active.
Cloud analysis
With the cloud, it is possible to analyze each suspicious file without signature by comparing it with the databases and test environments available online, providing in a few seconds an answer on the real danger of a program or process.
Significantly improves the effectiveness of the antivirus, which is why it is usually activated by default on Comodo.
2) Convenient installation
Now that we know all the components of Comodo, we can download it for free for our PC from here -> Comodo Antivirus .
If you want to download only the free Comodo Firewall, you can go to the official website .
Before installing the program we must make sure that the computer is free from malware; it may seem strange as advice but since a firewall is used to authorize internet connections of active programs and processes, if there was a virus not recognized by the user it could be authorized to do whatever it wants.
I therefore refer to the article on how to know if the computer is infected with malware and viruses to make the necessary checks.
During the installation, choose the custom one and you will be given the opportunity to change the DNS servers with Comodo's secure ones to protect web browsing and increase the loading speed of the pages.
If you are using the default DNS servers offered by the provider, then it is worth accepting this change, otherwise you can deselect this option.
It is advisable to leave the option "enable behavioral analysis in the cloud" to make Comodo Internet Security easier to use and more powerful against threats.
Instead, the option that changes the home page and the search engine should be deselected.
Among the things offered with the installation we can try, if desired, the secure browser Comodo Dragon.
At the end of the steps, just click on Install to start the actual installation, which may take a few minutes (the necessary files will be downloaded from the Internet and installed).
3) Optimal Firewall protection
The Comodo Firewall activates immediately after installation and, for even more effective protection, we recommend opening the Comodo settings and changing the firewall options as follows.
We set the Enable traffic filter item to Safe, then we enable the Create rules for safe applications items, activate the Alarm frequency level and set it to Low and finally we enable the items Filter IPv6 traffic and Enable anti ARP spoofing .
With these settings, the firewall will immediately create rules for Microsoft-certified safe programs and only show alarm windows about really dangerous files or suspicious behavior.
4) Optimal Antivirus Protection
Comodo's antivirus is very good, but we can make it really perfect by setting its components in the suite settings.
In the Real-time scan menu , we deactivate the item DO NOT show the warnings, we enable the items Memory at startup, Set the time of the new warnings on the screen to ( 120 sec. ), Set new maximum file size to ( 100 MB ), Set new size maximum script at ( 4 MB ) and finally we enable the Heuristic Level item by setting it to Low .
We will thus obtain good protection from any threat, even the most dangerous ones.
4) Additional defenses
By clicking on the Manage protection button we can decide which components to remain active on Comodo and which to deactivate.
From the settings it is possible to enable HIPS, which we remember is only optional given its complexity.
To activate the Sandbox just insert the check mark under Auto-Containtment, so as to start suspicious programs without a certificate in this safe mode and avoid infections.
READ ALSO: how to create a sandbox to try even dangerous programs
VirusScope allows you to restore files deleted and modified by the virus, keeping track of changes made by suspicious programs, so you never lose a file.
Other useful protections are the Web Filter and the Safe Purchase mode, which make the use of the PC even safer when we shop.
To take advantage of the cloud component of Comodo (which uses the Internet to be able to immediately intercept new threats or suspicious behavior) just click in the Settings and in the File Ratings menu enable each item present in the window.
5) Conclusions
Comodo Antivirus is really a useful program for any home PC, since it adds an almost inviolable level of protection to your computer .
The firewall that the sandbox can cause some annoyance to the user in the first days, but it takes very little to learn how to use it and make the most of it (we can always disable the Firewall components and use only the Antivirus together with the other protection tools).
Even if it is a software that works autonomously, a minimum of experience and IT skills are required to use it and understand its meaning.
This is certainly not an indispensable program, but it is still an excellent one-of-a-kind security program, at least considering the fact that it is also free!
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