Are there any free software firewalls that run on Windows 2000 Server?

October 13, 2005 4:06 PM

Are there any free software firewalls that run on Windows 2000 Server?

I have Windows 2000 Server on one of my machines because Microsoft was selling licenses cheap five years ago, so that admins would get trained on it. Now I want to install a firewall to catch outgoing programs, but every free one I've tried refuses to run on the Server version of 2000. They all want me to buy a multi-hundred dollar enterprise firewall. Help!

posted by smackfu to computers & internet (7 comments total)

Which ones have you tried? Did ZoneAlarm work?
posted by furtive at 4:15 PM on October 13, 2005

You can use RRAS to block outgoing ports if you want, but this won't necessarily stop programs tunneling through an open port.

I'm not aware the Security Configuration Wizard is available for 2000, but I've found it useful.

Lastly, I haven't found any free software firewalls that I would trust on a production machine, or even a test machine that is remotely located.
posted by fishfucker at 5:32 PM on October 13, 2005

I tried Kerio Personal Firewall. No.
I tried Zone Alarm. No.

It's not a production machine. If it was, I'd have money to buy something. It's just a home machine with an old license. Other than crippled software like firewalls, 2000 Server works just as well as 2000 Pro for my purposes.
posted by smackfu at 5:44 PM on October 13, 2005

I used sygate personal firewall on a 2K server machine a couple of years ago. I can't swear that it still does though.
posted by TimeFactor at 5:47 PM on October 13, 2005

You could try Agnitum Outpost Free.
posted by Pigpen at 6:14 PM on October 13, 2005

I'd personally just get a cheap router and use NAT. Good enough for a home machine.
posted by Sharcho at 8:01 AM on October 14, 2005

Thanks. I'll give those a try. I have a router but it doesn't do anything against trojans or programs calling home. It's not like I can block outgoing HTTP.
posted by smackfu at 8:10 PM on October 16, 2005