Vista - Comodo firewall queries

Attracted by the additional outbound protection offered, I decided to install Comodo.
I seem to recall (but may be mistaken) that when I installed Comodo on an XP machine, Comodo automatically switched off the Windows firewall and Windows also recognised that Comodo was installed and had taken the place of the Windows firewall.
Therefore I was surprised that after installing Comodo on my Vista machine that the Windows firewall was still on and when switched off still told me that I had no firewall.
Is this correct behaviour or has my installation not gone correctly?
Also, when I first log on I get a pop-up from Comodo telling me that svchost.exe is trying to access the internet - is that valid and what should my response be to set it permanently recognised as good?

Hi Charlie,

You should turn Windows Firewall off before installing COMODO, but I did not have a problem either way on my system. If you do not have COMODO listed in the Security Center, then I would uninstall it and reinstall it after Windows Firewall is turned off.



svchost.exe is usually a Vista system process, so it should be safe.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Thanks for the quick reply Shawn - you must be an early riser, or a late-to-bedder!

I did a system restore anyway, so I'll give it another try.

I think it's a little of both.

Let us know how it goes for you please.

Shawn

I stopped my anti-virus before installing. Should I also stop Windows Defender and Spywareblaster?

Windows Defender and Spywareblaster is fine to leave on. It installed fine for me with these running.

Thanks Shawn. Might not get round to it until the weekend. Will let you know how it goes.

OK, I'll see you then. Take care.

Shawn, what do you think about the Vista Firewall Control from Sphinx? I had a quick try of it last night and it seemed to do the job of alerting me to outbound connections which is all I really want to do.
It's obviously not as complex and sophisticated as Comodo, but simple things for simple minds!

Charlie,

It looks like it makes using the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security option easier to use.

Windows Firewall with Advanced Security

I have not tried Sphinx, but I have heard good things about it. If it does what you want it to do, then it sounds ok since it uses the built-in Windows Firewall.

Shawn