In the proactive defense, what's the difference between installation mode and previous mode? After the installation I was in installation mode, and it asked me if I wanna switch to previous mode, which I did, but I don't know exactly what it does.
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When you try to install something, the firewall pops up to ask if it should allow the program to run, and it you select that it is an installer then it will ask if you wish to switch to installation mode. Installation mode allows that program to perform whatever tasks it needs on the system files and registry without it continuing to ask for permission every few seconds.

And then once the install completes the firewall will ask if you wish to switch back to the previous mode, which will be however you have the firewall set to work normally before it went into installation mode.
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Ok, things cleared up
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I've continued to use Comodo for my main firewall since April and haven't had any problem with it until now.

In the last week however I've been having a very serious issue. Whenever I open any application that uses internet access like a browser or email client the firewall component cmdagent.exe jumps to 100% CPU usage, slows the system to a halt and stays using all CPU time for a few minutes before releasing it and everything going back to normal. It also does this when I clear the cache in Firefox 3, and that freezes the system for about 5 minutes.

I've done some searching and discovered other having the same problem with cmdagent.exe and they report that disabling the COMODO logging has fixed the problem. So I just did that, rebooted the system, and so far cmdagent.exe has remained at 0% CPU usage all of the time. I've tested opening email, browsers etc and so far all seems to be back to normal. With overall CPU usage below 30% for all tasks running combined.

I'm going to monitor this more when I am using the computer more tomorrow. Fingers crossed this has fixed the problem.

Has anyone else had this issue with COMODO firewall?

To disable the logs you need to open Comodo and go to the Miscellaneous section, then click on Settings. In the popup window select the Logging tab and tick both the Diable Firewall logging and Disable Defense+ logging. Then reboot for it to take effect.

apparently the CPU usage and slowdown is caused by Comodo trying to log everything being accessed as internet enabled applications load or perform intensive tasks and this creates a very large log file that causes the problem.

I will report more tomorrow once I've tested it more.
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I'm also still using the firewall but I never had problems you described until now. I'm still using Firefox 2. But I disabled the logging now.

I have a little problem with Avast now though. Since the latest update, whenever I open Outlook Express to receive my mails, I get following error:

So I stop On-Access protection and I'm able again to get my mails, then start it again. No idea why this happens now. Have to say that I didn't investigate further yet. Only noticed that I have a lot of svchost.exe running.
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I'm still using v2.4 after trying out v3.5, so I can't help.

v2.4 is just the better firewall if you ask me. Absolutely rock stable, simple and clear interface, less automatic features, more user controllable, and I've yet to have a bug or performance issue from it running on several machines (my own, brothers, parents etc).

Not sure if v2.4 works under Vista however.

v3.5 tries to do too much and a lot of automatic features make controlling it harder. I'm sure they'll iron it out, but at the moment they seem to still be developing it and having issues.
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Disabling the logging seems to have fixed the CPU usage issues I was having, so fingers crossed it is now sorted out. Given the choice I would always opt for Outpost Pro, but that is not quite expensive and when they are free Firewalls as good as Comodo available I don't see the point in paying for a different one.

I am going to be investigating what Firewalls are currently available though. I like to do this every 6 months or so as new ones are always coming out and bettering older ones. Same is true of Virus checkers. However I've yet to find one as good as Kaspersky which I gladly pay for. I might buy their complete security suite which includes their firewall when I next need to renew my subscription.
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I use ONLINE ARMOUR combined with THREATFIRE for my online protection. Both great and free.....................

http://www.tallemu.com/free-firewall...-software.html

http://www.threatfire.com/
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I've heard of Threatfire as it's now made by PC Tools, for which I use a couple of their other tools Spyway Doctor and registry mechanic. It's meant to be a good Malware scanner.

And I've heard of the name Online Armour, but I haven't read anything about it so don't know how it holds up against other Firewalls.
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I once bought Kaspersky Internet Security, as what I read about it, it seemed to be the best internet security software on the market, but to be honest, it was a pain in the ass. I configured it during hours and hours, and still got hundreds of pop-ups by it. When installing a game, I had at least 25 pop-ups from Kaspersky, but I didn't want to lower the security.

I think such software variates from system to system, it may work for one person, but for the other it won't. I already got a lot of complaints about Spybot from several friends, I have running it on 3 computers, and it works like a charm. A friend of mine ruined his system with it. Bad luck.
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