Customer Reviews

Kensington Personal Firewall, USB Security Key, Mobile Security for Windows Notebooks

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Once I installed it, it proceeded to close down all communications through my internet connection. I guess you could consider it to be a bulletproof firewall, as no data could get in or out of my computer. I had to reboot twice after uninstalling it to get things back to normal. To be generous about the experrience, it's possible that installing it introduced some conflict with my existing ZoneAlarm firewall (a product I recommend unequivocally, btw). I had bought the thing because of the claim that it would protect my data when working in a wireless hotspot. I assumed, therefore, that it would offer some data protection capability over and above what an ordinarly firewall offers. For $10, it seemed a reasonable gamble. Now that I've tried it, there's no need for the rest of you to spend your hard-earned $$$ on this thing. It does have a cute light that glows green when you plug it in.

Unfortunately, the product comes with virtually zero documentation on its features or its use. Kensington must not much like the product either, as there's no information about it whatsoever on its website. The question remains: what exactly is this product supposed to do? In particular, what -- if anything -- makes it uniquely suited for use in a wireless environment? I'd love to know if anyone has figured that out.

When I saw this item for sale, I must have been one of the first to buy it. Seems great in concept, especially if you use hot spots for internet access. I use two different laptops, one for work and one for personal use. One has windows XP Pro, the other just XP. When I plugged the kensington firewall into my USB the first computer, the system recognized that a new piece of hardware was installed and then froze up for a few seconds before the blue screen came up and the system crashed. On the second attempt on my other computer it happened even quicker ( within 3 seconds of plugging it in ). Thankfully I was able to restart both of them and no apparent damage was caused. I have NEVER had anything like this happen with any other device I have ever plugged into my computer. Be very careful before you use this GIZMO!!!

Since "zero" is not an option, I had to settle for "one". Avoid this device at all cost. It crashed my XP Media Edition OS, and rendered my laptop unusable. Not even Safe Mode or Last Known Good would work. And I agree with the earlier reviewer regarding Kensinton's support... they offered no assistance, and instead refered me to India (I mean Dell). Dell said the diagnostic showed corrupted clusters and that my hard drive was crashed. So they shipped me a refurb replacement, and I had the joyous task of reinstalling my entire software base. Lessons learned... backup frequently and avoid Kensington products.

This device crashed 2 computers running Windows XP immediately after plugging in. Both had to be turned off manually. The laptop battery needed to be unplugged and when rebooted showed the fatal errors. Do not waste your money on this. Amazon needs to remove it from their store.

Bought 2, one for personal use, one for gift to colleague. Fortunately the gift did work, but the one for personal use was empty (no protection software, so functions only as memory stick). When contacted, Kensington replied no longer supporting product and recommended against using because it can 'corrupt' your data, etc. I had used another one for a long time and no problem with Windows XP, wanted another one for our new laptop.