Hi. Before I begin, let me just say that I'm pretty much a tech newbie and, as such, am not clear on the exact functions of a firewall besides "blocking intrusions".
I am currently using Norton Internet Security as my anti-virus/firewall, and by reading around on this site, have found out that it's widely accepted to be terrible and a system hog (the latter of which I've learned from personal experience). Due to this, I've decided to switch to a new anti-virus and firewall...which leads me to my question in this post.
Basically, I'm wondering whether or not a software firewall is necessary over the Windows hardware firewall. Is there a significant protection advantage when using a software firewall? Also, are there any downsides to using one over the Windows firewall (slower internet connection speeds, etc)?
On a final note, I'm currently on dial-up; would a software firewall be necessary with this connection rather than only being needed with broadband?
All wisdom is greatly appreciated.
P.S. Going by the firewall poll, Comodo and ZoneAlarm seem to be the best... so I was thinking of a comparison between those two and Windows firewall when I wrote this post.
I am currently using Norton Internet Security as my anti-virus/firewall, and by reading around on this site, have found out that it's widely accepted to be terrible and a system hog (the latter of which I've learned from personal experience). Due to this, I've decided to switch to a new anti-virus and firewall...which leads me to my question in this post.
Basically, I'm wondering whether or not a software firewall is necessary over the Windows hardware firewall. Is there a significant protection advantage when using a software firewall? Also, are there any downsides to using one over the Windows firewall (slower internet connection speeds, etc)?
On a final note, I'm currently on dial-up; would a software firewall be necessary with this connection rather than only being needed with broadband?
All wisdom is greatly appreciated.
P.S. Going by the firewall poll, Comodo and ZoneAlarm seem to be the best... so I was thinking of a comparison between those two and Windows firewall when I wrote this post.