Harriet wrote:
>which of the FREE firewalls would you recommend>>


Zone Alarm Free is the usual recommendation. It will include the Pro (ie 
anti-spyware) version for the first 14 days, then will revert to the basic 
free firewall only if you don't purchase the anti-spyware suite.

The XP firewall only blocks inwards traffic.  Sooner or later, you are sure 
to get some malware which will piggyback in via your browser or via some 
authorised downloaded file---there's nothing any firewall can do about 
this.  Therefore you need to be warned if anything unexpected is trying to 
access the internet to transmit information out. It's often the first 
indication of any piece of malware trying to activate, and will place you 
on alert.

Like most any good firewall, ZA has an initial learning curve----it asks 
for permission each time anything tries to connect to the internet. Once 
given, it stores those permissions so you don't get asked again for that 
particular program (such as your browser, emailer, download manager, 
etc).  Whilst Tom may complain that they are pretty dumb in not 
automatically allowing many regular programs such as browsers,---- and I 
completely agree with him on that---- at least it's comforting to know that 
your firewall is doing its job.

Other popular firewalls are Kerio and Comodo.

In addition to your regular firewall, I also recommend the freeware 
Winpatrol. It seems to work well with ZA, but in a different 
way.   Whenever anything tries to make suspicious alterations to your 
startups, or to certain file associations, or to some vulnerable parts of 
the registry, it will alert you and ask for permission. If it is something 
you are actively installing or changing, you just tick yes without any 
further thought.  But if it suddenly warns you something unexpected is 
happening which you didn't initiate, then that's a danger sign. It also 
contains some very useful functions such as a good startup manager, and its 
interface is nice and simple, with easily understood explanations. Ideal 
for beginners, and not too intrusive like some similar programs.

Don Penlington


 From the Beach at Surfers Paradise in sunny Queensland.
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http://users.tpg.com.au/deepend/index1.html

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