At the moment I am just using the windows firewall that came with SP2 to protect my P.C., I know I should use anti-virus as well but that is another point.
My questions is, just how good is this firewall compared to the many available to buy such as the one sold by Norton? As long as I keep my P.C. up to date with windows update is this firewall as good as any other or a poor second best?
As far as I know, the Windows firewall does a great job at blocking ports, which is what a firewall is supposed to do. Some other software firewalls also include the abillity to specify which applications can use which ports, but for general security purposes, that probably isn’t necessary.
Obviously, a firewall won’t protect you from novel attacks (that use ports that are open for other services), nor will it protect you from doing something stupid, like downloading and running a virus from an untrusted source, so anti-virus is still a good idea. I recommend AVG Free Edition.
For me, windwos firewall is too good. Maybe with SP2 it’s different, but is it just the one you click on under network properties? If so, then I hate it, because I acn’t tell it which applications are OK or not. I tried to play an MMORPG with it on and I could, although with about a ten second lag. So I got myself Zonealarm and never looked back.
Yeah i’m talking about the one that comes bundled with SP2 in their “Security Center”. I have tried the trial version of Norton’s Firewall which involved quite a bit of setting up and frequent updating compared to the windows version that just runs “out of the box”. Which made me wonder if it was as good as a purchased firewall or just a bit of software Microsoft shipped out so that it could say Windows XP came with a free firewall.
You don’t need to buy a firewall to have something more flexible than the Windows one. I use Sygate’s free version, which allows rules for individual programs, incoming access for specific IPs (useful for remote access), etc.
You can create exceptions in the windows firewall as well, allowing certain programs access and not others. I’m not a power user with any specific needs, I just use the internet for general browsing and for playing online games over so i’m not looking for anything more than it being good at stopping attacks on my PC. I just assumed that the more complicated Norton firewall I used also provided better protection, rather than just being more customizable.
So in general i’m fine just sticking with the windows freebie as I have no specific needs other than basic protection?
I can’t find anything in the Windows firewall for exceptions for incoming IPs, only for ports & programs…
But in any case, I believe the one big difference is that it doesn’t fully scrutinise outgoing traffic. So malicious software which gets onto your system, by whatever means, can phone home quite easily, whereas third-party firewalls will identify this, and ask you what to do about it.
[Is Windows Firewall Any Good?]
I’ve just done a format and reinstall of Windows and am now using AVG and ZoneAlarm, seems to be working fine and ZoneAlarm reports it has blocked 91 intrusion attempts already and i’ve only been back up and running for about an hour, I had no idea attacks were that prevalent.
Thanks for the advice everyone, I feel invincible 
I use Sygate Personal Firewall too - seems very secure and configurable.
Personally I do not and will not use the windows firewall, mainly for the reasons already brought up here (block my torrent ports, will you?!). Also, working for an ISP I see so many, many problems caused by that one piece of software, that no-one seems to know how to configure properly.
I cast in my vote for AVG in the antivirus stakes, with regards to firewalls we have Kerio which is okay but not great, and a built-in firewall in our modem router. We’ve had one virus infection and no malicious attacks on our computer in nearly a year now, so it seems to be working fine.
Windows Firewall would be a mediocre product if it was the only firewall out there. It could do more, be more user friendly, and allow finer control.
Seeing as there are alternatives (some free) that do more, are more user friendly and allow finer control, it’s substantially sub-par.
Then again, it’s handy if you JUST formatted and reinstalled and need to have it handy while you connect to the 'net to procure a real firewall.