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Alan Wonsowski said:
I recently installed Norton Internet Security 2005. It prompts
me if I
want to "turn off" the Windows XP Firewall. I choose to leave
it on.
Can anyone tell me the benefits of either leaving it "on" or
"off"?
You'll find those with different points on view on this. Here's
mine: don't run two firewalls. You achieve no extra protection,
you incur the extra overhead of running two firewalls, and you
run the risk (probably small, but not zero) of conflicts between
them.
See
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/firewall.mspx
which includes the following:
"Q. Should I use both the built-in firewall and a software
firewall from a different company on my Windows XP computer?
"A. No. Running multiple software firewalls is unnecessary for
typical home computers, home networking, and small-business
networking scenarios. Using two firewalls on the same connection
could cause issues with connectivity to the Internet or other
unexpected behavior. One firewall, whether it is the Windows XP
Internet Connection Firewall or a different software firewall,
can provide substantial protection for your computer."
Also note that if you update your third-party firewall to a new
version, the update routine will probably turn it off first. If
the Windows firewall isn't running, you will temporarily be left
with no running firewall, which is very dangerous. So turn on the
Windows firewall temporarily before doing maintenance on your
third-party firewall.
--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup
The Windows firewall monitors incoming traffic only. Almost any
third-party firewall will also monitor outbound traffic, stopping
rogue programs trying to call home, and is a better choice.