Computer geniuses

[macavoy]

Question for you. Irecently updated my McAfee virus scan and added its firewall protection..... This slowed me down immensely. I run on dsl and have a fast system but this got silly. I deleted my firewall and now its back to speed. So..what do I need????
Its a home system that I work on. Do I need a firewall?? Or is regular anti virus enough???

 

[Nick Douglas]

It really isn't advisable to use a DSL without a firewall because anybody could tap into your computer at anytime, but be realistic about it. Why would anyone want to mess with your computer? Unless the authorities are on a porn sweep of Colorado you are probably safe.

There is a possibility that a virus could be dropped on you but that is sorta the risk you have to take. Either you have to upgrade your computer so it runs faster behind a firewall, use your current computer and deal with the performance issues or take the risk.

Two things that might help: 1) Try reducing your virtual memory or 2) Defragment your hard drive. I assume you have a PC, not a Mac, so both of those things are available to change relatively easily.

 

[Stuman]

That is the problem with software based firewalls, plus they are subject to fail if anything goes wrong. Hardware based firewalls will not cause a change in speed. See one of my other threads for a few different ones I would recommend.