it does take a little getting used to and letting the program learn, it will pop up and ask you do you want to let such and such connect to the internet you will likely know what is asking because you are trying to use something that needs access so in those cases say yes, if it is something that needs to access it regularly like your antivirus check mark where it says remember this so it does not ask each time. Do not give server rights some things will ask but it is not necessary once you say no to server rights it will next pop up asking for access, that you can allow. If it is something you do not recognize asking then say no and see if you can determine what it is, if you had some type of malware that is trying to phone home you would not want to allow that access. I prefer mine to pop up and ask each time with some of the rarely used stuff I like to know what is connecting. When getting zonealarm or any other free firewall or any program actually be very alert during the install period and uncheck or do not allow the addition of any toolbars or extras, Zone alarm unfortunately now does try to include a toolbar with the free version, you do not want that toolbar. and if you have problems or questions just ask. When something like generic win 32 something ask for permission say yes or you will not be able to connect to the internet, that is one to check mark always allow. Yes as grandms said with cable you have a direct connection and with no router in between you and the internet that even more dictates the use of a software firewall. The benefit of a router with built in hardware firewall is great but I use both on my windows machines, actually my linux has guarddog firewall built into it so I even have one on linux. The link I had provided the main reason I do refer that link is that there are such good instructions and pictures for someone new to firewalls.

Hey Sandy...did not mean to overlook you. Its getting near quitting time, but - while having huge difficulty with the desktop (an AT&T support tool set-up request screwed up the first attempt) the flash player said something on the order of 'Helps secure router something or other signals'. "Helps" isn't quite enough...so the Windows Firewall Advanced 1394 coverage is remaining checked along with the other checked boxes on that menu. I don't know if I made a mistake or not, but watching grass grow would be faster than the 'backup files' feature. The transfer for 1GB of files has been almost 2 hours. I selected the 'turn off computer upon completion' button and am heading for home. Tomorrow I will ask about another subject...my boss got a bill from an internet provider for dial-up service that she doesn't have...the company has a site ...but I'm not sure what to do. I don't know if its legitimate and/or if responding will only make things worse. No one around here has ever heard of this company. marf

well that would be a problem because you can not have 2 antivirus programs on your pc even if both are Norton, my guess is that comcast is letting you know it is available should you care to download it from them, but not installed automatically. I have comcast also and it is available but I choose not to download or use it, I use AVAST for my antivirus. you would need to decide which of the Norton versions you want on your pc, keep the one you paid for or fully remove it using the specific Norton issued removal tool and then install the version from comcast. Up to you. Removing any Norton can be tricky and often leaves remnants behind so doing it properly is very important.

I did a quick Google on the Kerio configuration. It sounds as if you need to place the websites that generate the error into the exception list. Here is the text that I found using Yahoo Mail as an example (you would of course type in *.www.whatever website you want.com: "Double-click the Kerio Personal Firewall icon to open the firewall configuration. Click the Web tab on the left. In the Site Exceptions tab, click the "Add" button, and enter *.mail.yahoo.com for the www server address. Yes, you've read this correctlyÂan asterisk, followed by a period, then mail-dot-yahoo-dot-com. Click "OK." Click "OK" to save and close the configuration. Here is a link that might be useful: Is My Kerio Personal Firewall blocking access to websites?