no you can not uninstall the windows firewall it is part of the operating system all you have to do is go to start> control panel > security center and at the firewall section turn OFF the windows firewall, that is it. Do that before you even turn on the other firewall. I would just disconnect from the internet once you have your firewall program downloaded, turn off the windows firewall, then do the install of the new firewall. then, I would shut down the pc, connect to internet cable, boot up and set up your firewall. then go back to the security center area and make sure it is detecting that you have a firewall on and that the windows firewall is still turned off.

I am not one join in on "me too" posts and I can assure you there is a good chance you will soon hear from other members about the pitfalls of the Vista firewall as they recommend this and that. All I wish to share is as a twice victim of having my VISA account hijacked, not related to on-line use, I am very deliberate in my identification protection. That being said, I have been using the Vista firewall for 23 months now without a second thought. DA

You may well be infected. This is a good indicator, these things turn off the firewall, stop the anti virus and can make it difficult for you to access safety programs online. Run either Superantispyware or Malwarebytes - or both to be sure. Update the definitions first of course. Is your anti virus still running or has that also been turned off? Click Start, click Control panel, click Security. What do you see there?

Hi Mikie, It is just the plain Norton Antivirus, no bells or whistles. In other words I do not have the Security one. In 2008 I was told it didn't have a firewall and later found out that it did. I just booted up tonight and the shield did not pop up at all and so the windows firewall is on. What I did was do a check disk and a defrag and now it is not popping up. That was weird. Still I think Norton might have had something to do with it as they have been known to have a firewall and not state it on the box. I know it is not good to have two firewalls going at the same time but since they do this stuff and don't inform the public I can't be sure if they changed their minds on this version and put one in with their updates. That is if they can do that. The intrusion prevention says that it automatically blocks internet attacks aimed at taking advantage of vulnerable programs. Detects and prevents attacks from threats already on an infected computer. It has antivirus, antispyware, advanced protection which says Intelligently monitors processes in real time to detect suspicious behavior and emerging threats. Uses Nortons SONAR technology. It has email message scanning and Norton Insight, which speeds up the scanning process and increases computer performance by identifying trusted files that do not need scanning. I just ran it and it says trusted 86 percent and scanning 14 percent. It also catches trojan horses like last year. It is a lot more fancier looking than 2008 and is very impressive looking but like you said I agree that they keep people in the dark about their product. It shows on the list of not having a firewall but their security one does have a firewall. Since they block incoming stuff that made me wonder about the firewall being stopped by Norton. Do they are do they not have some type of firewall and they call it something else. Your guess is as good as mine. ??????? thirdfrt!!!