From what I have read on firewalls, Zone Alarm is better than the XP one. I am just using the XP on my other computer, coupled with avast! Anti-Virus program (freeware)

After having installed it, I have absolutely no problems with viruses or adware/spyware anymore.

Only problem I have had with firewalls, are with my wireless router. It won't let Limewire through.

I would, out of principle, advise you to choose FOSS or freeware for any program. But, that's your choice.

Another great Anti-Virus program is AVG. I have tried them both, and I have talked to IT professional saying that both of these programs are better than Norman, Norton, McAfee. It's at par with Panda (don't know if this is freeware, FOSS or proprietary software. I know it was free once.)

Of all the people I have chatted with, I have the feeling that about 50-70 % of them has Zone Alarm installed. The reasons are generally: It's free, and it's better than the built-in firewall of XP.

So, you're in good company when running it.

If you wish a cleaner, better-running computer, I suggest testing Auslogics BoostSpeed. It's not a whole lot of money for it, and with it, you can do a whole lot of tweaking easily, without worrying too much about destroying the system.

(Sorry about going off-topic, but generally, when someone asks me for help with computers, I wish to do a complete system-makeover to make it as easy and good as possible, because there's generally alot to do for people on computers, though they tend to concentrate on one thing at the time.)