Zone alarm is a resource hog, and can block ports even when its TURNED OFF! XP firewall is a pathetic excuse for a proper firewall solution for home use. Blackice doesent block Outbound traffic, so your machine could be infected with a bot or keylogger of some sort and you would never know, same goes for winXP "firewall" KERIO is the best firewall i have ever used, its free for home use and has excellent networking features. http://www.kerio.com Give it a shot, most of the staff at MSFN using software solutions use it, its a great application.