It's generally not a good idea to run 2 firewalls simultaneously - they tend to "fight" with each other, especially in conditions relating to file sharing and remote access/assistance.  Personally speaking, I think the built in XP firewall is more than adequate for average home use (and yes, I'm aware of the "outbound traffic" argument), but to each his/her own, I guess.

Regarding AV protection, it's been claimed that it's possible to run two applications at the same time, but I don't see much point in it, and there have been a number of reports of the same kinds of problems with 2 AV apps running at the same time as those seen with trying to run 2 firewalls simultaneously.  Both scenarios strike me as being tremendous overkill for average use, and an invitation for all sorts of possible problems at best. 

Message Edited by Flooby on 11-29-2004 08:43 AM

In addition to the previous post, I have also heard a lot of talk about many programs performing "irratically" with the use of two firewalls. Especially if you set the firewall to allow internet access to a program but forget to set it on the other firewall, this can get very annoying. My suggestion, stick with one.


JHerb