Now being an O.F. prefer simpler side of life.
Would be nice but a firewall is a complicated piece of software. You left out an important consideration, are you using broad band? From your email address I would assume you are. If you are it's imperative that you have some type of firewall. You have a dedicated IP address that makes your computer accessible whenever it's turned on.
If you're using broad band the most effective firewall is not software but rather hardware. A router it an almost perfect firewall. It has the additional advantage that you can also hook additional computers onto the same connection.
If you use a router the IP address you're provider gives you is the address of the router not the computer to which it's connected. Anyone can get at your router (they can get at your computer now) but they cannot get past your router. Since your router know the request it has made it know what responses to let in.
If you're connected to a high speed network without a firewall or router you computer probably has already been breached. If I turn my computer off the LEDs on my router blink like an a row of Atlantic City slot machines, that's people trying to get into my computer.
You can purchase a router for not much more that firewall software without the setup concerns and with the advantage of being able to connect additional computers. All connected computers will require a network card but they are only about $10.
Urb, W2DEC
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