Windows XP SP2 Firewall versus Norton's

[eellas]

I had installed/activated Norton Firewall on my ADSL/WiFI laptop which operates with XP Professional with SP2 and, therefore, with the SP2 Windows Firewall desactivated.. I found Norton's Firewall greatly slowed operations. I disinstalled it and reactivated the SP2 Windows Firewall instead. Is that protection sufficient or should I go back to my previous Norton Firewall protection? Thks for opinions/advice

[s7p9a2m4]

From what I understand, Xp's firewall controls and protects against incoming but not outgoing. So, take for example, something has slipped through and attached itself to your operating system ... it could send out information without your knowledge.
Top rated, good, free firewalls that do offer the best protection are Sygate, Outpost, Kerio, and ZoneAlarm. Zonealarm is very popular but my experiences with it have not been good. It needs a lot of user input and can be a real pain. Shields Up is a good place to go for more info on firewalls. Here are some helpful links.

http://www.windowsitpro.com/Windows/...293/42293.html
http://www.huitema.net/sp2-firewall.asp
https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

[eellas]

thks for answer. I had indeed read about mon-protection for outgoings from my PC but was not too conscious of that type of risks versus incoming ones. I'll go and look at softs you indicate. Thks again.