between window 3.0 and widows XP I have used them all. What I’m hoping for is a built in firewall (Windows 7) that does it all, and doesn’t require me to add anything. Is the firewall in Windows 7 meet the requirement?
I wouldn’t consider the firewall alone to be adequate. It’s basically a shield against someone scanning for open computers to attack, but I don’t believe you’re secure from malicious scripts and stuff like that from web pages you visit.
If you have a home network and are behind a router (wireless or just the kind you plug your network cables into), that’s the best possible firewall, because your computer is literally invisible to outsiders. Instead of having addresses to the outside world, your computer(s) would just have internal ones the router uses. To the world you’d just show up as a router, which makes no sense to attack since it doesn’t execute code like a computer. Legitimate info is routed appropriately by the router, but any attack is just like junk mail being delivered to a hotel lobby.
Of the 3 free programs I recommended, I use Avast. It was literally a several minute process. I looked through the options to see that it was set up to update automatically and not harass me about whatever, and haven’t given a second thought to it since.
It sits there doing its thing, updating as necessary, without any action on my part. If I hit a questionable link it’ll intervene by popping up a message saying it’s found something, and I continue about my business with the crisis averted.