Reading Barden OE's post leads me to a slight drift.

I now use an ADSL modem/firewall/router combination unit (a Netgear DG384 which I've found to be a unit that works well and much better for me than using Windows Internet sharing). The advice given in thier manual is not to run a software firewall with it. As such the firewall part of this upgrade would appear to me to be nothing but a PITA.