Windows Vista Two Firewalls?

[Fred44]

I was just reading the Security chapter in the "Tweaker's Guide Tweakers Companion for Vista" and the author says it's not a good idea to use 2 firewalls simulatneously. I've read conflicting opinions on this. I have my Windows firewall and the McAfee firewall both enabled and it hasn't caused any noticable problems. Can the two firewalls interfere with each other and somehow diminish your level of security? Should I use just the Windows firewall?
Fred

 

[lorenkjr1]

As far as I can remember two firewalls is not better than one. Slows things down and yes they can conflict.

 

[Celestra]

My Vista Home Premium has this set-up Ask Cristian Cordobina ! » Do I have two firewalls in Vista? OK, There's the Windows Firewall- (Vista has two), then there's the firewall that comes with your security suite (Norton) and then there's the firewall that comes with your "Router". In about 4 months I'll be switching to the "Secure Spot Adapter" with, hopefully, a small anti virus back-up program. I haven't gone into the details yet. How messed up is that ? (By the way Fred, I took most of my toolbars off) Things ran fast, no crashes....

 

[kemical]

I was just reading the Security chapter in the "Tweaker's Guide Tweakers Companion for Vista" and the author says it's not a good idea to use 2 firewalls simulatneously. I've read conflicting opinions on this. I have my Windows firewall and the McAfee firewall both enabled and it hasn't caused any noticable problems. Can the two firewalls interfere with each other and somehow diminish your level of security? Should I use just the Windows firewall?
Fred

It depends on the firewalls used and what you do with your machine.. If you just use your machine to browse the internet, answer a few emails and a little office work then your unlikely to notice anything awry. If however you enjoy gaming, especially online gaming then it could be a different matter.. As Lorenkjr says, it can lead to more resorces being used than you'd want to..
Try googling 'use two firewalls' and then see waht the answers are....

 

[superbill]

It also depends on what firewalls you use. Some all-in-one security software such as Kaspersky turn off the windows firewall.
You just need to try out different combinations to see what works best. One thing most people agree on is that windows firewall on its own is not adviseable so, in your case Fred44, I would definately stick with what you have (Mcafee & windows) and if you have problems, drop windows. You will not be risking any compromise in security by having the two.