Most routers have built in firewalls [and pretty strong ones at that] but on a laptop it's always good to have an extra layer of protection, especially if the laptop often connects to public networks.

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I have a router and it doesn't keep viruses out. But I have kaspersky which has really good protection. Try the free kaspersky trial which is actually the full version. Also kaspersky is also now available on trial pay which gives you a full year free (something to look out for). trial pay and 30 day trial here

I've never had any problems with Norton and AVG. I'm using Kaspersky at the moment on home laptop but don't know if anyone else has had any problems but noticed Kaspersky great on Vista but I had real problems with Windows XP, kept crashing and stopped when I removed it.

Ugh, I do not like Norton whatso ever. I used to like them a lot, until recent events. The program used to block many things for me(well I thought it did). One day, I notice my PC is running a bit slower then usual. Ran a virus scan, ect ect, found nothing. Couple days pass, the computer is starting to act very weird. I run another virus scan, and it froze near completion. Then, I tried it a few days later, and it completed, but "failed" to remove tons of Trojans, ect. Ever since then, I protest Norton, lol.

As soon as I get my PC fixed, I am going to try some of these programs out.

No don't blame you. Lots of peeps do seem to dislike Norton but like I said I have no issues myself with it. A friend of mine who works in comps has just put me a prog on my other lappi but not sure what it is as yet! apparently its really good.
I'll post some comments when I have an opinion on it and a name ..lol.
Hope all goes well for you xJC

Haha, it's cool. My PC is dead, so I have to figure out how to re-build it. It's pretty old anyways, my grandfather built it in '95, so it wasn't so great for now a days. I had minor upgrades done to it so I was to keep up with trend. I don't know much about computers, just how to uninstall things and install things, lol. But I'm learning.

Yeah, when you find out what it is, let us know.