Again - There's no picking up. Firewalls block, like a wall. They don't look for bad programs, viruses, spyware, or other malicious code. They look at the network traffic and examine every data packet to ensure it is allowed through to your network - packets that don't belong through go to the bit bucket. Old technology really, but most effective. This is a pretty good read - HowStuffWorks "How Firewalls Work"

well i wanna be protected when i open ports and such.

Well, I want you to be protected too because if you are not, you become a threat to me, and you don't want that.

oh well problem solved, regarding the nature of this thread, done with a reformat.

Which brings up a point - even if planing to use another FW and AS, you can run WF and WD after a format and fresh install, connect to the Internet and get your updates, then download the rest of your essential programs while under some pretty good cover. Personally, I like to install my new firewall last on fresh installs so I don't have to deal with countless firewall prompts.

Originally Posted by Digerati

Well, I want you to be protected too because if you are not, you become a threat to me, and you don't want that.

hahaha nah no worries i'm clean. not gonna be one of the many threats u'll have to block out.

yeah it's annoying initally, to deal with the prompts. and having all the essential programs in another drive definitely helps! so it wasn't such a pain besides the prompts.