firewall

[christma]

What is the best free software to use for virus and firewall protection? My sister recently got high speed internet in her apartment, but she doesn't want to spend any money on a virus/firewall program because her PC is a few years old.

[Leif]

...but she doesn't want to spend any money on a virus/firewall program because her PC is a few years old.

Why should the age of a PC matter? Age is of no concern to those who wish to send viruses and spam.

[BobL]

but she doesn't want to spend any money on a virus/firewall program

The default Windows firewall is very adequate for a normal user, as is the free Microsoft Security Essentials that she can download from the microsoft web site.

[Claude]

What is the best free.... ... protection

Question is, is she interested in protection from forum spam

[Argus]

I agree with Leif and BobL; no matter how old the computer is, it isn't the computer per se that we protect with firewalls and antimalware software, it is our data and identity. Even if no personal data is stored on the computer, and it's only used as an "Internet browser", performance might decrease, to say the least, when it gets infected, not if, if no firewall/antimalware software is used.

I assume it is a Microsoft OS on the PC; then BobL's suggestion is sound as a first step, and at no cost. For example, Windows XP saw a major upgrade to its firewall in service pack 2 (present SP is SP3); since then the OS, inbound, firewall is enabled by default.