I'm running Win98 on a Gateway with Cable Modem. Great connection, fast downloads etc...

Is there a benifit to getting a firewall? Do I need to get one? Shouldn't my ISP have one anyway??? prior to anything getting to me???

Also, antivirus software...I have Norton Systems Works Professional and it seems that since I've installed it things are different. I get errors on startup now...there are file folders that I in NO WAY can delete or remove. I'm thinking of removing Norton Systems Works and re-installing ONLY the virus protection portion of the program. Advice here??

Recently, all of the sudden, friends in my address book will get emails from my wife and I that WE DID NOT SEND...and I'll get email from people in my address book that I know they did not send.... obviously a viris....but Norton doesn't find anything..??

Reformat HD?? Get new antivirus software???

Any help, advice, pointers etc... would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

I'm going to move this to the Security forum because it pertains to that topic.

Ok....with regard to your first question:

"Is there a benefit to getting a firewall? Do I need to get one? Shouldn't my ISP have one anyway??? prior to anything getting to me???"

Well, a firewall offers several benefits. By filtering packets in and out of your system, it will reject scans from Internet vandals and hackers. It will not return answers to ping requests. Usually scans are done in lots using wide ranges of address blocks. It's not that anyone knows your ip specifically unless it answers a ping. Then the person/s will have your specific ip and can take the time to look for a way into your machine. A firewall will help prevent this from happening. This also may happen if you come across an Internet site with hostile code embedded into it.

A firewall helps prevent connections to and FROM your system when spyware, or any other advertising software enters your system. It also helps defeat connections should your computer become compromised by a malicious backdoor, or trojan horse program.

You should read THIS article to further the reasons why you should have a firewall. HERE is another short article about broadband connections and security.

You ISP has measures in place to protect themselves, not you. They are merely a conduit for you to connect to the web. When you're out wandering in the big cloud we call the Internet, you're on your own.

Interesting articles for you to read concerning antivirus programs can be found HERE and HERE.

You'll find many links to programs and utilities to help protect your system HERE.

Now, for number 2:

"Reformat HD?? Get new antivirus software???"

Well, let's see if you have an active virus on your system first. If you go up to the top of this page you'll see a tab for 'Virus Info'. Under that you'll find a link to HouseCall, TrendMicro's free online scanner. Run that and see if it finds something on your system.

Personally, I don't like Norton System Works....or their virus scanner. Aside from receiving constant reports that it misses viruses on users computers, I find it to be bloatware and woefully inadequate for such a large company's product. You'll read my recommendations in the virus test article.
I hope these help answer your questions.