Quality of Windows Firewall?

[Crimsonnaire]

I'm currently running the service pack 3 of the Windows XP. My main firewall is a very old Sygate Personal Firewall Pro (v 5.5). Recently, when I activated my Windows firewall along with having my Sygate firewall on at the same time, the Windows firewall is shutting down by itself on startup. So my question is is it a normal procedure for the Windows firewall to shut off by itself if you have another firewall running?

I see that my network connections option in the control panel does not show "firewalled" when I have the Windows firewall off, so it's apparently not detecting the Sygate firewall. If this is the case, then the Windows firewall shouldn't be affected, right? Are there any known cases of viruses deactivating the Windows firewall?

Last, do old firewalls need to be replaced like antivirus programs? My Sygate is about 3 years old.

 

[PC eye]

The first problem seen right off is trying to run both at the same time. It's either one or the other not both since they will immediately clash with each other.

As far as checking into a newer version for any 3rd party software that's the usual advice for anyone to see an updated version put to use. Generally a newer version will see any problems with older releases corrected plus offer more protection against newer forms of online threats.

Viruses shutting down the Windows firewall? Let's say the firewall included in XP and now in Vista as well is best put as "Forget it"! It's a lame duck to start with as far as providing any real security. The Windows Defender just like previous MS tools also falls into the same catagory as being something extra but what?!