I have had problems with Zone Alarm and am looking for something else. Kaspersky reviews seem pretty good, but this is what Zone Alarm has put in its new version and it is interminably slow, and updates itself every hour, which slows everything else to a crawl. Does Kaspersky Internet Security do this too? Is there any support if things go wrong?

I always prefer to get my AV, firewall and anti-spyware applications from different, and more focused, vendors, rather than use an all-in-one application. This seems to avoid the inevitable programming gunk involved in the mesalliance caused by acquisitions.
Here is a link to several good (and free) firewalls; I have used both Sygate and Comodo with very good results:

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic3616.html

Regards,
John

Thanks. The firewall will still work, it is just the anti-virus and anti-spyware I'll lose - it seems to me I'll have less prospect of conflicts if I stick to one thing. My primary aim is lack of fuss, the whole thing bores me witless...