Originally posted by <<ERROR>>
NEVER deactivate your firewall!! It's there for a reason. If you use ZoneAlarm, just set it to allow Freespace to connect to the Internet and to allow it to act as a server. To kill viruses, most AV programs have a background sentry that spots viral activity, and if it is updated often, it will serve you well. Don't close that, either, no matter what anyone says.
[EDIT] Mmm...........Bovril [/EDIT]
actually i use ZoneAlarm, and i close it every tijme i play a multiplayer game... Freespace, WC3, Starcraft, etc.
see, even if you allow it to let the program be a server/use the internet, it still parses and filters everything going through it, thus causing mega-lag... if you don't want to risk being hacked: don't play online games unless you're prepared to have lag!
FindFast indexes certain files in certain directories (this is set: CONTROL PANEL --> FIND FAST) so that when you search for them they find/open easier. you can set what it indexes, and how often it updates. i've had mine set on every two hours for 4 years now
but it's not necessary, you can set it to update every 3 months if you want
