Following on from RejZor…
The EICAR test file is not a virus. It should not be detected by an AV as a virus.
It is an agreed-to-by-convention means of demonstrating that the alerting part, not the detecting part, of an AV is functional.
By all means give Online Armor a try. It is user friendly, and has a setup program that will run a Safety Check Wizard to scan your existing files, or simply allow them all if you are sure you are not infected, so any future interaction will be because of new stuff you have added. There is a free version that has the capabilities most needed by a casual user who doesn’t want to do a lot of configuring. Also removes pretty cleanly if you want to go back to the Vista firewall. Try the latest public beta 3.1.0.26 at http://support.tallemu.com/vbforum/showthread.php?t=6706 which is very near the next release version.
thanks sded,
I’ll try it (not the beta… not too keen on betas, but the version on Download.com is from 19 Jan 2009 so it’s recent enough). I’ll post back with findings/experience
Cheers
3.0.0.190 is actually from October 7 2008, so there are a lot of changes since then, but still last released version. Next release should be any day now, but that one should at least give you a flavor for using the program. If you run into problems you can usually get quick answers at their forum at http://support.tallemu.com/vbforum/forumdisplay.php?f=10 .
Ok install with the exception of one thing. I was asked to update two drivers but the publisher was unknown so I denied the operation. Online armor installed and ran, slow at first but after it did the initial scan of which programs do what, it was ok. The one hiccup that i have with it is that for one reason or another my system is set to be discoverable on the network which I don’t like. I used Commodo firewall and the same issue occurred. I’ll let Online armor launch the new edition and then give users a while to use it. The problem with the network discovery seems to have to do something with Vista more than with the firewall.
The uninstall seemed uneventful and went well. So kudos for that.
Thank you again for your recommendation sded. I will keep Online armor as a possible substitute but only in a few months after most of the bugs have been worked out.
I do a lot of mobile wifi over public networks, so have the same problem with all the firewalls. They want to help you set your trusted network up so you can do sharing, incuding SSDP (is that what you mean by discoverable, port 1900?-if you mean on the internet with GRC tests, that is usually your router), and I have to go in and kill it all. I have a network, but none of the other computers are known to me and I don’t trust them or want to share with them. If you uncheck the “trust” on the Network popup in OA, it does the really serious stuff, but doesn’t block everything some might want. BTW, I got them to add the “trust” box as a beta tester. 
As far as the unsigned drivers, they are still all over the place with Vista x32, and you just need to see if they are for something you recognize and allow them, or deny them and see what breaks. Supposedly x64 changes all that, but I don’t use it. The new OA release is the result of another 4.5 months of beta testing, including public beta releases, so is of a caliber with the Avast! new releases. I currently have no open bug reports with it, but they tried to add something in 3.1.0.27 that didn’t work right under Vista and are now deciding whether to remove it or fix it before the release. So something to keep an eye on in the nearer term too if you decide you need more protection.