Quote - good trojan/virus makes sure you don't even notice it's there, and trust me, they are plenty on any unprotected system. You don't need to download email atachments to grab some, if you are online that's enough for a trojan to scan your opened ports (on windows xp without a good firewall, that would be all), and get in and do it's stuff.

I understand that, and I don't mean to discourage people from using Windows' built-in security stuff. But I, personally, don't need it.  I said I use a Firewall, so my ports are protected. It's just not the Windows firewall. 

I have my own security stuff installed.  For example, WinPatrol (free!) has been doing what UAC does for years, and, IME, does it much better, with a lot less hassle.