Hey guys I'm new to this forum so if i post something retarded please be forgiving.

I just recently got sick of my pc being infected by all the diseased flash drives my not-so-careful friends just decided to plug into my box while i was out so i went and swiped my system clean. Reformat, clean install (Windows XP SP3), and I opted for the BitDefender Total Security 2009 suite. I like it. Its pretty simple, straight forward, and so far has done its job of keeping my system clean commendably.

Whats the problem? Well i'm having these irregular...phases i guess... where my browsing comes down to a crawl to the point where i'm getting dropped connections left and right. During these bog phases, BitDefender isn't scanning in the background, and everything seems normal. I checked the background processes and its pretty much the same as when network speed is normal. Its not my line either because i used a laptop to test the line during one of these bog sessions and the line is fine. The laptop was able to browse fine while my pc felt like i was back the days of 28.8k. Suggestions?

Other than this, I'm having trouble with browsing the other pcs connected to my router. If i manually type in the address, 7/10 times it will work, but it wont let me see the workgroup computers (if i click the link at the side of the network places window), and at times the Network Places window will just hang. This hang is also abnormal, no matter what i do, i can't end the process. I've tried restarting explorer.exe and it doesn't do it... the tab for the window will still be there no matter what and it will be in a constant state of busy. I've tried to wait (left it open overnight) and in the morning, nothing had changed. My system doesn't seem to be slowed, and everything else is working just fine. I can browse online, play any games, watch videos, play music... nothing abnormal. Even the load on my system is minimal. The only way to get rid of this immortal window glitch that i have so far is to reboot. I can't reboot from windows when this happens either. If i try shutdown, reboot, logoff, it'll close whatever apps it can before it hits that process. Then it'll just stop. System's still running... can still open up everything that it closed down, but unless i hit the reset switch/cut the power i won't be able to reboot. After reboot it will usually be alright and theres no telltale sign of what causes the network window to do this. It's very spontaneous. Any ideas?

It's likely the firewall component. I've never been terribly impressed with Bitdefender's firewall performance due to its impact on performance. Realistically, you're behind a NAT anyway given you're connected to a router and hence a firewall isn't exactly necessary unless you're excessively paranoid, in a network with someone who is a virus magnet or if you're anal about what network traffic is being handled.