What is the difference between firewall and antivirus programs?

Question

And which ones would you recommend?

Answer 1

firewall can increase the security of your internet connectivity by guarding your PC and your settings. it looks for any suspicious act from the internet and guard you so as not to penetrate your system. firewall is useful for hackers.

antivirus secures your files from possible viruses. it cannot protect you from hackers but it secures your files.

Answer 2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firewall_%28networking%29

Above link explains a firewall: basically, it helps keep people from accessing your computer from the internet. Windows firewall is already pre-configured for some protection.

Antivirus programs generally constantly scan your computer, looking for malicious code that has gotten in, through email, through malicious websites, through malicious programs you may have downloaded, etc.

You need at the very least Windows firewall enabled and you need an antivirus program as well. There are other firewalls available that may work better than the Windows one, and there are free and good anti-virus programs, like AVG and AntiVir, available also.

Answer 3

A firewall prevents people from being able to hack into your computer from outside
A virus program presents harmful software from installing and damaging your computer.
You need to have BOTH installed on your computer as they do totally different things.