Alex, I'm running XP and vista and do it through either the Security Center, or thru my anti-virus program.

I just disabled mine because I don't understand alot of it anyhow (except on my laptop and norton - it doesn't ask me alot of question re: allowing stuffs).

There are ways to "allow", etc., but I'm just not familiar enough to know. However, you could disable when you want to chat then enable it again when you're through? That's not the safest way, I know...

However, doing that would let you know if that's the issue for sure, then you could work on those specific settings for optimal coverage?

Another thing you could do is call cust. service with your anti-virus/firewall provider and ask them for specific instructions once you're aware that this is the problem for sure.

KD