I agree, I was pointing it out because the one quote shows that if you disable the PROCESS for the interface that controls any custom changes to clock speeds, etc will cause artificially low clock speeds. You dont need to overclock the card, but you need to make sure the process is running or your card will UNDERCLOCK itself. At least thats the way I am reading that. I could be wrong, and this might not even be the problem.
On the firewall issue, its still something to check. I run a 3rd party firewall also, but I've noticed that when Windows does an update it will turn the Windows Firewall back on. Also installing some Microsoft software will cause it to come back on by itself. I had myself locked out of the internet and my home network for almost a week because I never bothered to check the Windows Firewall. If I didnt use it, and it was disabled, it couldnt be the problem, was my thought. Sure enough, when I checked it, it was on. Embarassing. Since then whenever I have a problem with the network or anything getting access I check it, and I've found it back on 2 or 3 times. Very annoying.
