ntoskrnl? sygate?

I'm running sygate freebie home FW, and since I wondered what ntoskrnl.exe needs to be calling out for all the time I set to block it. On the applications list is shows BLOCK. Yet the program continues to get incoming calls on port 138, and send returns on that port. And it is doing all this to IP xxx.xxx.xxx.255 (my IP, but with 255 instead of me). None of my g00gling around about ntoskrnl.exe explains why it should do this, what that address is about, and why should sygate be allowing this? Helpless newbs need to know.

While we're at it, I keep getting port scans to a variety of ports, and sometimes these come in bunches of three or four. Often I'll be playing an online game and it will crash, and when I see the desktop the red incoming arrow is lit up, and the log invariably shows several such scans blocked. Are these scans knocking me off my game connection?

And again, it's not ntoskrnl.exe that want's to communicate and something is requesting that ntoskrnl.exe do the bidding for it. If nothing is telling one by doing searches with Google, then again, one must take it upon himself or herself to look at the process and see what's using it and make a determination that all processes running with the process (using it) are legit or not legit.

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Why not? The personal FW solution and the O/S must deal with it sucking up the computer's resources while they are defending the machine and something has to suffer or not get the resources it needs.

On the other hand, if there was a $20 NAT router setting there in front of the machine fending off the unsolicited scans and attacks, the PFW and the O/S wouldn't have to deal with it sucking up the computer's resources and you could play your game uninterrupted.

A mule can be lead to the water dying of thirst and some will drink and move on and some won't and sit there and die.

Duane :)