I have been noticing my laptop slowing down a bit. I assumed it was the AV (KIS 2009) but I recently had a little time to experiment. I found that switching to Avira Premium or Norton Internet Security 2009 gave me the same slow down. Everything speeds up, however, as soon as I disable protection in DW. Is this typical or do I have a conflict/incompatibility somewhere?

I have no idea. Please, install the latest DW's build here:www.softsphere.com/files/temp/DefenseWall_HIPS_v2_45.exe. If the problem won't be fixed with it, mail me to the support e-mail.