No as no software is compulsory
Never,You don't need to turn windows firewall off unless you are upgrading a patch for game which it self will ask you to turn it off and it will guide you through the process of steps Windows Firewall.
You need to download Windows Pack 2 to get the firewall and virus protection free.
A firewall can be either hardware or software
You need to check the firewall service, it must be running.
port 21
Theoretically, yes. Windows update can be set to downloaded the newest hardware drivers. And new drivers could easily resolve some kind of hardware issue. I would need to know more about the situation.
Yes. You at least need a firewall. Zone Alarm is an example of a firewall you can get for free.
Hardware and software firewalls are completely different and both are still needed, as they both protect against different threats.
I wouldn't. Windows 7 no longer receives security updates, and isn't compatible with modern hardware. You would need to have a very good reason for using it for me even to say it was acceptable.
You need to edit the windows firewall settings manually.
Yes, you can. You need to get a good firewall too it will increase your security a lot. But you need to make sure that the firewall is configured properly. Windows firewall will not help you in such case.
Because it accesses hardware directly.