Windows XP Firewall


Firewalls are a method of keeping your computer or network secure. Firewalls can either be hardware or software based. Windows XP offers an easy to configure software firewall called Internet Connection Firewall.To enable and configure XP's firewall,

Click Start
Click Control Panel
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Select Network and Internet Connections
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The Network and Internet Connections window will appear
Select Network Connections
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The Network Connections window will appear
Your network connections will be listed on the right side
Double click on on Local Area Connection
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The Status will appear
The General tab provides your connection status, duration, speed, and activity
To access XP's Internet Connection Firewall, select Properties
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The Properties window will appear
Select the Advanced tab
To enable the Internet Connection Firewall, select the checkbox at the top of the window
Select Settings to configure the firewall
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The Advanced Settings window will appear
You can select which services you wish to enable under the Services tab

Note: None of the Services options should be selected unless you are running services, such as a mail or web server

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To specify your firewall log file options, select the Security Logging tab
You can specify where you would like the firewall log to be located under the Log file options window
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The ICMP tab allows you to specify whether you wish to allow others to be able to ping your computer, among other options
To view a description of an option, highlight it and view the Description field at the bottom of the window
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