Enable windows firewall

Windows XP: Editing The Windows Firewall Settings

Your firewall is how you protect your computer from malicious activity both inside and outside of your local network.  A brief outline of the steps and procedures are found below:

1. Click START >> Control Panel >> Windows Firewall.
2. Click on the “Exceptions” tab.
3. Click “Add Program” to add a specific program to be allowed acess through the Firewall.
    Select programs, or click “Browse” for one not listed.
4. Click “Change Scope” to allow usage to Specified computers, all computers, or certain IP addresses.
5. Click “Add Port” to create specific port exceptions.
    A. Name the port Exception.
    B. Specify whether the port is TCP or UDP.
    C. Adjust scope for the port as outlined in step #4
6. Click the “Advanced” tab.
    A. Select which connections will have Firewall support.
    B. Adjust “Settings” to specify services to be allowed to each connection.
    C. Adjust “Security Logging”, choose what type of logs to keep, and where to store them.
    D. Adjust “ICMP” (Internet Control message Protocol)
        a. Specify what types of ICMP communications to allow or disallow.
    E. If you encounter problems after making changes to your Firewall, click “Restore Default Settings”.
        a. If you restore default settings, you must begin again at Step #1.

Article written by MyComputerAid.com