How To Set Up A Firewallby Emily Price | More from this Blogger 03 Feb 2007 11:58 AM In recent blogs I have talked a lot about computer security and what you need to do to keep you and your family safe from spyware and computer viruses. One important step in computer security is setting up a firewall. I think one of the main reasons people don't have a firewall set up on their computer is because they don't know how. If you are running Windows XP, here are instructions on how to set up a firewall on your computer: 1. Go to Start (Bottom right hand corner of the screen) 2. Go to Settings 3. Go to Control Panel 4. Choose Network and Internet Connections 5. Choose Internet Connections 6. Click the Advanced Tab 7. Check the box in the section labeled "Internet Connection Firewall" A firewall essentially attempts to protect your computer against any unwanted information coming into your computer. The firewall will look at all of the data attempting to enter your system, and if it's not something you specifically asked your computer to bring in it will block it from entering your system. Different operating systems, and version of operating systems for that matter will be set-up a little different so these directions may not be exact to your computer, you can use them as a basic guide for how to set it up. Regardless of your operating system the firewall support should be located in roughly the same place on your PC. Out of curiosity, How many of you currently have a firewall set up on your computer. If you don't have one set-up why have you chosen not to? In my early PC owning days I never had one set up, but that was just because I didn't have a really good understanding on how to operate my computer and had no idea what a firewall even was, much less how to set one up. Learn more about Emily Price  Emily is a freelance writer and video editor in Raleigh NC. Relevantcomputers tags User Comments malignedtruth (26) 15 Feb 2007 07:37 AMWell, this option is better than none at all. BUT, a software firewall has some basic weaknesses inherent to the Operating System it is running upon. I prefer the security of an external hardware device that contains a firewall program that logs events, is maleable by the system or network manager. Mac OS X and many of the hundreds of *BSD and GNU/Linux Operating Systems, http://pclinuxos.com http://livecdlist.com http://simplymepis.org and others, there, have built-in Firewalls, included at no cost to the consumer. These more stable systems are fairly ironclad, and immune to the "114,000 Microsoft Virus Definitions", but, still have security features built-in! So, I am applauding the article, and hope to see it expanded upon, with advice about home network security. For DSL, or Cable, I grab old Pentium class computer boxes, make sure they have two network cards, a CDrom, a 1Gb hard drive, and install the FREE http://ipcop.org in about 8 minutes. If we make sure it is a Pentium 300Mhz or faster unit, with 32Mb RAM, Spam Assassin and Dan's Guardian protect the entire home or small business network, up to 36 client nodes! At a local private school, the Linux Users Group here installed 48 donated Pentium 4 Compaq computers, a Quad server, (Thank you, Walt Disney World!), and for the 5 extra CVD/fileservers, (thank you club members), and an 800Mhz machine, to handle 48 client nodes at teacher and student desks, on DSL. All run FedoraCore5, since updated, remotely, to FC6. Yes, I gave three computers plus 5 DVD-roms, and each of we 16 members contributed 20 to 30 hours each of labor for the cable running, testing, setup. Dan's Guardian protects from malignant adult content and websites via word filters. http://www.dansguardian.org So, the FREE downloads, plus, initial setup takes about 20 minutes, and appears transparent, thereafter. Plus, we recycle more computer hardware, save hundreds of dollars! Discuss this article
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