ok from what im told windows xp has a built in firewall, i'm wondering if i can get some more info on this like where it is. Can you delete it? Does it automatically block connections? If so can i stop it? cause i'm getting some probs connecting to things with xp that i never had before and that my 98 and 2000 friends dont have
I would suggest that you avoid the built-in XP firewall and instead look at ISS' BlackIce or Zone Lab's Zone Alarm.
http://blackice.iss.net/ http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/home.jsp Here are a few reasons I recommend this approach. The XP firewall does not block incoming broadcast or kerberos packets. It also blocks no outgoing packets (i.e. trojans and worms can still function.)
With a commercial personal firewall you can lockdown what applications can communicate across the network. They also have simple intrusion detection systems built-in.
OMG lol... Windows XP firewall is worthless, MS only implimented it because they were so "insecure" before.
Go with Zone Alarm (I reccommend PRO).
I recommend a router. I hate all the software firewalls that are for windows... But then most of you don't have jobs so don't mind me...
Rage, I would reccommend a router also, WITH a firewall. Most firewalls now adays have "Email Protection" which basically if you recieve a .exe or other executable file in your email it won't allow it to run (such as with Zone Alarm). It simply renames the .exe (or whatnot) to .zba (something like that) and if you WANT to load the file you can save it to your disk or open it from there.