WindowsXP---Firewall?

[Pete]

I have just purchased WindowsXP to upgrade from Millenium
(ME). Regarding a firewall, one shop told me XP had one
built in; another said: no. Does XP have a built in
firewall? Does anyone out there know?

 

[Alias]

I have just purchased WindowsXP to upgrade from Millenium
(ME). Regarding a firewall, one shop told me XP had one
built in; another said: no. Does XP have a built in
firewall? Does anyone out there know?

Yes, it does.

Alias

 

[Tom]

The XP firewall blocks traffic coming into your pc, not going out of your
PC.
If you want that kind of security you have to look at ZoneAlarm or
something.
Service Pack2 will offer just a improved and more accessible GUI from what I
understand but will not block traffic going out of your PC, strictly traffic
coming from the internet..

Tom

 

[PA Bear]

Please see:

Before You Connect a New Computer to the Internet
http://www.cert.org/tech_tips/before_you_plug_in.html

Protect Your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect
--
HTH - Please Reply to This Thread

~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE/OE), AH-VSOP

AumHa Forums
http://forum.mvps.org/

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I have just purchased WindowsXP to upgrade from Millenium
(ME). Regarding a firewall, one shop told me XP had one
built in; another said: no. Does XP have a built in
firewall? Does anyone out there know?

Yes it does (although you have to turn it on), but there are
better products available, even better free ones, such as the the
free version of ZoneAlarm. There are two problems with the
built-in firewall: it's not very configurable, and it monitors
incoming traffic only, doing nothing about rogue programs trying
to call home.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

WinXP's built-in firewall is _adequate_ at stopping incoming
attacks, and hiding your ports from probes. It doesn't give you any
alarms to tell you that it is working, though. What WinXP also does
not do, is protect you from any Trojans or spyware that you might
download and install inadvertently. It doesn't monitor out-going
traffic at all, much less block (or at even ask you about) the bad or
the questionable out-going packets. It assumes that any application
you have on your hard drive is there because you want it there, and
therefore has your "permission" to access the Internet.

ZoneAlarm, Kerio, or Sygate are all much better than WinXP's
built-in firewall, and are much more easily configured, and there are
free versions of each readily available. Even Symantec's Norton
Personal Firewall is superior by far, although it does take a heavier
toll of system performance then do ZoneAlarm or Sygate.


Bruce Chambers

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[Alex Nichol]

I have just purchased WindowsXP to upgrade from Millenium
(ME). Regarding a firewall, one shop told me XP had one
built in; another said: no. Does XP have a built in
firewall?

It has one that protects against incoming probes (which is what really
matters), but not outgoing. You turn it on at Control Panel - Network
Connections; r-click on the connection, Properties - Advanced and check
the 'Protect my computer. . .' box at the top. You should do this
before connecting to the net at all, even for a minute. Then get
Windows Update to provide the consolidated critical update 826939

And Read Gary Woodruff's article on upgrading to XP at
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpupgrad.htm for valuable advice on the
upgrade