A firewall is a software that is configured with a set of rules that will determine the flow of data to your computer from the Internet. Some major organizations use firewall to block certain data that is confidential to that organization. It serves as an application for security of digital information in such major organizations which is stored on the computer. Firewall is essential even for individuals in general. A hacker can easily get access to your computer through the internet if you do not have a firewall. The other danger of not having a firewall is that your computer can get affected with virus. SO it is of utmost importance that one should have a firewall in their computer.
How to turn ON the firewall
To turn on the firewall of your computer that is to enable it you should follow the following process. First of all click on the Start Menu. Once you do this then click Run. A window will pop up. In this window type Firewall.cpl and click on the button OK. A new window will pop up. In this window select the tab General. After this select ON and the last step to turn your firewall on is to click OK.
Incase you do not find any of the tab available it means that your computer might have a policy against running a firewall. It might also be possible that your computer might be running a third party firewall. In such a situation it will be highly recommended that you contact your system administrator.
How to turn OFF the firewall
The following process is to be followed when you want to turn off your firewall, that is disable your firewall. A word of caution before you disable your firewall – You should always disable your computer from all the networks it is connected to including the internet as disabling the firewall without disconnecting your computer will leave it exposed to attacks from other networks.
This is the process to disable your firewall. First of all click on the Start Menu. Once you do this then click Run. A window will pop up. In this window type Firewall.cpl and click the click on the button OK. A new window will pop up. In this window select the tab General. After this select OFF, and the last step to turn your firewall off is to click OK.
The above mentioned processes to turn off or turn on the firewall are only for Windows XP SP 2 and SP 3. But this process is not for the earlier versions. It is always advisable to determine which version of SP you are using.
Service pack 1 is outdated!!!! Upgrade your Service Pack. To determine which Service you are currently using, take the following steps:
Incase you wish to upgrade your Service pack you should first determine which Service you are currently using. Following is the process to determine which service pack you are using. First click on the Start Menu. Then select Run. A window will pop out, in this window type sysdm.cpl and click OK. There will be a new window which will have a lot of information. The last line of this information will show you which service pack you are currently using. If the last line does not mention this then it is assumed that you are running the release version of Windows XP.
For users who are running a Windows XP release version or are using Windows XP Service Pack 1 you should update to a higher version as soon as possible. These versions of Service Packs are completely obsolete. Please upgrade.