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.