Firewall and home network

  • Thread starter Thread starter Robin
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R

Robin

Quick question, I have 3 computers connected to the
internet (2-Win2000 1-XP Home) through an ethernet
broadband router. Do I need to turn on the firewall on my
XP machine to be protected? I turned it on a while ago
and discovered I couldn't connect to my other computers,
so I turned it off. Any info would be great. Thanks!
 
Robin said:
Quick question, I have 3 computers connected to the
internet (2-Win2000 1-XP Home) through an ethernet
broadband router. Do I need to turn on the firewall on my
XP machine to be protected? I turned it on a while ago
and discovered I couldn't connect to my other computers,
so I turned it off. Any info would be great. Thanks!
Click to expand...

If your XP box is behind the Router (and it's offering firewall services),
then no.
Alternatively, you can re-enable your XP box's firewall, *but* grant
"trusted" access to the IP addresses of your two W2K machines. Then
everything is protected independently.
 
Robin said:
Sounds great, how do I grant "trusted" to the IP
addresses of my other computers?
Click to expand...

Sorry.... I should have asked you a clarifying question first....

If the firewall on your XP box was only the Internet Connection Firewall
(ICF), then the answer to your original question should have been "Don't use
ICF, just use your router." (Since ICF is *only* to be used when connecting
directly to the internet - which your XP box is not doing.)

If you had a more robust firewall installed on your XP box (say, Zone Alarm,
or Norton's firewall, etc.) , then *those* programs offer trusted-IP
connection granting. But if you're not using any of those.... don't worry
about special access granting.

Regards!
 
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