Computer Security

enable the Internet Connection Firewall (ICF): Microsoft Windows XP - both Home and Professional edition has a built-in firewall. Unfortunately, it is disabled by default so you have enough knowledge to go in and turn it on. For the record, I actually recommend that you leave ICF disabled and install third-party firewall such as Zone Labs ZoneAlram with a version available for free for personal use.

The
For more information about the latest technology
The advantage of using a third-party product like ZoneAlarm monitors both inbound and outbound traffic. ICF only monitors and blocks incoming traffic. It is great for protecting you from external hacking or malicious activity, but it will not protect you from a situation where a virus or trojan in your system tries to run unauthorized or malicious activity Your computer network.
In any event, the ICF is better than nothing. It's free, and it is built. So if you want to download and install third-party product you should at least turn on the Internet Connection Firewall. To enable ICF, you must select the Network and Internet Connections in Control Panel. Then select the Network Connections icon at the bottom of the screen.
At this point you can right-click the network connection you want to enable ICF. For most home users should be only one network connection present. Right-click and select Properties. Click the Advanced tab and click the check box next to "Protect my computer ...".
After you enable ICF, the Settings button under the Advanced tab is enabled as well.
If you click on Settings, you can configure ICF to allow certain traffic through and what kind of information you want logged. Most users will be fine leaving it to factory settings.
If you use ICF or any third-party firewall, suddenly find that you begin to connectivity problems on some sites, the computers on your network or the Internet with a full firewall is the first place you should look.