The previous versions of XP Firewall was easy to configure. Previously it was enough to just select ‘Network Connections’ and click the ‘Advanced’ tab and just select the check box for the firewall and you are done. But now, there is a separate icon in the control panel for Firewall. Open the control panel and click on the ‘Security Center’. In the new ‘Windows Security Center’ window you can ‘On/Off’ the windows firewall.

Now click on the ‘Windows Firewall’ link to open the ‘Windows Firewall’ dialog box.

In the ‘General’ tab click on the ‘On’ radio button.

The next tab is the ‘Exceptions’ tab. Here you can specify the programs that you want to allow through the internet. If you have a network and allow your internet to be shared by other computers in your network then you should use this feature wisely. Here you can list the programs that you do want to allow your other users to use. The buttons below (Add program, Add port, Edit, delete) can be used to add or delete a program in the list. A check box is given at the bottom to specify that the firewall should prompt and alert you when a program is blocked by the firewall.

The next tab is the ‘Advanced’ tab. There are three sections in this tab. The first one is the ‘network connection settings’. This is for those heavy internet users who use many networks to connect to internet. If you are a normal internet user then you don’t have to do anything to it. This is equivalent to the ‘Fine tuning’ in radios. You can use this network connection settings to allow or disallow the different network services such as FTP, SMTP etc.

If you have bought another firewall and you know that the firewall you bought is more powerful than the windows firewall then you can ‘off’ the windows firewall and use your favorite firewall instead.

If you are a broadband internet user and your computer is connected to the internet most of the time then make sure that the windows firewall or any other firewall is always turned on.

If no firewall is turned on in your computer then the Windows XP will detect this and alert you.

1. Administrator
2. Limited user
3. Guest

Administrator has the complete rights in the computer. The administrator can perform any action and has full control of the computer. The ‘limited user’ has limited rights. For instance a ‘limited user’ cannot install new hardware or software to the computer but he can use the existing software and hardware.

Both Administrator and limited users have passwords of their own. There is another type of user called ‘Guest’ who doesn’t need a password to login to the computer. As the name suggests, a guest is a guest and has very limited control over the computer. By default, windows XP disables this type of user as it allows anyone to login to the computer. However, the Administrator can enable this type of user if there is a need.

Which Windows XP user account to use?

It is best to use the ‘Administrator’ user account since it has the complete control. However there are many security threats. Whoever knows the administrator password for  your computer can easily harm your computer. When you are connected to the internet, hackers and crackers may also harm your computer.

For the above cited reasons, it is better to use the ‘limited user’ type of account. Most computer engineers agree that even an administrator should create a limited user account for himself for daily use. Only when there is a need to perform administrative tasks such as installing a new hardware then the ‘administrator’ account should be used.

Permissions and limitations of a ‘limited user’

Though the limited users can use the hardware and software installed in the computer they can perform certain tasks.

Some programs may not function properly if you are logged in as a limited user. For a list of programs that may not function properly for limited user accounts visit the page http://support.microsoft.com /default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307091 This page lists most of the programs that do not function properly if you are logged in as limited user. Additionally a limited user cannot create files on the root folder or the WINDOWS folder. If some programs requires the use of these folders then the limited user cannot use these programs.

It is also difficult for a limited user to edit the windows registry. Therefore if a program uses the windows registry then the limited user cannot run these programs too. For example if you are using Word 97 in a windows XP computer then the ‘Spelling & grammer checking’ feature of word 97 cannot be used in windows XP.

To read about the problems related to limited user account and Windows registry goto the following pagehttp://support.microsoft.com /default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us ;257643 .

Update of Anti-virus or firewall applications cannot be done by a limited user. Only an administrator can perform these tasks.

How can a limited user enter into an ‘Administrator’ account

Consider this scenario. You are the administrator of the computer and you also have a ‘limited user’ account. As a best practice you always use your limited user account to login daily. While you are logged in as the limited user and there is a need for you to perform an admin task such as installing a new software then how to switch to the ‘Administrator’ account.

1. You can logoff as the limited user and login using your Administrator account. But for this method you will have to abandon whatever you had been doing when you were logged in as the limited user
2. There is a way to switch to Administrator without logging off as limited user. Open your ‘windows explorer’. choose any program icon and then right click on the icon, then select the ‘Administrator’ from the menu and type the password of the Administrator and you will get the administrator rights.
3. Or use the fast user switching feature in windows XP. Click on ‘Switch user’ and login as the administrator.