Check your XP Firewall settings with this quick and easy tutorial

The Windows XP Firewall should be enabled by default, unless you have installed a third-party firewall. This tutorial will show you how you can check the firewall settings in Windows XP. Not using Windows XP? Tutorials for checking the Windows Firewall are available for Windows Vista and Windows 7 users too. Click here for the Windows Vista version or, click here for the Windows 7 version.

XP users can check that their firewall is enabled by doing the following. Firstly, click Start, and select "Control Panel":-

The Control Panel window is now displayed :-

(note, if your control panel looks different to this one, click on "switch to category view").

Choose "Security Center", the following window will then appear:-

You can see several of your security settings at a glance here. If Windows thinks that any firewall software is enabled then it will show "Firewall ON". If you have not installed a third party firewall, then the firewall that is on must be the Windows Firewall. You can also click on the Windows Firewall icon under "Manage security settings for:" in the bottom half of the window.

There are very few configuration options for the Windows XP Firewall. The default options will be right for the vast majority of users, check out our XP Firewall video tutorial for more information on configuring the Windows XP Firewall.

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