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Three of the best things about Windows XP SP2 Firewall is that it's free, it's built-in, and easy to turn on. The firewall is supported for all your network connections and you will find the settings for it on the advanced tab of any of your network connections within the Control Panel by right clicking on the icon and selecting Properties.

Generally you can just turn it on and accept the default settings and it starts working, blocking incoming traffic on your connections as easy as that. The nice thing about each network connection having their own firewall settings is that you can adjust specific settings for each different network connection. For instance, you may want more stringent restrictions on your wireless network connection than your wired one where you are connection to known networks like your home or office. This offers some flexibility to its use.

One limitation is its inability to block network traffic that is outgoing. Blocking or warning the user of outgoing traffic is a key indicator that there possible spy ware or ad ware working on your computer.

While the XP Firewall is a good start and better than nothing, you may want to avail yourself of a third party firewall like Zone Alarm which is available for free from www.zonealarm.com and has proved to be superior to the Windows XP SP2 Firewall.

Learn more about this author, Rick H. Blase.
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