Since the addition of a Firewall in Windows XP, Microsoft has been working to improve it with each new version of their operating systems.
Windows 7 is expected to the best operating system designed by Microsoft so far.
Windows 7 comes with a robust firewall included and this can be tweaked by the user according to their needs and computer resources..
Firewall plays a huge role in protecting your computer from external malicious programs.
So until and unless you grant permission, external programs will not be able to use the resources of your computer.
Like Windows Vista, the fundamental (basic) settings of the Windows 7 firewall can be configured from Control Panel.
But unlike Windows Vista, Windows 7 allows you to tweak the advanced settings of it’s firewall directly from your Control Panel, instead of accessing empty MMC.
Manually Configure Your Windows 7 Firewall
Below is the procedure to manually configure the firewall Settings of Windows 7 -
Step 1: Click on the START button and then click on the CONTROL PANEL option.
Step 2: Now, in the Control Panel window, locate System and Security and then click on it.
Step 3: Once you open the System and Security window from the Control Panel, you can see a direct link to Windows Firewall. Click on it.
Step 4: Now, you will be able to access the Windows Firewall window. There, you can see number of options like Turn Windows Firewall on or off, Change notification settings, Restore defaults and Advanced settings on the left side of the panel.
And on the right side of the panel you can alter the type of network associated with the firewall settings of your computer which are Home or Work (Private) networks and Public networks.
And the Firewall will be ON / ACTIVE for both the networks, which is a default setting.
Step 5: Now, you can see the Change Notification settings link on the left side of the panel. Click on it. You can use this option to Turn OFF the firewall settings of your operating system by simply clicking on Turn off Windows Firewall button.
Step 6: If you are unhappy with any settings you have selected you can retrieve the default settings by clicking on the option labeled as Use recommended settings which can be located on the right side of the panel or by clicking on the Restore Default link on the left panel.
You need to confirm your choice once you click on the Restore Default button.
Step 7: You can also alter the Advanced Setting of the Local Computers by clicking on the Advanced Settings button visible on the left panel.
Step 8: If you want to tweak the inbound rules, you can click on the link labeled as Inbound Rules on the left side of the panel. If you click on Disable Rule, it will disable the selected rule and if you click on Enable Rule, you can choose the actions you want from the list displayed in Actions Pane.
Step 9: You can even keep an eye on the things like Logging settings, General Settings, Firewall State, Active Networks by clicking on the Monitoring option on the left side of the panel.
I hope this guide has given you a basic idea of how to set up your firewall in Windows 7.
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