If you regularly use the Internet, then you just need to protect your computer from malicious attacks and viruses. To do this, you can install a reliable antivirus or correctly configure the software built into Windows.
That is why it is important to know how to enable the Windows 7 firewall and disable it if necessary.
What is a firewall?
The word "firewall" is borrowed from the German language and means "wall that prevents the spread of fire." Another name for the firewall is firewall, or firewall.
Based on these names, you can understand that the firewall is used to protect the computer from unauthorized actions by hackers and malicious software. Also, the firewall can prevent information leakage from your computer, so ignoring it is not recommended.
As a rule, most users are satisfied with the built-in firewall, since it protects the computer quite reliably . Of course, you can install a more powerful firewall, but in this case you need to remember that such programs "eat up" a lot of RAM and need to be configured correctly.
How to enable a firewall?
So, you have the built-in Windows 7 firewall installed on your computer. How do I enable it? This is actually very easy to do.
Open the Start menu and go to the Control Panel. To make it more convenient, in the upper right corner select the “Small Icons” view. Now find the “Windows Firewall” section and open it.
In the left menu you will see the corresponding item, clicking on which you can enable or disable the firewall. There are two options here:
- You can run a firewall for your home network, but they usually do not, even if you do not have other anti-virus protection.
- Enabling a firewall for public networks.
Remember: if you use an antivirus such as Avast or Kaspersky, you must disable the built-in firewall so that it does not conflict with the one you installed. To turn off the Windows 7 firewall , read on.
Disabling Firewall
You know how to start the firewall, therefore, with its disabling, difficulties should not arise, since you will need to perform the same actions, but in the reverse order.
Going to the "Start" menu, open the "Control Panel" again, select the firewall section. Now click “Enable or disable the firewall” and check the corresponding function. In this case, you can turn off, for example, only a firewall for a public network. But remember that deactivating a firewall can lead to serious problems, because the computer will become vulnerable to attacks by viruses and intruders.
Now you know how to turn off the Windows 7 firewall, but you need to disable it also in services.
Disabling the firewall in the Services menu
Using the above method, you disable only the program itself, however, the firewall service continues to work, therefore it also needs to be deactivated.
Open the Control Panel, and then Administrative Tools. Now go to the Services section. Here, find the item “Windows Firewall”, in the window that opens, set the startup type to “Disabled”, then click the “Stop” button.
It can be made easier. The Start menu has a search bar. Write the word “services” in it and follow all the steps described above.
To verify that the firewall service is indeed deactivated, open the System Configuration section and see if there is a firewall service there. If it is in the list, uncheck the box next to it.
Windows 7 Firewall Exceptions
Sometimes a firewall blocks the programs you need. To prevent this from happening, you must add them to the “Exceptions”.
Go to the "Windows Firewall" section and enable the launch of programs by clicking on the corresponding item in the left menu. Next to those for which you want to make an exception, select the check box.
Now the firewall will ignore the marked programs, and you can use them without any problems. But remember that if you downloaded them from dubious resources, it is not recommended to use this function. You know how to enable the Windows 7 firewall, so activate it.
If you need to open a port
There are situations (for example, with games) when you need to open a port. Windows 7 Firewall allows you to do this.
Go to the "Control Panel" and open the firewall section. Select "More Options" from the menu on the left. You should have a separate window where you need to select "Rules for incoming connections." In the right menu, click Create Rule. Select the option “For port” and specify the protocol suitable for your case. Enter the port number in the corresponding field. If there are several, then they are written with a hyphen.
Click the “Next” button and in the next step select “Allow connection”. Then check all three profiles and click Next again. The final step is the name for the rule and its description.
In order to check whether the port has opened or not, you can go to the site where you can do this. There are a lot of such services on the Internet. Find them help Google or Yandex.
The firewall does not start. Options for solving the problem
If the Windows 7 firewall does not turn on, there are several ways to solve this problem. For example, you can insert a specific file into Notepad, and then save the document by calling it Repair.bat. In this case, the file type must be specified "All files". After that, run this document as administrator. You can do this by clicking on it with RMB and selecting the appropriate item.
Alternatively, go to the Microsoft website. Below, select the language that suits you and go to the "Support" section. Use the search box on the site where you can enter the question you are interested in.
Here you will find the file to be inserted into Notepad and other solutions to the firewall problem. Sometimes, for the firewall to start, you just need to scan the system with an antivirus program and delete the malicious files.
Useful Tips
So, you already know how to open the Windows 7 firewall. Do not forget to follow all the recommendations for using the firewall:
- If your computer is already old enough, then use the built-in firewall, as more powerful firewalls consume a lot of system resources.
- When you have installed an antivirus that has its own firewall, the built-in must be disabled so that they do not conflict with each other.
- Do not add to the exceptions programs that you downloaded from questionable sites, as this can harm the system.
- The firewall can be omitted for the home network, however, for public networks, its activation is mandatory, since information leakage from your computer or some virus will penetrate the system.
- Quite a lot of information on troubleshooting a firewall can be found on its Microsoft homepage.
Conclusion
Knowing how to enable the Windows 7 firewall will help you minimize the risk of unpleasant situations. Of course, it is advisable to install a more reliable antivirus on your computer, but even the built-in firewall can protect you from losing important data or from hacker attacks.
Remember: do not completely disable the firewall if any one program does not work with it. Better to figure out, maybe it contains a virus. Or try to figure out what the problem is. But in any case, deactivating the firewall is highly undesirable.