Internet Connection Firewall Check

Issue

Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) is firewall software that provides protection for computers by controlling what information is communicated from your machine to and from the Internet or other machines on a network. ICF is included in Windows« XP and Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition and Enterprise Edition.

The scanned machine does not have ICF enabled on all network connections.

Notes

MBSA does not detect whether another firewall (either hardware or software) is in use and protecting the scanned machine.

Solution

Enable Internet Connection Firewall on each network connection on your machine.

Instructions

To enable ICF manually for a network connection:

In Control Panel, double-click Networking and Internet Connections, and then click Network Connections.
Right-click on the connection on which you would like to enable ICF, and then click Properties.
On the Advanced tab, click the box to select the option to "Protect my computer or network."

Notes

If you want to enable the use of some applications and services through the firewall, you need to enable them by clicking the Settings button, and then selecting the programs, protocols, and services to be enabled for the ICF configuration. Refer to the Knowledge Base article on manually opening ports listed below under Additional Configuration.

Additional Information

The Latest Improvements in the Windows Firewall (for users running Windows XP Service Pack 2 and later or service packs for Windows Server 2003)

How to: Enable or Disable Internet Connection Firewall in Windows XP

How to Manually Open Ports in Internet Connection Firewall in Windows XP

Learn About Firewalls