How to Install a Computer Firewall
As the prevalence of computer hackers, scammers and viruses increase around the Internet, you should know how and why to install a firewall. This is your first line of defense between your computer and data that is entering it. Dangerous attacks to your computer can negatively impact upon you but these can be avoided.
Since there are a wide variety of firewalls available, including those from major corporations such as Microsoft, you first need to determine what kind of firewall your PC requires. A computer that came installed with the Microsoft XP or Vista operating system is likely to have a firewall already set up and ready to use. However, it may not be turned on or working properly. If you do not have one of these later operating systems, then you need to purchase your own software. Even with Microsoft XP, you may still want to purchase separate firewall software since the XP version doesn’t get great reviews.
The most popular products available are Norton, AVG and McAfee and you can either visit a store that sells computer software or download a firewall product through the Internet. There are plenty of low cost versions available, even from the big name companies, with prices varying according to the sophistication of the software. Before your firewall is installed, a few things must be taken into account. These programs can block certain functions that you need, so you must configure it to allow those, such as file and printing sharing. You will normally learn how to do this during the installation or by using its documentation to change the settings once the program is installed.
Access to certain parts of the Internet is limited by a firewall. It is important that you are familiar with how you connect because this can happen if you use a local area network or a router. It is difficult to access secured networks when you have installed a firewall. Installing a firewall to a pc linked to a company network may require a specific settings configuration to allow you to connect to them and this can be provided by a company’s IT department.
