Basic Firewall:Using the Wizard

The quickest and easiest way to set up this firewall is to use the Wizard.  The Wizard button is on the Menu and should be the option you choose if you are looking for an easy way to give your system basic protection or if you are an absolute beginner and you need a firewall but you are clueless, it is OK we have all been there.  When you use the Wizard you do not need to understand the ports, the firewall rules, or any of the interface, you are free to just relax and let the Wizard do it all with a few basic decisions.

Lesson 1 / Lesson 3

When you choose the Wizard you will see this opening window. All you need to do is answer a few basic questions.

The first question is a reference to the kind of network access you have.  Are you connected to a network really means do you have Internet access?  If you use your computer to access the Internet, yes you are connected to a network.  The other choice of no network access would mean that you never access the Internet or any other computers using the computer, in that case you will not need a firewall.

Here you can determine your skill level as each level has different options.  If you choose "Beginner" the decisions about what rules should be placed in your firewall will be made by the application and you will not need to really understand what they are, just that you now have a firewall in place to protect your system.   The other option is "Expert".

Now you have a few additional options in this window.  First, you can keep the configuration that you already have by checking the box.  The other option is a reference to whether the system you are on is a Desktop or Server. The basic difference between the two is that a Desktop is usually used by one or several users to access the Internet, play music, and create documents, all done for the users who log into the system.  A Server on the other hand provides resources to other computers, like file sharing, sharing printers, etc.  The Server needs a different type of protection than the Desktop.  Unless you know for sure your computer is providing resources to other users on the network, choose Desktop.

When you click on the "OK" button the firewall will be created for you and the rules will be listed in the firewall window.  Now what you need to do is click "Apply" so that the firewall is active.  If you have problems choose "Disable" so that you can troubleshoot the rules.  The next lesson will explain the rules that you have created.