Windows 7 Firewall: How to enable and disable

If you regularly use the Internet, then you just need to protect your computer from attacks by intruders and viruses. To do this, you can install a reliable antivirus or properly configure the built-in "Windows" software.

That's why it's important to know how to turn on the Windows 7 firewall and turn it off if necessary.

What is a firewall?

The word "firewall" is borrowed from the German language and means "a 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 serves to protect your computer from unauthorized actions by hackers and malicious software. Also, a firewall can prevent information from leaking from your computer, so it is not recommended to ignore it.

As a rule, most users are satisfied with the built-in firewall, as 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" a lot of RAM and need to be properly configured.

How do I enable the firewall?

So, you have built-in Windows 7 firewall on your computer. How do I enable it? In fact, it is very easy to do this.

Open the "Start" menu and go to "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:

1. You can fire up a firewall for your home network, but usually you do not, even if you do not have other anti-virus protection.
2. Enabling the firewall for public networks.

Remember: if you use an antivirus, for example "Avast" or Kaspersky, you need to disable the built-in firewall so that it does not conflict with the one you installed. On how to turn off the Windows 7 firewall, read on.

Disabling the Firewall

You know how to start a firewall, so with its shutdown, there should not be any difficulties, since you will need to perform the same actions, but in the reverse order.

Go to the "Start" menu, open the "Control Panel" again, select the firewall partition. Now click "Enable or Disable the Firewall" and check the corresponding function. In this case, you can turn off, for example, only the firewall for a public network. But remember that deactivating the firewall can lead to serious problems, because the computer will become vulnerable before the attacks of viruses and intruders.

Now you know how to turn off the Windows 7 firewall, but you must also disable it in the services.

Disable the firewall in the Services menu

With the above method, you disable only the program itself, but the firewall service continues to work, so it must also be deactivated.

Open the "Control Panel" and then "Administration". Now go to the "Services" section. Here, find the item "Windows Firewall", in the opened window set the launch type to the "Disabled" mode, and then click the "Stop" button.

You can make it easier. There is a search line in the Start menu. Write the word "services" in it and follow all the steps described above.

To verify that the firewall service is really deactivated, open the "System Configuration" section and see if there is a firewall service there. If it is present in the list, then uncheck it.

Windows 7 Firewall exceptions

Sometimes a firewall blocks programs that you need. To avoid this, you need to add them to the "Exceptions".

Go to the "Windows Firewall" section and allow the programs to run by clicking on the corresponding item in the left menu. On the contrary to the ones for which you want to make an exception, check the box.

Now the firewall will ignore the marked programs, and you can easily use them. But remember that if you downloaded them from questionable resources, then this function is not recommended. How to turn on the firewall in Windows 7, you know, so activate it.

If you need to open the port

There are situations (for example, with games) when you need to open a port. The Windows 7 firewall allows you to do this.

Go to the "Control Panel" and open the firewall section. Select the "Advanced options" option in 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 of them, then they are prescribed through a hyphen.

Click the "Next" button and in the next step select "Allow connection". Then check all three profiles and click "Next". The last step is the name for the rule and its description.

In order to check whether the port is opened or not, you can go to the site where you can do it. There are many such services on the Internet. Find them will help Google or Yandex.

The firewall does not start. Solutions to 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, calling it Repair.bat. In this case, you need to specify the file type "All files". After that, run this document as administrator. You can do this by clicking on it and selecting the appropriate item.

Alternatively, go to the Microsoft website. Choose the language that suits you at the bottom 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 you need to insert into Notepad, and other options for solving the problem with the firewall. Sometimes, for the firewall to start, you just need to scan the anti-virus program and remove the malicious files.

Helpful Tips

So, you already know how to open the Windows 7 firewall. Do not forget to follow all the recommendations for using the firewall:

1. If your computer is already old enough, then use the built-in firewall, because more powerful firewalls consume a lot of system resources.
2. When you have an anti-virus that has its own firewall, then the built-in must be disabled so that they do not conflict with each other.
3. Do not add to the exceptions programs that you downloaded from questionable sites, as this could harm the system.
4. For a home network, the firewall can be left off, but for public networks, activation is required, since information leaks may occur from your computer, or a virus may enter the system.
5. A lot of information on troubleshooting firewall issues can be found on its "native" Microsoft website.

Conclusion

Knowing how to turn on the firewall in Windows 7, you can reduce the risk of unpleasant situations to a minimum. Of course, it is advisable to install a more reliable anti-virus on your computer, but even a built-in firewall can protect you from losing important data or from hacker attacks.

Remember: do not completely turn off the firewall if any one program with it does not work. It is better to understand, perhaps it contains a virus. Or try to find out what the problem is. But in any case, deactivation of the firewall is highly undesirable.