disable the built in firewall in xp yes or on?

Hi

i have a couple of question about the built in firewall in windows xp


1)
with a third firewall installed , is better let the xp firewall on or off?


2)there is a service in windows xp
windows/firewall --> C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe -k netsvcs
is a good idea disable or enable?


thanks
kinds regards

 

If using a third-party then disable Windows Firewall by all means. Stop and disable service from MMC. If you are not using Internet Connection Sharing stop and disable Application Layer Gateway service as well. Best,

 

but is there some services linked to this service?
can i shut down safely ?

which is the name of this service
i have a not uk os

 

Windows Firewall service depends on RPC, a vital service. No other services depend on Windows Firewall. Check dependencies tab -



You can safely disable the service if you want, nothing else will be broken.

Application Layer Gateway service -



Cheers,

 

thanks
about the application layer getaway service is C:\WINDOWS\System32\alg.exe
by the way when do i need Internet Connection Sharing ??

 

If your PC serves as a gateway (i.e. when other computers connect to the internet through it) and you use say P2P or passive FTP (server type applications) on these PCs, ALG will assist in establishing a connection. In today's use, when most users have routers (separate gateways) to connect multiple PCs by using the same WAN IP, ALG is not needed.

 

There is a risk in messing with the Windows OS. Something may seem unnecessary, but one day that change may cause problems, and you may not know the cause. I've learned from experience that it's best NOT to make changes to your OS, unless there is a very good reason for it. (Like, fixing a serious vulnerability).

Of course, disabling your Windows XP firewall if you have a third-party software firewall is the right thing to do. But enabling, disabling services, editing the registry and the like can cause problems, sometimes problems are caused by a cumulation of such changes.

 

True, that's why you need a Image Backup or Instant Recovery Software when you make changes to the OS.

 

This is not true. Only by messing arround and making changes and tweaking you can learn something new and make your OS behave like you want. For instance, stopping some services (in case you don't need them, of course) can help you close unnecesary opened ports in Windows. Explore the posibilities and learn, do not be afraid of your own operating system (of course, like Antarctica said, make a backup first).

 

I fully agree. Every Windows service has exact purpose, if you understand what this is, you can get the picture quite easily. The problem with Windows services is that there is no general consensus over which one is needed or not. Hardware/software and user needs are different from system to system. I do not like various tweaking guides which recommend disabling of services and give a simplistic one sentence explanation - users tend to blindly follow these without further investigation and that can then lead to problems. So I will just repeat this - explore the possibilities and learn.

Cheers,

 

Sure, you can make changes and see what the short-term effect is.

But there can be cumulative effects, and things may change with a new Windows update, or, for example, when you put new security software on your system.

Can you still remember the change(s) you made ?

Do you have a full backup from 1 week ago, or from 6 months ago ?

If you want to do this to learn more about the OS, fine.

But it's not without risks. And generally, it's not for the average Windows user.

 

I don't have to "remember", I know the defaults.

No I don't, backups are not really necessary for disabling-enabling services. If you disable a service and something is not working you can easily turn it back on. There are exceptions, but you would need to do some reading forehand.

Actually I'd suggest the other way round - learning before tweaking.

To me it is very simple - services do have "Automatic", "Manual" and "Disabled" settings. These are made to be used, and I do use them.

 

Its my guess that impact of tweaking on performance is greatly diminishing with the current highend systems and even modern average office systems,even the tinniest notebooks these days have duocores with on average a 2 gig of memory.

 

Performance is not the only reason for registry or service tweaking. Security can be another reason.

 

if you have personal firewall so disable windows firewall