XP System Files - Should I Block 'Em?

Hi... I'm curious to find out if any of the following XP system files should be blocked from connecting out. I'm aware that some could just be connecting to a local address and not actually the internet - but as said - I'm curious to find out what the secure solution would be. The files I've allowed access are:

EXPLORER.EXE
HELPSVC.EXE
DLLHOST.EXE
LSASS.EXE
MSDTC.EXE
MSIEXEC.EXE
SERVICES.EXE
SPOOLSV.EXE
SVCHOST.EXE
WINLOGON.EXE

I've only reacted to 'filtering pop-ups' - I haven't added any of them myself - so in one way or the other they've needed to access either localhost or the internet.

Let me also say I often check for viruses/trojans/spyware and clean my registry as well, so I'm not suggesting it's any of those-- my interest is more in direction of getting windows to work optimal and still be secure.

- Any comments are welcome. Thanx

 

Normally for some of them (like explorer or winlogon) you just need to allow the application another one that will connect and you can block the direct access.

On my side I've always blocked SPOOLSV without encountering any issue.

Frederic

 

Thank you -- I'll follow that lead. And I'll try block a few more and see if windows work with that.