Hidden Firewall

[CrazyMobster]

Ok so today I start up my computer and everything is fine as always. I go to play a mmorpg that i have and it says I cannot connect to a server because of a firewall or my internet connection. I said ok maybe theyre having technical problems. I go to launch Skype and it cannot connect either, says its a problem with either a firewall or an internet connection problem. I got suspicious right about now. So I go to watch some episodes of a show on cbs.com. Same thing it stays at "buffering" and then it says i cannot connect. Whats going on here and how do I dissable this firewall. I do not have a firewall in the sence that i did not downlaod one or buy one so it must have been a windows update thing. And my internet connection is fine, i can browse sites and chat on AIM but it blocks sertain things. Any help would be apreciated thanks.

[trackrat]

If you are using XP & SP2 you will have the windows firewall enabled by default.

Try this--- click start / click control panel / click security center / at the bottom clck windows firewall / click exceptions / click add program / add your program / then click OK.

[Scarecrow Man]

Do you have Norton Internet Security, or an Anti-Virus program with a similar feature, like Internet Protection?

If you can open webpages and run AIM, it sounds like some ports are open, and some are not.

Go to command prompt - Start > Run > CMD

and type: netstat /a /o

This will tell you what programs are using certain ports. Check to see if your mmorpg, or Skype is listed, and which port it is using.

Then go to https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2 and run the Sheilds Up program. It will scan all ports and tell you which are open, closed and stealthed. If they are OPEN you have no firewall. If they are closed, you might have a firewall or internet blocking program. If they are stealth, you are likely to have a firewall program that is blocking access to your ports.

Please post your findings here.