This section will explain how to enable certain programs to access the internet with Windows Firewall.  To see additional information, go back to the Main Windows Firewall page.

To make these changes, you must first enable your firewall.  Once your firewall is turned on, you'll need to keep an eye out for windows popping up that look like this:

This is not an error, and the window you see may mention a different Name and Publisher, depending on the circumstances; this window means that Windows Firewall has detected that a program is attempting to access the internet, and does not yet recognize it - if you know what program it is and want to grant it access to the internet, click Unblock; however, if you think that this program should not have access to the internet, click Keep Blocking. If you are unsure what the program is and whether or not you should click unblock or keep blocking, click Ask Me Later and call 515-HELP and a Help Desk associate will help you further.

Changing Firewall Options

Click on your Start Menu, then click Control Panel (note: if you do not see Control Panel as an option in your start menu, look for Settings, then click Control Panel)

Now click Security Center in the window that appeared

Now click Windows Firewall, appearing beneath 'Manage security settings for'

The Exceptions tab

• If you have a program that requires internet access but does not appear in the list beneath Programs and Services in the window above, then windows firewall has not yet granted that program access to the internet; in order to tell windows firewall to allow that program access to the internet, you will need to know the location in your hard drive of the program's executeable - if you know this, click the Add Program button beneath the list, and move on to Step 6
• If you there is a program in the list beneath Programs and Services whose' internet access you want to modify or remove, move to Step 7
• If you need an incoming port opened on the firewall, you will need to know the port number and whether the transmission type will be TCP or UDP - if you know this information, move to Step 8
• If you wish not to be notified when windows firewall blocks a program from the internet, uncheck the Display a notification when Windows Firewall blocks a program box in the window above and click OK
   

  Adding a program to windows firewall's exceptions list - to do this, click the Add Program button, and you should see a small window appear like the one below:

Now click the Browse button, and use the window that appears to find the executeable of the program you wish to grant internet access

Once you have found the executable, select it with your mouse and its name should appear in the box to the right of File name as it does in the illustration above; once it does, click Open. The program has now been added to windows firewall's list and you can click OK and exit all screens (click OK on all windows until you are out). If you wish to modify the internet access of the program you have added, move to Step 7.
 

Modify or remove the internet access of a program that is already on the exceptions list - to do this, first find the program in the exceptions list appearing beneath the words Programs and Services, as shown below:

• If you wish to remove this program from the list (and hence remove its internet access), click the Delete button appearing below the list itself, then click Yes in the confirmation dialog that appears, and then click OK to exit the windows firewall properties.
• If you wish to modify this program's internet access, click the Edit button appearing below the list. You should then see a screen like the one below:

You should then see a screen like this one:

• To allow this program only to access computers in your area (on your network), click the My network (subnet) only option
• To allow this program to only connect to certain internet addresses (ips), click the Custom list option and type in the box below it the list of IPs you want to allow the program access to; if there is more than one IP, separate each IP with a comma.
• Click OK when you are done, and click OK in the other screens to save all the setting changes.
   

Opening an incoming port on windows firewall - to do this, click the Add Port button that appears below the exceptions list, as in the illustration below:

A window like this one should appear:

In this window, type a descriptive name in the box labeled Name: this will be the name that appears in the exceptions list, so when you want to modify this exception later you will need to remember the name you gave this. Enter the port number you wish to open in the box labeled Port number, and then select whether the tranmission type is TCP or UDP by selecting the appropriate box. Click OK to save your changes, then click OK again to save all changes and exit windows firewall configuration.