Virgil and the Windows XP Service Pack 2 Firewall FAB Software Limited September 2004

Transcription

1 Virgil and the Windows XP Service Pack 2 Firewall FAB Software Limited September 2004 This document only applies to those using network versions of FAB Virgil or FAB Enchilada where some computers have Windows XP upgraded to Service Pack 2. This is intended to provide an overview of issues that may affect applications it is not to be used instead of professional advice. Please discuss this with your systems administrator or computer technician before changing any settings. Windows XP has security gaps and Service Pack 2 (XP SP2) is designed to resolve many of them. One of the things that XP SP2 does is to beef up the internal firewall software within Windows. This is an improvement for Internet security but does slow down some programs on your Local Area Network (LAN) in its default configuration. Firewall software runs a fine line between protecting you and hampering your normal use the best protection is to have no connection to any other computer but this, obviously, would prevent most of the benefit of the PC. Most firewall software requires some configuration or setting up to get the best out of it. You should not just allow any program to have full access, however you do need to know which programs to allow access to. There are a number of alternatives. Disable the firewall One option is to disable the firewall for LAN communication but retain it for external traffic. This should not be done until you have consulted with your system administrator or technical expert. FAB does not recommend this unless you have alternate firewall software. FAB recommends a firewall software at the point of Internet connection as well as personal firewall software on each workstation. The personal firewall software should warn of any attempts by internal programs to access the LAN or the Internet. It should enable you to allow or disallow those programs and to retain your rules for different applications. This is to protect against malicious spyware or applications that may wish to use your PC to launch attacks on others. Configure the firewall This isn t an easy task. There are a few things that need to be allowed for Virgil to work well. TCP/IP ports Port Name Reason 3050 gds_db This is the port used by Virgil to talk to the Interbase database. 21 ftp Used for file transfer and also can be used by Interbase 443 https This should be allowed anyway. It is used for secure Internet access. Page 1 of 6

2 There are also two programs that should be allowed: Program Normal Folder Reason Pdxrwn32.exe C:\Program Files\Borland\Paradox8 Runtime\ This is the Paradox Runtime program that Virgil uses. TB5.exe C:\Program Files\FAB\PMP\Form\ This is the FAB Scheduler application. Configuring the XP SP2 firewall This should only be done by experienced Windows users or system experts. If you are unsure then please contact your computer technician to do this. Get to your Network Settings screen. Choose Start, Control Panel then Network Settings. Choose the Local Area Network, right click then choose Properties. Page 2 of 6

3 This will take you to the Network Properties box for this connection. Choose the Advanced Tab this is where you can get to the Firewall settings. If you have no firewall settings then this document doesn t apply to you. Page 3 of 6

4 Otherwise choose Settings. This opens the Firewall box with General options showing. This is where you can disable the firewall by switching it off. If it is On then ensure that the Don t Allow Exceptions box is NOT ticked. If you are using this firewall you will need to allow exceptions. Choose the Exceptions tab. Page 4 of 6

5 You can choose Add Program to add one to the list of excluded programs you may need to browse for it (you will for pdxrwn32.exe and tb5.exe) You can also add a port. Page 5 of 6

6 On the Advanced Tab for the Firewall you can choose which network connections are firewalled. Through the Settings button you can configure exclusions that are specific to that connection (this is the best place to set up exclusions so that programs can be allowed to access the LAN but not the Internet). Again, if you have any problems with this or find it confusing then contact your computer technician so this can be done correctly. Page 6 of 6