For security reasons, a firewall is essential for a computer. It prevents any malicious program from running. It is a set of related programs configured to protect private networks connected to the Internet from intrusion. It regulates the network traffic between different computer networks. It permits or denies the transmission of a network packet to its destination based on a set of rules.

Sometimes there is a need to allow certain programs to pass through the firewall. In this post, the procedure to configure firewall to allow certain programs is discussed.

The steps for configuring firewall access for specific programs are as follows:

1. Open the Control Panel window, and then click Security.



2. In the Security window, click Windows Firewall.



3. In the left pane of the dialog box, click Allow a program through Windows Firewall.



4. The Windows Firewall Settings dialog box will appear with the Exceptions tab selected. Check or uncheck the programs according to the requirement, and then click the OK button.

Note: If you need to include programs that are not listed, click the Add program button. Click on the program you want or browse the location of the program’s exe file if it is not in the list, and then click OK. The program you have included can now pass through the firewall and can access external networks or the Internet.

In the next post, I will discuss about Windows Automatic Updates.