Limit your exposure to the outside world by
blocking incoming connections.
Click on Start > Run > Type in there
"ncpa.cpl" without colons > Press Enter
Right click on "Local Area Network" And go
to "Properties",In the scroll box, Click on "Internet Protocol
(IP/TCP)" and then click on the "Properties" button, In the new
window, Click on the "Advanced.." button, Then in the other new
window go to the "Options" tab, Click on "TCP/IP Filtering"
and hit "Properties", Check off "Enable TCP/IP filtering
(All adapters)" next In the Above "TCP Ports" Click on the Radio
button "Permit Only" and then add in the ports that you want people
to be able to access... If you're running a web server add in 80, If you're
running an FTP server add in 21... And so on... Then hit "OK" And
close all the other windows, And reboot when it asks you too.
This way you can close the ports that you do not need
to be open to the outside world. An alternative to this tweak could be
running a firewall or enabling windows built in firewall. Please note
that in order for other computers to connect to you, for example sending a file
over AOL Instant Messenger or using Windows Messenger to send a file, make sure
that the required port is not blocked on your system. Otherwise, nothing
will go through.
