This article coves advanced options to manage Vista Firewall. I would recommend to advanced users only who are truly aware of how firewall works completely. Last post on Basic Mode of Managing Windows Vista Firewall , I said something about Inbound and Outbound rules. In basic mode when you add any program to Windows Firewall , in the background it creates a rule ( inbound or outbound).

This tutorial is in reference with 30 Days Windows Vista Tutorials and Guide

So in this section will convert how to create Inbound and Outbound rules for Windows Firewall. This is similar to basic mode but you get different options and with more complexity.

Type WF.msc in your run dialog box. This opens up Windows Firewall with Advanced Security program which allows you to create inbound rules , outbound rules, Connection security rules and Monitoring.

• Inbound rules determine which programs are allowed to bring the data in , Outbound are just opposite of that.
• Connection Security Rules are not exactly firewalls but it involves authenticating two computers before they begin communications and securing information being sent between two computers.

Windows Vista Firewall Advance Mode

How to create Inbound and Outbound Rules?

• Select on Inbound Icon on left
• When you select you can see all the Inbound rules which is already created.
• Now either you can do a right click or just look at Actions Section on Right .
• Select New Rule

Creating Inbound or Outbound rule  is easy but we should be careful about it. There are 5 steps inside it

Create Inbound and Outbound Rules

• Rule Type : Is it a program or port ? or Anything custom ?
• Program : Select if you chose program . You can select any exe you want to apply the rule on.
• Protocols and Ports : Select the UDP or TCP type and the port number
• Action : Next is what you want to do exactly when this happens. You want to allow it, Allow only when it is secured etc.
• Profile : This can be given a profile or call it scope which we saw in the last post also. You can have one rule for Your home network and one for office.
• Name : Finally give a name to it which is easily identifiable by you.

On  Connection Security rules :

Connection security rules makes sure the connection are authenticated based on some criteria like domain or though gateway. This is very advanced type of rules which we generally don’t use.   However you get more control because authentication places major role here. The authentication supports Kerberos V5, Certificates or Windows.

Creating Connection security rules is more or less similar to other rules but they get more specific on domains, type of authentication. Normal users need not to worry about it.

There is an important section called as Monitoring. This can be useful if you want to watch what inbound and inbound action is taking place. The only drawback is I cannot change anything from here.

So this was all about the advanced mode of Windows Vista Firewall. Don’t forget to check the basic mode also if this is little complex for you. Leave your questions in comments and we can have a discussion on it.