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This Security Center is Service Pack 2’s own PC control center that assists in protecting your system from malicious attacks. This is Microsoft’s first attempt at creating a centralized security section that incorporates a Firewall, Automatic Updates, and Virus Protection. This is what makes WinXpSP2 so favorable.

The security center will have a red “Shield” on the bottom right of your computer screen. Clicking on the “Shield Icon”, the following screen will appear.

If you click on the Automatic Updates towards the bottom of the Security center prompt box the following screen will appear. We recommend that you click on “Download updates for me, but let me choose when to install them”. This will enable computers with a broadband connection to download them automatically and when you return to your PC a balloon will appear prompting you to install the updates that are now available. This way you are aware of exactly what is being installed and what its function is. For those of you who have dial up internet access we recommend you “Turn off Automatic Updates” and run it once every two weeks.

Unless you have programs such as “Zone Alarm Security” already installed we recommend that you turn this firewall “ON”. This feature enables programs from connecting to the Internet UNLESS you give them prior authorization. If there is a program attempting to access the Internet while this feature is turned on it will immediately prompt you before allowing it to access the Internet. In order to activate this feature click the “ON” radial.

The advanced tab under “Windows Firewall” allows you to control multiple connections if you have them. It also allows you to create security logs, ICMP (Internet Control Message Packet) settings, and also have the “Restore Defaults” option should you ever need it. ICMP will make you invisible to certain attacks that may be sent against you from a potential hacker.

The Exceptions tab will allow you to add programs manually that require an Internet connection. If you frequently use programs other than Internet Explorer and messaging programs(AIM, MSN, Yahoo Messenger, etc..) we recommend you manually add them here. Applications such as online gaming, and finance applications, such as Quicken will need to be added. Click on the “Exceptions” tab, you will see a small list of programs that already have access to the Internet. You can modify the programs available on your PC and take away their Internet access as you see fit. If you need to add programs to the list click on the “Add Program” tab and the following box will appear and you can add from programs that are already listed. If you require a program that is not in the list you can click browse and look for the folder in which the program is installed and add the program manually.

TIP: 99.9% of programs by default are installed in the following directory C:Program Files *program folder* where C: -- represents the drive, Program Files - represents the folder where almost all programs reside, and * program folder *- represents the name of the program - such as Adobe products will be located in C:Program FilesAdobe