Windows XP ships with a firewall built-in to the operating system. Often people don’t realise this firewall is turned on and can’t understand why they have trouble either accessing files on the Internet or other people trying to connect to their computer (through Messenger or other chat applications) to send files. This is down to the firewall being pre-configured to prevent unauthorised access.

However, Windows Firewall isn’t the easiest application to configure. It’s not particularly user-friendly and isn’t really designed for the first-time computer user. There are no straightforward wizards or simply ‘turn on or off’ options.

Jetico Personal Firewall will prevent access from hackers attempting to access your computer, whilst you browse the Internet. It will close open ports on your system, so that unauthorised users do not have access to your computer (or any computers on your home network).

Jetico Personal Firewall is easy to configure and more powerful than the built-in Windows Firewall. However, do remember that if you have a broadband connection, you’ll most likely have a hardware firewall built-in to your modem.