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Firewalling for the McAfee Security Center






 

Before we can open ports for LimeWire, we need to figure out what ports LimeWire is using. Here is a brief walkthrough on how to do that. Go ahead and open up LimeWire.



Click Tools in the menu at the top of your screen. In the list that drops down click Options.



On the left side of this page click the plus sign in front of Advanced. Another list should have appeared under advanced. Click the Firewall Config option in this new list. In the Router Configurations section we want to put a dot into the Manual Port open radio button. Now we need to select a port to use for LimeWire. It doesn't really matter what port you choose, but a port between 10000 and 60000 would be a good idea. These higher numbered ports are rarely blocked by ISPs. Once you have chosen a port please enter that port number into the box to the right of the Manual Port open box. That port should also be put into the Listen on Port box. I also need to you enter that port number into the box below.

LimeWire's Port for incoming connections




Open up the McAfee Security Center. Then click Internet & Network which is located right in the middle of that window.


To the right of the Internet & Network area click the configure link.


Click the Firewall protection is enabled bar on the right side of this window.


Now click the Advanced button in the Firewall protection is enabled panel.


By default McAfee allows all traffic in and out of your computer for the programs it thinks are okay. I prefer to have McAfee tell me which programs it is allowing traffic for before it does it. So I have set the security level to Tight. I would recomind that you do the same. I have also disabled the Smart Recomindations option. The "smart" recomindation is to only allow the programs you need and use to connect the internet. Relying upon McAfee to guess which programs those are wouldn't be very smart. If you made the changes above, you would see something like the following screen pop up when you opened a newly installed program.


Go ahead and hit Apply if you have made any changes here. Then click the Program Permissions link in the menu on the left hand side of the window.


Find Limewire in the Program Permissions list and click it to highlight it. McAfee does not allow you to determine exactly which ports Limewire uses. So you've got a couple choices here. You can Grant Full Access, which allows all traffic in and out of your computer to this program. You should only use that option when Limewire is acting as a server. You can Grant Outbound-Only Access which allows Limewire to connect to the internet, but does not allow the internet to connect to Limewire. The other choice is to prevent Limewire from connecting to the internet by clicking the Block Access Option. All of these actions are provided in a list at the lower right of your screen. When you are done click the Ok button all the way back to the main menu.