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xp firewall

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by t_bonee

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Hi all,

Does anyone know how to allow non-administrators users to enable/disable the firewall in xp?

I have then in the power users and the network configuration groups but the advanced tab still doesn't show up on the network properties dialog to allow them to get to the firewall checkbox. Giving the administrator rights is not an option.

Thanks.

--Tom

5 replies

by edlockett

Hello. I can't really see any need for a user to keep enabling and disbaling the firewall. Use a group policy if possible to set the necessary options and then leave it.
Hope this helps.

by t_bonee

Thanks for the idea. I don't think it will work though. The reason is this is a salesman who while in the office, doesn't need the firewall on our network. It interferes with patching software and av scans, etc. While out of the office, this guy connects to just about every wireless ap he can find as well as other companies and clients networks. I want to make sure he has it turned on while out of the office. I would rather know that he can turn it on himself than trust some one elses network.

by tksolway

As far as I know there isn't an option for this. All property pages are Admin only, I don't think there is a way to change that. But if you put another Firewall software, like Norton or Zone Alarm, he could enable and disable that.

by edlockett

In the group policy there are two firewall settings profiles : domain and non-domain. The default behaviour is to not enable the firewall when connected to domain, but DO enable it if not connected to domain.
This setting should give you the behaviour you desire. Test it and hopefully you will see that it already does what you want it to!

by edlockett

Some other ideas - if he uses a cable whilst in the office then obviously this is a seperate connection and the firewall has seperate options for each connection.

Also, the windows firewall in SP2 is designed to be used in corporate LAN environments. It gives extra protection against the propagation of viruses should they manage to penetrate the perimeter. It would also protect the rest of your corp network in the event that the laptop user became infected through some other means eg. email or floppy disk when out of the office. As well as affording the laptop extra protection against other kinds of malware which initiate connections OUT of the computer.
My recommendation therefore would be to enable the firewall always and put in the relevant port / program exceptions to ensure that this does not interfere with the software you use on your network. Once you have set up the exceptions it will be more or less fit-and-forget, and you will have significantly improved protection in your network.
Hope you can follow my reasoning here - its a bit of a ramble but I'm typing quickly.

Ed :-)

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