Ask the experts

Q: After you enable an Internet connection firewall, how do you get NetMeeting to continue to work?
A: A number of programs require ports to be manually opened when used on a Windows XP desktop that has ICF turned on.

For NetMeeting, one or more of TCP ports 1731, 1720, 1503, 522 and 389 need to be opened for the program to work properly. The exact ports to be opened will depend on the NetMeeting configuration on the desktop. You can manually open ports using the following steps:

1. Click Start, and then click My Network Places.
2. Under Network Tasks, click View Network Connections. (Or, you can right-click My Network Places on the desktop, and then click Properties.)
3. Right-click the connection that you use for the Internet, and then click Properties.
4. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Settings.

Note If the Settings button is unavailable, ICF is not enabled on this connection and you do not have to open any ports (they are all already open).

5. Click Add to open a new port.
6. In the Description box, type a friendly name. For example, type File Sharing : Port 445.
7. In the Name or IP address of the computer hosting this service on your network box, type 127.0.0.1.

NOTE: You can specify the IP address of an internal computer; however, in most cases, you use 127.0.0.1.
8. In the External port and Internal port boxes, type the port number. In most cases, this number is the same.
9. Click either TCP or UDP, and then click OK.
10. Repeat this process for each port to be opened.

For information about other applications that may require ports to be opened with ICF, please read Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 307554