In the My Network Places window, click the View network connections link.
The Network Connections window opens. Right-click the icon representing your network, and choose Properties from the menu that appears.
The network's Properties dialog box opens; click the Advanced tab.
On the Advanced tab, click the Settings button. (If this button is grayed out, click the Protect my computer check box to enable it.)
INTRODUCTION
If your home network is connected to the Internet, you suffer an increased risk of hackers obtaining access to the computers on that network. One way to obstruct unauthorized users is to erect a firewall . Windows XP ships complete with a firewall that is installed automatically when you run the Network Setup Wizard on a machine with a direct connection to the Internet. A key component of the firewall is a security log that tracks unsuccessful inbound connection attempts as well as successful outbound connections. To use the log, you must first enable it.
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Opening My Network Places
Refer to Task 3, "Browsing Shared Files," if you need help opening the My Network Places window.
The Advanced Settings dialog box opens. Click the Security Logging tab.
In the Security Logging tab, click to select the Log dropped packets checkbox.
Click the Log successful connections checkbox to select it.
Click the OK button.
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Changing the Size of the Log File
If the default setting for the size of the log file is too large or too small, change the setting in the Size limit spin box on the Security Logging tab of the Advanced Settings dialog box.
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Viewing the Log File
To view the security log file, note its location in the Name box on the Security Logging tab. Then, right-click the Start button, click Explore , and locate the file. Double-click it to open it.
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Changing the Path
If you have trouble locating the security log on your system, you can change its path and filename. Click the Browse button on the Security Logging tab, navigate to the location where you want to store the log file, and click Open .