Gaming w/o firewall

[ahopeter]

i often enjoy playing some online games, and some dont seem to work unless i turn off my firewall protection... is it safe to assume that this dangerous?  is there anything i can do to keep the firewall enabled and still enjoy online gaming? thanks

[Chandler]

Which firewall are you using?

Microsoft has a list of ports that you can open up for certain games, and I'm sure other companies will do the same thing (or allow access to that particular program).

[ahopeter]

i am using Zone Alarms firewall protection.

[Computeradict]

all you need to do is tell zonealarm to allow that program to access the internet. I am not sure which distro. of zonealarm you have. but if you have pro. open the zonealarm control center. click on the programs tab. click on the program that you want to play online and click allow on internet access.

if I can give you anymore info let me know I have used zone alarm for some time now and feel pretty comfortable with it .

[ahopeter]

thanks i appreciate the help, but i hvave the free version, and i think that it doesnt allow changes in the settings.