Re: Checking ports on a laptop

From: Phil (itchy&scratchy_at_homer.doh.no.spam)
Date: 11/01/04 

Date: Mon, 1 Nov 2004 10:50:44 -0500

Blocked and stealth are basicly the same thing. It means not even a port
scan reveals that a port even exist. It's hidden and no connections are
allowed.
Closed means that the port can be seen, but a connection cannot be
established until something triggers it to open.
You want stealth/blocked all the time. Find out what ports were marked as
just closed, then google for a program clled TCPView and see what program is
using that port, then config the program or shut it down.

"Tosca" <no-spam@thank-you.com> wrote in message
news:OiAoEaCwEHA.1524@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl
> Hi Everyone
>
> I have a single laptop behind a Netgear router connected to an ADSL
> line. I access e-mail and surf the net but do little else. I have
> ZoneAlarm on the laptop, in addition to the Firewall in the router.
> I have XP Pro and have turned off it's firewall.
>
> I ran two online port scans and one said that some ports were
> "Blocked" (good, according to the site) whilst others were "Closed"
> (less good, according to the site). The other online port scan said
> that the same ports were "Stealth" (good, apparantly). One site was
> http://www.sygatetech.com whilst the other was http://www.grc.com.
> I'm not sure why these reputable sites gave different results.
> What's the difference between "Blocked", "Closed" and "Stealth"?
> Which is best, given my limited activity (I also use ftp occasionally
> to access other sites but don't want anyone to probe my laptop to
> access any data) and how do I alter the status of the ports?
>
> Maybe these questions demand too detailed a response here and, in
> that case, can anyone point me to a "fools guide" that I could use as
> a springboard to delve further? I've googled but the information
> that I obtained seemed to confuse me more.
>
> Thanks for your time and patience.

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