XP firewall problem

[DBH]

On the advice of a few people in General Hardware, I'm posting this to both the OS and Network forums.

I have firewall that comes with XP enabled. However, it does not let me access FTPs of any kind. It's definitely the firewall, because when I disable it, everything works.

I've already tried:

- Going to network properties / advanced / settings (there's an FTP category there but that's only if someone wants to connect to an FTP on my computer, not if I want to connect to a different FTP).

- Adding Ports 20 and 21 along with the FTP's IP in the network properties / advanced area. It lets me add Port 20, but when I try to add Port 21, it says this: "This port number is already used by another entry. Please enter a unique port number." That's probably because the default FTP category in network properties / advanced / settings is already set to 21 and cannot be changed.

I've tried two other boards already, to no avail, but this one comes highly recommend. I really hope someone can help me fix this problem short of having to disable the firewall.

Thanks,
DBH

 

[sswingle]

The Windows XP built in firewall is about worthless anyways. A good firewall needs to block outbound communication as well as inbound, which the XP one doesn't. I recommend disabling it, and downloading the free version of Zone Alarm.

 

[StraightPipe]

funny, i can access FTP fine behind the XP firewall

if you want a good firewall a simple NAT router works great (just a regular router like linksys or d-link)