Switching off Windows 7 Firewall blocks all ports ?

Hi.

I'm quite new around here and would like to say hi to everybody.

I have a question to ask. If I were to stop the Windows 7 Firewall Service by right-click on Windows 7 Firewall and Select stop option, the firewall will be switched off.

In this condition, does Windows 7 block all the incoming and outgoing ports as a safety feature ?

in this condition, what if I had enabled a few ports via DOS commands ? what about them ? will they be blocked as well due to the safety feature of shutting down Windows 7 firewall ?

I request if somebody could answer this.

Thanks.

Jabez

A firewall works by selectively blocking incoming packets of data. If a packet is associated with a request from within the computer it is allowed to pass. An example would be when a browser requests data from the Internet. If there is no such association the packet is not allowed passage. This is an active and complex process. When the firewall is disabled all of that functionality is lost. Windows then does the only thing it can do, allow all packets to pass through unrestricted. The software that is designed to block packets is not running.

The above is only basic firewall functionality. Most firewalls actually do much more.

Normally Windows firewall should only be disabled for testing and diagnostic purposes, when a third party firewall is installed, or in a large network where there is a centrally managed firewall. A firewall in a router should be considered a supplement, not a replacement for Windows firewall.