Probably a lame title that's been recycled a bunch of times, but none of the other answers seem to properly address this issue.
Just how does one turn on the firewall?
The shields are green, I check what programs are permitted to access the internet.
Internet Explorer access's the internet.
Internet Explorer is not on the list of programs that are permitted to access the internet.
Therefor: Firewall is off.
By default, Windows firewall only controls incoming connections that arrive at your PC, but does nothing to prevent outgoing connections like IE or whatever. The control panel applet also cannot enable that. You need to use the "firewall with advanced security" to access it, located in administrative tools on the control panel. There you can enable it to block outgoing connections that aren't covered by a rule, and it's there that you must allow the browser to access internet.
Now, how do I set the firewall up to ask me permission on each and every program or process that wants to access the internet.
I want the firewall to deliver a popup asking the user "is this a program which you want to allow access to the internet?".
You can't do that with Windows firewall, period. It's very limited in this regard, it will block connections according to its rules, but will never notify you when it blocks something or allows something, just because it doesn't have that feature.
Run as a standard user and Win 7 will prompt you.
Maybe you're confusing a firewall notification with an UAC elevation prompt, but as the Windows Firewall has no ability to notify on blocked connection, account type doesn't really matters at all.
Well Colin, I'm a little confused at what exactly you are expecting Win 7 to do because Win 7, with MSE, is safer than any other operating system.
hehehehe. Really, you can't be serious. We all know that Windows is the heaven for hackers and viruses, and every techinical review point in that direction. And, by the way, MSE is also a joke of an antivirus in comparison with more advanced solutions.
At this point, I'm really tempted to install a third party system which is easier to read and understand.
Generally, third party firewalls have a better coverage and protection and not being the number one target is also an advantage too. I may suggest that you don't hesitate and download one if you don't like the integrated thing.
