Firewall tutorial start to finish

I own a windows 7 desktop and a windows 10 laptop. I want to learn about networking and firewall rules, in depth. There are many tutorials out there that tell you how to accomplish a single task under certain conditions, like adding a firewall exception for a certain program. But I have never felt that I really understood what I was doing with these things.

There are certain facts that all guides, even Microsoft's guides, seem to take for granted. For instance, there is the concept of a "network" in Windows. If you go to the networking control panel, you may see one or more "networks" listed. But are these hardware? Are these software? Could be either, it seems. There is a "network" for the Ethernet card, but also one for the WiFi. But ALSO one for the VPN, which is pure software. What, more precisely, is a "network"? How is the thing on your computer called a "network" the same or different from the thing Microsoft calls a "home network"? I want to find out.

Are there any guides or books that explain this from first principles? I don't plan to be Microsoft Certified, so I don't want to read a tome, but I want to know something more than a quick tutorial.

I want to learn about firewall rules, routing rules, etc. to play with how some of my programs use my VPN.

Googling "Windows networking guide" is little help. It mostly points me to out-of-date stuff, and mostly it's not really in-depth. Just stuff like "setting up a home network."

Thanks,
Mike

Borg 386 said:

This site has a good many tutorials on most anything, which should include windows firewalls. Take some time to peruse the tutorials section of this forum to see if you find anything helpful.

Windows 10 Tutorials

The tutorials at that page are the kind that say, "Hey, you want to do single task X in context Y? Here's how." They only give you the bare minimum information to accomplish that. They don't explain anything fundamental. It's just little unconnected pieces, unfortunately.

Hello -
I also have been confused (as I am not new to 'using' computers, but I'm still new when it comes to the how-to's) - I haven't been able to find any solid, step-by-step (windows firewall for dummies) website. I have multiple 'network' drivers and am not sure if my laptop is vulnerable because I have no clue which one's do what - other than the Dell Wireless Network Card (I assume is my factory wireless network driver) - and I agree. There really isn't a lot of info on Windows 10 around - other than here in the Ten Forums - which, by the way I thank all of you who take the time and effort to read and reply with very helpful information.

Maybe I need to just go buy a book (with nice pictures for visual) -

Lisa

That looks like some good stuff. Thank you!