firewall settings

I have installed a firewall (Sygate) and it seems to work
well. I get one message which I do not fully undestand
so am hoping that someone can explain this to me. I
occasionally get a message which says "Generic host
processes are trying to contact ......." and this is
connected to the Windows file svchost.exe.

I am running Windows XP Pro. Three questions:
1. What exactly is the role of this service?
2. Should I allow it to connect to the internet?
2. Will it stop some part of Windows working properly if
I do NOT allow it.

Many thanks for any help.

John E.

Miha
Mon Jul 21 06:29:58 CDT 2003

Hi John,

this article describes what you would like to know:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314056

I hope it helps you out...

--
Mike
MCSA 2K, MCSE 2K, MCT, ...

"John E." <john@earle.it> wrote in message
news:069001c34f70$9650b930$a301280a@phx.gbl...
> I have installed a firewall (Sygate) and it seems to work
> well. I get one message which I do not fully undestand
> so am hoping that someone can explain this to me. I
> occasionally get a message which says "Generic host
> processes are trying to contact ......." and this is
> connected to the Windows file svchost.exe.
>
> I am running Windows XP Pro. Three questions:
> 1. What exactly is the role of this service?
> 2. Should I allow it to connect to the internet?
> 2. Will it stop some part of Windows working properly if
> I do NOT allow it.
>
> Many thanks for any help.
>
> John E.

John
Mon Jul 21 18:25:07 CDT 2003

Thank you very much for the reply. The KB article you
point me to has helped a little but what I really want to
know is which services are OK and which should be blocked?

John


>-----Original Message-----
>Hi John,
>
>this article describes what you would like to know:
>http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-
us;314056
>
>I hope it helps you out...
>
>--
>Mike
>MCSA 2K, MCSE 2K, MCT, ...
>
>"John E." <john@earle.it> wrote in message
>news:069001c34f70$9650b930$a301280a@phx.gbl...
>> I have installed a firewall (Sygate) and it seems to
work
>> well. I get one message which I do not fully undestand
>> so am hoping that someone can explain this to me. I
>> occasionally get a message which says "Generic host
>> processes are trying to contact ......." and this is
>> connected to the Windows file svchost.exe.
>>
>> I am running Windows XP Pro. Three questions:
>> 1. What exactly is the role of this service?
>> 2. Should I allow it to connect to the internet?
>> 2. Will it stop some part of Windows working properly
if
>> I do NOT allow it.
>>
>> Many thanks for any help.
>>
>> John E.
>
>
>.
>

Steven
Mon Jul 21 19:03:28 CDT 2003

Svchost.exe basically manages services. You do not need to let it
access the internet. I am not familiar with Sygate - I use Kerio. In your
tcp/ip properties/advanced/dns you can deselect "register this connection"
if you are not in an AD domain which may stop a lot of that. Make sure that
you are denying access to the internet and not your ip [as shown in ipconfig
/all] address or local host - 127.0.0.1. Some personal firewalls seem to
consider that "the internet" for some reason. Windows wil work fine as long
as you do not deny acess to "itself". -- Steve

"John E." <john@earle.it> wrote in message
news:069001c34f70$9650b930$a301280a@phx.gbl...
> I have installed a firewall (Sygate) and it seems to work
> well. I get one message which I do not fully undestand
> so am hoping that someone can explain this to me. I
> occasionally get a message which says "Generic host
> processes are trying to contact ......." and this is
> connected to the Windows file svchost.exe.
>
> I am running Windows XP Pro. Three questions:
> 1. What exactly is the role of this service?
> 2. Should I allow it to connect to the internet?
> 2. Will it stop some part of Windows working properly if
> I do NOT allow it.
>
> Many thanks for any help.
>
> John E.