As the prevalence of computer hackers, scammers and viruses increase around the Internet, you should know how and why to install a firewall.

Defense from malicious data harming your computer is provided by a firewall. Dangerous attacks to your computer can negatively impact upon you but these can be avoided.

Since there are a wide variety of firewalls available, including those from major corporations such as Microsoft, you first need to determine what kind of firewall your PC requires.

Chances are that your firewall is already set up and ready to be used if you have a computer that came installed with the Microsoft XP or Vista operating system.

Check that it is turned on and working properly. If you have one of the earlier operating systems, you will need to purchase your own software. You may want to purchase separate software to complement Microsoft XP as its version of firewall doesn't get great reviews.

You can either visit a store that sells computer software or download a firewall product through the Internet – the most popular products available are Norton, AVG and McAfee.

Prices vary depending on sophistication of the software, but there are also plenty of low cost versions available, even from the big name companies. A few things must be taken into consideration prior to the installation of your firewall.

The functions that you need, such as file and printing sharing, must not be blocked by the program. Settings can be configured during installation or at a later date using the documentation provided.

Firewalls tend to stop you from going to certain parts of the Internet as well. You should be aware how you connect as this may happen if you use a local area network or a router. When you have installed a firewall in place, secured networks in particular are difficult to access.

Before installing a firewall to a pc linked to a company network, you should liase with the company's IT department since they may give you a specific settings configuration so you are still able to connect to them.