On Occasion a personal firewall can go haywire and block you from sending and or receiving email as well as other services. This can usually be fixed by disabling the firewall and re-enabling it. The following list is provided for the most popular firewall software to show you how to disable your firewall.

Windows XP

1. Log on as a user that is a member of the Administrators group.
2. Open the Network Connections folder, right click the desired connection, and then click Properties.
3. Click the Advanced tab, and remove the check from Protect my computer and network by limiting or preventing access to this computer from the Internet.
4. Click Yes to the dialog windows that asks you to confirm your decision to disable the firewall.

Norton Internet Security

1. Log on using an account with Adult or Supervisor rights. Open Norton Internet Security.
2. On the left side of the window, click Internet Status and then click Current Status.
3. In the Current Status window, click Disable.

Norton Personal Firewall

1. Open Norton Personal Fireall.
2. On the left side of the window, click Internet Status and then click Current Status.
3. In the Current Status window, click Disable.

   You can also disable Norton Personal Firewall by right-clicking on the Norton Personal Firewall icon in the notification area of the taskbar and selecting disable.

McAfee Internet Security

1. Right-click the McAfee icon.
2. Point to Personal Firewall and then click Options.
3. Click the Security tab.
4. Set the Security Level by moving the slider to the desired level.
5. Set Access to Low.
6. Click OK to save changes.

McAfee Firewall

http://www.mcafee.com/myapps/firewall/default.asp?duration=2

1. Click Stop McAfee Firewall to disable the software.
2. From the Welcome to McAfee Firewall screen, go to the Network Control Settings and select Allow All Traffic.