I can't get my head around the concept of 'Port':?

Question

Particularly whether it's possible to view what 'ports' are in use and if so, how? (Windows XP)

Answer 1

in order to speak with each other programs need to have an open line of communication. Your PC has certain openings within its operating systems which listen for programs trying to communicate. When you type in a web address into your browser you request information from a computer, this is usually on PORT 80, for example 192.168.11.2:80 would be my request to another PC on my network (192.168.11.2) on PORT 80, this is the port that is used for HTTP requests or to get webpages. there are other ports used for other functions e.g PORT 25 is for SMTP requests, this is what is used for collecting emails from a webserver, various other common ports are for Remote Desktop, Database Servers. If you open windows firwall you should see a list of all services which are allowed to be connected from/to on your PC.

As you probably arent running any server services on your PC you dont need to worry too much about ports. All you need to do is make sure your firewall is blocking people from trying to access your computer on unused ports which may be open. if you are using a router for your internet connection most of the ports should be blocked by it by default.

Answer 2

You have 65536 ports on your computer and these are used to send and receive data when you go on the internet. When you have a firewall installed, the firewall closes these ports so as to protect you from unwanted hackers getting on your machine.

Most firewalls these days as well as closing the ports, "stealth" them as well i.e. hide. This is supposed to make your computer invisible on the Internet, so any hacker who is using a port scanner to scan for open ports will bypass your PC completely, although I don't know if this works 100% or not.

As long as you have a firewall installed you should be OK. You don't really need to know which ports are in use to be secure.

If you want to know for some other reason then maybe somebody else can help.

Answer 3

Basically a port is anything that something plugs into. This can be something physical on the outside of the computer or a port inside the PC itself that some internal wires connect to.

Answer 4

There are serial ports and com ports.

Com ports are numbered places where your devices get assigned. Like they get plugged in.

Serial ports are numbered places where packets of information can be transferred.

It's possible to see what ports (serial ones) are most commonly used and to block them off if you wish. What you really want is a good firewall and then it wont concern you. The firewall will block ports commonly used by hackers.

Answer 5

Why is each thing horizontal on a sphere? because earth is round in structure. imagine, if the international is only a airplane horizon, then right here in the Philippines, I could see the Mt. Everest or the Himalayas or any very tall platforms from different international locations.

Answer 6

I'll save the "chit-chat" for the guyz/ladiez who answered abowe... If u wanna find out what ports did you use on xp try in console the following command: netstat -n -a.