How to disable Ports 135, 137-139, 445 on Windows XP

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The following applies to Windows XP, but may also apply to Windows 2000, Vista, and 7.

Also, please back-up your registry etc (or keep careful record of the BEFORE and AFTER) before attempting any of the below - if something stops working or goes wrong, you can simply reverse the changes. Keep in mind that other systems may have these ports to be enabled (including yours).

Essentially, all these ports have been exploited by worms in the past (and are often open by default), so that’s arguably enough reason to disable them. Keep in mind that you can configure hardware and/or software firewalls to “stealth” these ports (or block all traffic across these ports), but this isn’t as secure as disabling them completely - Firewalls can be bypassed, particularly in targeted attacks.

Having a NAT Router and/or Windows Firewall will “stealth” all these ports anyway against inbound connections. However, why keep them potentially open when you have no use for them?

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