I am having problems accessing the internet for direct updates with Spybot and I think this problem may be connected to the fact that I can't get a connection to streaming audio with media player (the m.p. can download and play files and all sound components are fine, it just can't connect for streams). I read somewhere that it is sometimes necessary to tell your computer to allow files such as C:\\ProgramFiles\spybot\spybotsd.exe to access the internet in addition to adjusting the internet connection settings in the specific programs if a firewall or proxy server is involved. I do connect to a proxy and have a firewall. I looked at the connection settings in m.p. and "adjust to browser settings" was selected. This seems as though it should be correct--or do I need to enter the port, etc. settings manually? Also, if it is necessary, how do I "tell" my computer to allow files/programs to access the internet? In case it matters, I have Win XP Pro. Thanks for any help you can offer.

open your firewall, click "applications" or "programs" or something similar (this depends on what firewall you have) select the program you want to alowand change its settings to "allow full acess" or "allow acess to the internet" or similar, this should let that program acess the internet, try that and post back the results
Mike

Dear MadMike,

Thanks for your reply. I attempted to add a service to the firewall's exception list, but then saw that I needed to add a port and had no idea what it should be. I did some more checking and found the microsoft help pages on the subject of opening one's firewall for media player (quite prolific). As I have now learned, there are many options for opening a connection and ports. The articles said that adding a program to the firewall's exception list is not advised because it is a security risk, so the better options are to specifically allow incoming ISP traffic or open specific ports. Since I also still can't figure out how to actually add a program (ie. wmserver.exe), perhaps opening specific ports is best. Then, again, I'm also not sure how I would open specific ports--would it be the same or similar process as before. The process I tried (i.e. in My Network Places, right click on the active connection-->properties-->advanced-->settings-->click add , then enter relevant info.) is what would be used to add a program to the firewall, right?
How would I add Ports? Which would you recommend and, in both cases, which port numbers should I open?
Thanks!