How can I open up Windows Firewall (VISTA) for outbound traffic to allow computer to see networked drives?

Question

I have a computer (Vista) that has to have a firewall on it. Furthermore, it's imposed (from management) that under Firewall properties, the Outbond connections are blocked. The default is "Allow". I would, however, like this computer to be able to see networked drives. I have tried opening up various things by going to Outbound Rules, picking New Rule->Predefined and turning on Network Discovery, File and Printer Sharing, Core Networking. I can't see the networked drive. As a sanity check, I have disabled the firewall and verified that all is well. Also, setting the default outbound connection to "allow" works.

Any ideas on this specific problem? Any tutorials on Windows Firewall for Vista? I've seen a few but they are basic. They certainly don't address this problem. Thanks.

Answer 1

Thanks. I finally figured this out. In case someone looks at this months from now, here's the key details:

The computer had already been setup to use a "private" as opposed to "domain" or "public" setting. Thus in Windows Firewall w/ Advanced Security I made sure that CoreNetworking, File and Printer Sharing, and Network Discovery we're all opened up. I did this by clicking on "Outbound Rules", and picking Action->New Rule->Predefined and then the relevant category. Further, for all of the File & Print Sharing category, for the Profiles marked Private, set the remote address to “Any”. Finally, I changed the rules, CoreNetworking – Group Policy(TCP-OUT) and CoreNetworking – Group Policy(N-OUT). I changed the Profile from Domain to Any.

Quite possibly, I opened up things more than I needed to.

Thanks.