The Accept, Block, or Prompt for First-party and Third-party Cookies options determine how the browser will handle cookies from websites you visit.

This time you will click on the Advanced button under the Settings header at the top. If you want to allow a few sites that you know are safe, but still block the rest, you can click on the Settings button and add in the websites that you want to always allow popups from. This will stop pop-ups from appearing on your screen. If you have an IE popup blocker application, you can disable it by clicking on the Settings icon at the top right that looks like a small gear. If you have a firewall on your network, but you want to turn it off for a specific reason, be sure to do so. This is useful because you can turn off the firewall on a private secure network like your home network, but make sure that whenever you connect to a public network like free Wi-Fi at the airport, the firewall will remain on and protect your computer. The firewall can be turned on and off on both public and private networks.

Now you will see a link on the left that says Turn Windows Firewall On or Off. In Windows 8, right-click on the fake Start button and choose Control Panel from the menu. To turn off the Windows Firewall in Windows 7 or 8.1, open the Control Panel and click on the Windows Firewall icon. Disable items on a computer if there are other people who use it and you want to prevent them from accessing system settings.

Windows 8 firewall control