<br /><br />what if it doesnt say Open? what should i do?<br />thanks a lot========================================================
Since that service is mostly concerned with protection -- with being attacked through an open port -- its logic is inverted. That's true of most similar services, as can be seen from their names like "Shields UP!". For Peer-to-peer, you want your listen port OPEN, not closed.
Therefore, a better service is found at www.canyouseeme.org
Visit that site and tell it your listen port number. Any answer besides "I can see your service on port number ######" means that your listen port is being blocked by one or more firewalls.
(Multiple firewalls do not make you safer, they just give you configuration headaches. Whatever you do to one, you have to do to all the others too.) You must configure each firewall to open your listen port.
Do NOT turn all of your firewalls off. This is like taking your front door of the hinges because you're too lazy to figure out how the lock works. It will have similar results -- your TV and stereo will disappear. You MUST have one working firewall. Do not ever connect to the internet without it -- it takes more time to take a shower than it does for your computer to become infected and taken over due to lack of a firewall. Most infections these days try to keep you unaware that they've happened, so that they can keep on using your computer and your network connection without your knowledge.