Member Avatar for veronica

a port on my firewall is closed? if so, which port?
i have zone alarm pro. how do i configure it to use a proxy?

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Brief summary and focused troubleshooting steps for the “port closed” proxy error reported by , with follow‑up context from .

When a proxy returns “port closed” it can mean two different failures: the proxy service itself is unreachable on the port being used, or the proxy can’t open a TCP connection from its side to the destination port. Since the local firewall was already disabled in the thread, the next step is to isolate which end is failing.

Try these checks from the client machine (replace host/port as appropriate):

# test whether the proxy process is listening
telnet proxy.host.example 8080

# ask the proxy to fetch a URL (verbose)
curl -v --proxy proxy.host.example:8080 http://target.example.com/

# test direct reachability of the target host:port
telnet target.example.com 80

Interpretation:

  • “Connection refused” when connecting to the proxy usually means the proxy port is closed or the proxy service is down.
  • A successful TCP to the proxy but a proxy error about the destination port means the proxy could not connect onward to that remote port (often due to proxy-side filtering, blocked nonstandard ports, missing CONNECT support for HTTPS, or access restrictions such as required authentication or IP whitelisting).
  • A timeout suggests packets are being dropped by an upstream filter or network routing problem.

Practical remedies:

  • Confirm the proxy host:port and any authentication requirements set in browser or client.
  • Try a different, reliable proxy that explicitly supports the required port and the CONNECT method if HTTPS is involved.
  • If access to the destination is required and the proxy blocks it, contact the proxy operator or use a trusted VPN/proxy service (avoid public proxies for sensitive data).
  • If ZoneAlarm (or other host firewall) is still in play, ensure the browser or client app is allowed outbound access in its program control settings.

Given ’s point about proxy-side controls and ’s test results, capturing the exact proxy error message plus the proxy host:port makes it straightforward to determine whether the issue is “proxy unreachable” or “proxy refuses destination.”

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Member Avatar for Dani

I'm a little confused. What says that a port on your firewall is closed? A program?

The main purpose of a firewall is to close ports so that hackers and others cannot get through them and invade your pc. So, basically, if you have Zone Alarm Pro installed, it's doing its job by closing ports.

Do you not have internet access working on the computer? You're using a proxy I take it?

A lil more info would be helpful. For example, what is telling you that you have a closed port? Are you trying to run a program/browse the web and it's telling you this? etc etc ...

Member Avatar for veronica

I'm a little confused. What says that a port on your firewall is closed? . .[THE PROXY] . .A program?

The main purpose of a firewall is to close ports so that hackers and others cannot get through them and invade your pc. So, basically, if you have Zone Alarm Pro installed, it's doing its job by closing ports.

Do you not have internet access working on the computer? . .[YES] . . You're using a proxy I take it? . .[YES] . .

A lil more info would be helpful. For example, what is telling you that you have a closed port? . .[THE PROXY] . . Are you trying to run a program/browse the web and it's telling you this? . . . . etc etc ...

Member Avatar for veronica

I'm a little confused. What says that a port on your firewall is closed? A program?

The main purpose of a firewall is to close ports so that hackers and others cannot get through them and invade your pc. So, basically, if you have Zone Alarm Pro installed, it's doing its job by closing ports.

Do you not have internet access working on the computer? You're using a proxy I take it?

A lil more info would be helpful. For example, what is telling you that you have a closed port? Are you trying to run a program/browse the web and it's telling you this? etc etc ...

i try to get a website through a proxy. it say's port closed on the proxy. i had this on 2 different proxy's. i had my firewall turned off when i did this. what is wrong?

please answer my question

Member Avatar for Dani

Well, proxy servers are used by corporations and businesses, etc to do some advanced filtering techniques on networks. For example, many have firewalls built in. Therefore, the firewall on your personal computer won't matter because it has to go through the proxy's gateway - and if that one is firewalled, there's no way around it.

Is this a personal proxy? (e.g. something you set up) or does is it from a business or school, etc?

Sometimes people set up home web servers on weird ports. For example, the http:// request is typically on port 80, but people can run it from port 200, port 8080, etc etc etc. If you are only getting this error sometimes, it might be because the proxy server is set to disable http:// requests coming from weird non-standard ports (other than port 80).

Member Avatar for veronica

Well, proxy servers are used by corporations and businesses, etc to do some advanced filtering techniques on networks. For example, many have firewalls built in. Therefore, the firewall on your personal computer won't matter because it has to go through the proxy's gateway - and if that one is firewalled, there's no way around it.

Is this a personal proxy? (e.g. something you set up) or does is it from a business or school, etc?

Sometimes people set up home web servers on weird ports. For example, the http:// request is typically on port 80, but people can run it from port 200, port 8080, etc etc etc. If you are only getting this error sometimes, it might be because the proxy server is set to disable http:// requests coming from weird non-standard ports (other than port 80).

i used a public proxy to get a website.

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