XP firewall connection

From: Steve L (anonymous_at_discussions.microsoft.com)
Date: 07/04/04 

Date: Sat, 3 Jul 2004 23:14:23 -0700

I enabled the firewall in XP. when I checked connection in
network task it states under dial up that AOL disconnected
firewall and under LAN/high speed connections,local area
connection, network cable unplugged. Since I'm dumb on
computers, how do I tell if firewall is working ???? Any
help will be greatly appreciated