Group Policy on XP Home

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
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G

Guest

I have read the many messages on Group Policy and its effect on Windows
Firewall. I have followed the instructions--but still have not totally
resolved the problem. History: Several months back I had a serious malware
problem (despite Zone Alarm Firewall, AVG anti-virus and religious use of
Spy-bot and Ad-aware) I eventually got the machine clean (at least I can not
find any more malware), but noticed my Firewall Control Page was greyed out,
and the message "For your Security, some settings are controlled by Group
Policy." I have XP SP2 for Home (not Pro). I have a three computer network
at home, but no domain. At first the Firewall was "Off"--which is ok since I
run Zone Alarm. Then one day it was "On", with no way to turn it off. After
reading the many posts on this subject, I deleted in the registry these keys:

HLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Firewall\Domain Profile
HLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Firewall\Standard Proflie

(I did not delete the HLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Firewall\
heading, however).

The Firewall is now "Off", but the page is still greyed out with "For your
Security, some settings are controlled by Group Policy" at the top. The
other two computer also have Zone Alarm, but do not have this "Group Policy"
problem.

Any ideas on what to do or change to rid this machine of thinking it is on a
domain?
 
Try deleting the whole Windows Firewall key and rebooting to se if that
helps. Malware will often configure registry settings to apply Group Policy
like settings to your computer in an attempt to restrict you from making
changes. Often with a serious malware infestation you really should do a
clean install of the operating system to make sure everything works right
and to be sure you have eliminated all malware and spyware. Of course if you
do not take steps to protect yourself you can easily find yourself in the
same situation. The link below from Microsoft is a great start to that end
AND I recommend that you do not use the internet at all while logged on as a
local administrator other than only to go to Windows Updates to check for
and download critical security updates.

Steve

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/windowsxpsp2/Default.mspx
--- Protect Your PC
 
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