It sounds like your computer has somehow had the same registry keys added to
it that would be used by Group Policy, possibly by malware, to prevent you
from enabling the firewall so I would suspect your computer may be infected
and you need to make sure you take appropriate action such as scanning for
malware and taking preventative steps to minimize future problems per the
second link below. Use regedit, if you are comfortable in doing so, and see
if the following keys are present and if so delete them. A spyware
detection program such as AdAware SE [free for personal use] or Microsoft
AntiSpyware may detect the registry settings for you disabling your Windows
Firewall and prompt you to delete them. --- Steve
The registry keys to add to disable Windows Firewall for both the domain and
standard profiles are the following:
. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall
\DomainProfile \EnableFirewall=0 (DWORD data type)
. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall
\StandardProfile \EnableFirewall=0 (DWORD data type)
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/viruses/default.mspx --- MS info
on worms and viruses and how to remove
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/windowsxpsp2/Default.mspx
--- Protect Your PC [MUST follow advice]
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/default.mspx --- MS info
on spyware and link to fee AntiSpyware program
Roger Payne said:
my xp firewall is grayed out and says controled by group policy
i have 1 computer
MSHOME
with internet, No server no group policy
i know there is a reg key we can delete and restart and it will reset the
firewall but i forget what is is!!