Windows Firewall disabled after reboot

[Erix]

Windows Firewall must be turned on 'manually' after each reboot, changing
the settings to 'ON' won't stick. EZ Armor Firewall is also running on this
machine (XP Pro SP2), and so is a newly installed AVAST antivirus.
Obviously, something is 'shutting down' the Windows Firewall, but is that a
permitted/acceptable behavior or should I start worrying...?

Eric

 

[Rich Barry]

Erix, it's probably your EZ Armor Firewall that's shutting down Windows
Firewall. Choose one or the other. Not Both.

 

[Erix]

Windows FW and EZ FW seem to coexist peacefully, I had them running
simultaneously for quite a while. But if one of them should be disabled -
which one should I choose?

This behavior started with the installation of Avast AV, but I can hardly
believe that the antivirus program is shutting down the firewall. Or does
it?

Eric

 

[Rich Barry]

Erix, is EZ Firewall a freebee from Roadrunner? I would use it instead
of MS.

 

[Erix]

Thanks for the input, Rich.

Eric

Erix, is EZ Firewall a freebee from Roadrunner? I would use it instead
of MS.

 

[DSG]

I have to manually turn on McAfee Virus Scan after every reboot.
Did not start until I updated Windows Media Player to Ver 10 and installed
Easy CD Creator.
The only security I have running on my Win XP 2002 SP2 is a McAfee Security
Center. When I installed Mc's firewall, I turned off XP's ICF firewall.

So it isn't an interference with other security programs. McAfee says it is
either a faulty installation or a problem with the browser (IE in my case).
And that I should uninstall and reinstall Virus Scan.

Seems it is more the WMP and Roxio's CD Creator that changed things.
I tried to change Virus settings in Windows Services, but it doesn't
"stick."
DSG
............................................................................

 

[Erix]

It seem to me that we have a slightly different problem, DSG. I would indeed
try to reinstall (in Safe Mode if possible) the McAfee package if I was you.
Not an easy task though, since large programs (AV's for sure) use to leave a
lot of 'stuff' behind in the registry, things that are not getting removed
during the uninstall process, and that may create problems later on. I spent
several hours myself, manually cleaning the registry after changing from EZ
Armor AV to Avast AV, but I'm still not sure to what extent I may have
succeeded. Although there is a lot of information available on the Internet
about these issues, 'cleansing' the registry this way is a risky
preoccupation, which I don't recommend it to anyone with less than
reasonably good insight.

Eric

 

[Peter]

You are far better off with McAfee's firewall than Windows FW. McAfee's
Security Center should also be given permission to control Windows Security
Center when it asks.
You may have to uninstall your McAfee products the "hard" way to get them to
reinstall correctly.
Look here:
http://forums.mcafeehelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=42709&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=