Help!! cannot disable (or turn off) Windows firewall

H

H.S.

Hello,

This is on a relative's Windows XP machine. I help him remotely now and
then to solve his Windows or applications' problem. The last time I
logged into his machine was a few months ago using VNC viewer.

Just today he told me that he cannot access the internet. So I tried
logging into his machine (using VNC) but it didn't work.

After a small series of questions, I realized that his Windows firewall
is turn ON and that was preventing me from opening a VNC session. I even
tried making exception for VNC (port 5900) in the firewall, but to no
avail. He is not able to browse either via Internet Explorer or Firefox.

Now, I recall when I visited him last I had specifically switched off
Windows firewall (his computer has Zone Alarm). The settings in Zone
Alarm are as I expected -- so that part is okay. Clearly, something or
somebody enabled the Windows firewall.

Now, whatever I may try (all this is going on on a telephone, btw), I
was not able to make him turn off his firewall.

His user has administrative privileges, so that shouldn't be a problem.

After a little web search, I followed the two steps given here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/914230
Basically, I did "netsh winsock reset" and also reinstalled
"%Windir%\Inf\Netfw.inf" file.

These steps also did not help. The user is just unable to turn off the
Windows firewall.

So, what am I missing here? Can anybody give any advice on how to go
about solving this problem?

Thanks a ton.
->HS
 
N

Nepatsfan

H.S. said:
Hello,

This is on a relative's Windows XP machine. I help him remotely now and then
to solve his Windows or applications' problem. The last time I logged into his
machine was a few months ago using VNC viewer.

Just today he told me that he cannot access the internet. So I tried logging
into his machine (using VNC) but it didn't work.

After a small series of questions, I realized that his Windows firewall is
turn ON and that was preventing me from opening a VNC session. I even tried
making exception for VNC (port 5900) in the firewall, but to no avail. He is
not able to browse either via Internet Explorer or Firefox.

Now, I recall when I visited him last I had specifically switched off Windows
firewall (his computer has Zone Alarm). The settings in Zone Alarm are as I
expected -- so that part is okay. Clearly, something or somebody enabled the
Windows firewall.

Now, whatever I may try (all this is going on on a telephone, btw), I was not
able to make him turn off his firewall.

His user has administrative privileges, so that shouldn't be a problem.

After a little web search, I followed the two steps given here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/914230
Basically, I did "netsh winsock reset" and also reinstalled
"%Windir%\Inf\Netfw.inf" file.

These steps also did not help. The user is just unable to turn off the Windows
firewall.

So, what am I missing here? Can anybody give any advice on how to go about
solving this problem?

Thanks a ton.
->HS
Click to expand...


An update to Windows, KB951748, which was released Tuesday, caused users running
Zone Alarm to have problems with internet access. An updated version of Zone
Alarm is available. If you want more info on the nature of the problem, do a
Google search for Zone Alarm and KB951748. If you simply want to correct the
problem on your relative's computer and move on, have your relative download and
install the latest version of ZA.

http://download.zonealarm.com/bin/free/pressReleases/2008/LossOfInternetAccessIssue.html

Your relative will have to lower the security level in the Internet Zone to
medium. This should restore internet access. Make sure the level is reset once
the new version is installed.

Good luck

Nepatsfan
 
H

H.S.

Nepatsfan said:
http://download.zonealarm.com/bin/free/pressReleases/2008/LossOfInternetAccessIssue.html

Your relative will have to lower the security level in the Internet Zone to
medium. This should restore internet access. Make sure the level is reset once
the new version is installed.

Good luck
Click to expand...

hmm, okay. So,lower the security level, get internet access, get new
Zone Alarm and upgrade it and see if it works out. That I get. I will
try in the morning tomorrow. I did a search as you suggested and also
read a very recent thread about that here. Thanks a ton for this pointer.

But the big questions still remains, what is preventing him from
switching off the Windows firewall?

Regards,
->HS
 
K

Ken Blake, MVP

hmm, okay. So,lower the security level, get internet access, get new
Zone Alarm and upgrade it and see if it works out. That I get.
Click to expand...


I wouldn't do it that way. Running with the lowered security level,
even for a short time, is dangerous. Instead I recommend that you turn
on the Windows firewall and uninstall ZA. Then you'll be able to
download and install the new version of ZA.

Or just turn on the Windows firewall and uninstall ZA, and leave it
that way. ZA doesn't really have any advantages over the Windows
firewall anyway.
 
S

Sam

Or just turn on the Windows firewall and uninstall ZA, and leave it
that way. ZA doesn't really have any advantages over the Windows
firewall anyway.
Click to expand...


Yes, I see what you mean. But do you know why is one *not* be able
switch off the Windows Firewall? Even when the user has administrator
privileges.

Thanks.
->HS
 
K

Ken Blake, MVP

Yes, I see what you mean. But do you know why is one *not* be able
switch off the Windows Firewall? Even when the user has administrator
privileges.
Click to expand...


Sorry, no. I haven't run into that.
 
H

H. S.

Sorry, no. I haven't run into that.
Click to expand...

This is really weird. I have never seen that happen before. As I
mentioner earlier in the thread, this is on a relative's machine.

Could that Live OneCare thing have anything to do with this somehow?
 
H

H. S.

PaulM said:
I have a script here to disable the firewall if you want to try it.
http://www.paulsxp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=119
Click to expand...

Interesting. I do not have access to the remote machine at present so I
cannot try this out on that one.

However, I am curious as to why would these registry changes work (I
perused it in Notepad++) and not the firewall GUI. BTW, that particular
machine has Zone Alarm installed. Would that have messed up Windows
firewall GUI in any way?
 
P

PaulM

That script will edit the registry. I do not know anything about Zone
Alarm, but I have hear that it can mess with XP firewall. Have you installed
SP3?

--
 
H

H. S.

PaulM said:
That script will edit the registry. I do not know anything about Zone
Alarm, but I have hear that it can mess with XP firewall. Have you
installed SP3?
Click to expand...

hmm .. no, not yet. Other than that, the machine is fully updated. The
radio buttons of the two shields (green and red) in the firewall GUI
window are grayed out.
 
D

Daave

H.S. said:
Hello,

This is on a relative's Windows XP machine. I help him remotely now
and then to solve his Windows or applications' problem. The last time
I logged into his machine was a few months ago using VNC viewer.

Just today he told me that he cannot access the internet. So I tried
logging into his machine (using VNC) but it didn't work.

After a small series of questions, I realized that his Windows
firewall is turn ON and that was preventing me from opening a VNC
session. I even tried making exception for VNC (port 5900) in the
firewall, but to no avail. He is not able to browse either via
Internet Explorer or Firefox.

Now, I recall when I visited him last I had specifically switched off
Windows firewall (his computer has Zone Alarm). The settings in Zone
Alarm are as I expected -- so that part is okay. Clearly, something or
somebody enabled the Windows firewall.

Now, whatever I may try (all this is going on on a telephone, btw), I
was not able to make him turn off his firewall.

His user has administrative privileges, so that shouldn't be a
problem.

After a little web search, I followed the two steps given here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/914230
Basically, I did "netsh winsock reset" and also reinstalled
"%Windir%\Inf\Netfw.inf" file.

These steps also did not help. The user is just unable to turn off the
Windows firewall.

So, what am I missing here? Can anybody give any advice on how to go
about solving this problem?
Click to expand...

Are you absolutely sure your relative has the Windows firewall turned
on? I would imagine that's probably the case, but since you didn't offer
any hard evidence in your post, the possibility exists and it needs to
be ruled out!

You mentioned "a small series of questions." Just to be 100% sure, did
you ask him to click Start | Run | firewall.cpl | OK? And if so, what
exactly happened? And if he clicked in the circle next to "Off " and
then clicked on the OK button, what exactly happened? That is, was there
a specific message? Are there any clues in Event Viewer?
 
H

H. S.

Daave said:
Are you absolutely sure your relative has the Windows firewall turned
on? I would imagine that's probably the case, but since you didn't offer
any hard evidence in your post, the possibility exists and it needs to
be ruled out!
Click to expand...

Yes. I saw it myself earlier today once I got his internet working again
(the Zone Alarm not being compatible with KB951748 problem). Connected
to his machine via VNC.

You mentioned "a small series of questions." Just to be 100% sure, did
you ask him to click Start | Run | firewall.cpl | OK? And if so, what
Yes.

exactly happened? And if he clicked in the circle next to "Off " and
Click to expand...

The two options, the green and the read shield, are grayed out and hence
he is unable to change them. I saw that myself today.

then clicked on the OK button, what exactly happened? That is, was there
a specific message? Are there any clues in Event Viewer?
Click to expand...

No, no error message or feedback message box at all. Did not check the
event manager.

The best lead I have for now is some message in a forum where the guy
says he removed Live OneCare and he was able to switch the firewall off
or on then. Didn't get a chance to try that out yet.

Thanks.
 
H

H. S.

Daave said:
That answers my question. :)

In that case, you should try one of the methods listed here:

http://windowsxp.mvps.org/resetfwpol.htm
Click to expand...

I will take shot now since now I can see the desktop via VNC. Earlier, I
was talking the user through the steps over the phone -- very dangerous
in that situation to screw around with the registry enteries.

There is also the possibilty that there is some malware in the equation
mucking things up.
Click to expand...

That is not good news. :(
 
D

Daave

The best lead I have for now is some message in a forum where the guy
says he removed Live OneCare and he was able to switch the firewall
off or on then. Didn't get a chance to try that out yet.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a likely cause.
 

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