Qn abt Firewall/ICS

[Guest]

Could someone give me some idea why this error comes up and why.

I try to start the Windows Firewall/ICS service but it refuses to, with the
error message
"Windows cannot start the Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)
service"

Corresponding to this, in Event Viewer, it says under the System tab:
Source: Service Control Manager
Event: 7023
"The Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) service terminated
with the following error:
An address incompatible with the requested protocol was used."

This is a problem, since I want to use net connection sharing.

 

[Guest]

Forgot to add:
I'm obviously running fully updated WINXP PRO SP2 and have been having this
problem consistently for over 6 months. I'm using a 3rd party firewall
(Zonealarm, and yes, I've tried turning it off, no diff) and can connect to
the net fine, but of course run into problems when I try to establish a
network.

I'm thinking some files or settings somewhere may be corrupted. Is there any
easy(ish) way to reinstall? I presume overwriting my updated SP2 install with
non-updated SP2 install from the SP2 CD is far from okay.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Ben