Reinstalling Windows Firewall

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The Firewall on a Vista machine I am working on is corrupt from a previous virus/maleware or something.

I got the system working now except for the Firewall…

My question, is there a way to re-install the Windows Firewall or fix the current one that isn’t working?

I would much rather install it again if possible.

Thanks Guys and Happy Valentines Day to all you gals out there….

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I would try a sfc /scannow from an Administrator cmd prompt. Did you have to do a reinstall of Vista to get it working? If not, perhaps a repair installwould solve the firewall problem.

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No, I didn’t re-install…

I’m working on this machine remotely for a friend.

I was thinking of just installing the free Zone Alarm Firewall… What do you think of that?

Or maybe running Windows Update and see if that fixes it…

I won’t be back on the remote machine until tomorrow…

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I would try the free Online Armor firewall rather than Zone Alarm. Just my opinion. It still might be worth a shot running sfc /scannow

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I’d get the Windows firewall working first. If you can’t get it working there is still some issue that is unresolved. Add new software does not solve the underlying issue. The new software may appear to function correctly but in fact may not.

Joe

--Joe

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I agree Joe… I am just throwing ideas out there…
I can’t even open the firewall in control panel to look at it.

Tomorrow I will boot the remote machine into safe mode and run some more scans.

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If the scans are clean try running SFC as Ted suggested. If that does not help you may be looking at a repair install of Vista.

Joe

--Joe

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Thanks Joe, I’ll check what you guys suggested tomorrow…

I can’t do a repair install because I am working on the computer remotely..

Also, I don’t know if they even have the disk for it.

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Have you checked the service settings to make sure the Windows Firewall service has not been disabled?

Have checked the system event logs for errors?

Joe

--Joe

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Not yet Joe, I will later today..

How do I access the event logs?

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Go to Start and type Event in the search box. Event Viewer should be in the results.

Joe

--Joe

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I recently ran into the same problem on an infected Vista PC. After cleaning it of all the malware I could find, I discovered the Windows Firewall and Security Center Services were gone. Decided the OS was too damaged to repair further. Backed it up and did a clean install.

Jerry

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Thanks Joe..

Jw, you may be right but I’m gonna play with it some more before I take that step.

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Not sure if you got around to Joe’s earlier, “Have you checked the service settings to make sure the Windows Firewall service has not been disabled?”

From Task Manager, Services, then clicking the Services button at bottom right: Is Windows Firewall shown as Automatic and can it be started from there?

Bruce

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Bruce, no I haven’t checked it yet…

I will tonight or first thing in the morning…

I will post back here what the result is.

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Microsoft have a Fixit tool for Windows Firewall problems at http://support.microsoft.com/mats/windows_firewall_diagnostic/en-us.

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Tim, thanks for the suggestion but I tried that and it didn’t work..

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Bruce, Windows Firewall is not listed in SERVICES….
What now?

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I did a scannow and found corrupted files…

MSE wasn’t working right either but I re-installed that and that’s fine now and I’m running a scan as I am writing this…

I asked if they have the original disk that came with Vista to try to do a repair..I haven’t heard back yet if they do…

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Perhaps the scannow fixed some of the problems. Reinstalling MSE may find any other problems. Let’s hope. Perhaps a reinstall won’t be necessary.

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Ted, here’s the scan now snapshot.

MSE wouldn’t update so, like I said, I un-installed it and re-installed it and now it’s working fine.

When I ran scans the other day I had a couple of infections that I got rid of.

I also ran Maleware-bytes and MSE in safe mode.
From what I can tell, the system is now clean..
Of course the damage was done and while it seems I got rid of any infections I can’t get the firewall to work.

I even tried running the firewall in safe mode..
I’ll attach a shot of the firewall when I try to open it..

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Here’s the two infections I removed

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Suggestions here for starting Vista firewall from an elevated DOS prompt: Windows Firewall will not start in Vista

Bruce

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Thanks for the link Bruce but I did all that already…

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A complete reinstall may be needed at this point.

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You may be right…

I’ll play with it some more…

I’m going to see if they have the original disk to do a repair..

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You may be right…

I’ll play with it some more…

I’m going to see if they have the original disk to do a repair..

Looks as though the Group Policy which controls all the fire wall settings has been changed by the virus infection or corrupted by a disk error(s). Based on the screen shots you provided, Java is also in trouble, but you can reinstall it (or un-install it first, in case it’s also causing a problem) after you fix the firewall problem.

You need to run thru the following in the order I’ve listed them, which isn’t easy by remote control. You’ll need to run as ADMINISTRATOR & OK the nag screens unless you turn OFF Account controls.

1. Run a full 5 pass disk check. (explain to the user before you reboot & start dskchk,…. they must see all 5 passes (essential) not just the default option of 3 passes). If pass 4 & 5 is not run, further problems may occur as you try to get it up & running again.

From ‘My Computer’—> Right click the C drive (assuming it’s the system disk), left click—> Properties—> Tools —>Check Now & tick BOTH boxes then Start & OK the schedule request & reboot. (It’s up to the user to keep you informed now). When pass 5 is done, it will report it’s finding & the disk is CLEAN if all is OK. If not, repeat the Disk Check until it ‘IS’ clean. All 5 passes can take a long time (2-3hrs or more, depending on the disk size & number of files on the system drive) so you & the user will have to be patient!

2. Try this ‘FixIt’ first… http://goo.gl/rKewy If it doesn’t…

3. Establish, if possible when the problem first occurred, run ‘SYSTEM RESTORE’ & pick a SYSTEM RESTORE point prior to the problem. If Restore fails (which it has a habit of doing, regularly!). Check the Firewall again, if it’s OK your done, go to step 6,…. if not then…

4. Go to Start (Orb)—> Administrative Tools (or in the Accessories folder)—> ‘Services’ & look for the ‘Windows Firewall’ entry, if it’s not there, you will have to use the Group Policy Controls to reset all the firewall options to their ‘defaults’. Each option is labelled with a default, so it’s made easy to reset them.

Check which version of VISTA is installed on the PC. Press the ‘Windows Key’ & ‘Pause/Break’ together to see the details.

NOTE: SP2 introduced major changes to the Group Policies. If not SP2, I suggest installing it & all patches, if possible. ‘Windows Update’ will usually run (providing the Network is OK) even when the firewall or normal browsing is damaged or blocked. It’s a trusted site.

The VISTA Policies for the Firewall & IPSec are here.. http://goo.gl/n4Ync

Read the bit ‘In this document’ in BLUE about all the requirements, especially the defaults & blocking requirements.

Reboot when done.

5. When your done go back & check for the ‘Windows Firewall’ entry in ‘Services’ step 4 above.

If the Firewall Driver is missing, go to the Hardware Manager, Open the ‘Hidden Devices’ & look for the Windows Firewall Driver. If it’s disabled, enable it, If it’s not there you will have to reinstall it. Try SFC again, assuming the disk repairs & group settings have all been run OK.

Run SFC in Safe Mode from the RUN box & a CMD prompt..

6. Don’t forget to reinstall ‘JAVA’ and if I was you, I’d also reinstall MSE & Internet Explorer V9 & reconfigure them all correctly, especially IE’s security levels… All these interact with the Kernel & OS.

Sorry it’s such a long post, but when a virus gets at the O/S or disk corruption occurs, it can wreck havoc. Fixing it may be impossible & require a fresh install!
A user who runs VISTA as ADMINISTRATOR :rolleyes: all the time is really asking for trouble, especially if they don’t have a very good & UPTODATE version of MSE data files, for example, & react to it when it blocks a virus.

In my opinion it’s the best of all the FREE AV’s &!! (See Fred Langa’s post last month) it’s not a resource hog like most, if correctly configured. (You don’t want to know what I think of most AV App’s)….

good luck….

Lets know how you go?

..Keith

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