Windows 7 Windows 7 Firewall Settings Not accessible but Firewall is running

kenredx

New Member
I recently have realized that I cannot access the windows firewall settings. If i click on windows firewall nothing happens. I checked and the service is running. I tried to stop and start the service and it is successful but still no luck with accessing the firewall settings. My user is listed as an administrator so that isnt the issue either. I have been looking around and with no luck have found a solution for this any help is appreciated. Also I have ran malware scans and nothing comes up. Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.
 
Hi and welcome to the windows7forums.

Windows 7 allows you to access the advanced settings, including configuration of filtering for outbound connections, through its Control Panel.

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That is the problem when i click on the windows firewall in the control panel nothing happens. I have tried to get to it several ways and with no success. I cannot get to the window with the advanced settings or even see the status of my firewall.
 
I think that you have another firwall running? Many of the third party firealls will, although the service is still operating, disable it. If this is the case, you may as well disable one or the other. It has no useful purpose running more than one.
 
What happens if you type "WF.msc" on Run ?
Do you receive any error messages ?
Also, if it doesn´t work, do you see any related error on event viewer ? (eventvwr.msc)
Brgs,
 
That is the problem when i click on the windows firewall in the control panel nothing happens. I have tried to get to it several ways and with no success. I cannot get to the window with the advanced settings or even see the status of my firewall.


Control Panel > Administrative > Services > Windows Firewall = > see if this service is set to Auto and is running.


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Right now I have ESS and ZoneAlarm running, and I can access my Windows Firewall settings no problem.
 
Control Panel > Administrative > Services > Windows Firewall = > see if this service is set to Auto and is running.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Right now I have ESS and ZoneAlarm running, and I can access my Windows Firewall settings no problem.



Yes this service is set to auto and is running. I am running Windows 7 Professional. I went to control panel=>Administrative tools=>Windows Firewall with advanced security and found the following error:
There was an error opening the windows firewall with advanced security snap-in.....restart firewall error code:0x6D9
 
Yes this service is set to auto and is running. I am running Windows 7 Professional. I went to control panel=>Administrative tools=>Windows Firewall with advanced security and found the following error:
There was an error opening the windows firewall with advanced security snap-in.....restart firewall error code:0x6D9


If the service is already running, click the Stop button and confirm with "Yes" to stop the service. Then restart the service by clicking the Start button.
 
I have stopped and started the service and still not being able to access it. I went into safe mode with network support and was able to get access to the firewall settings that way. I have not installed any other firewall on this computer. It seems that maybe something is in my startup that is causing this to occur.
 
Is it possible that some third party program has usurped the windows 7 firewall? You might try safemode or safemode with networking or some diagnostic steps as descirbed here How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows Vista or in Windows 7

I was able to access the firewall advanced settings in safe mode + network support, but when i booted in a selective startup with all non-microsoft services being disabled and not allowing the startups to run I still am not able to access the firewall settings. I am not sure at this point what else could be the issue.
 
You might try opening an administrative command prompt window and typing the following with enter after:

SFC /scannow

To open a Window, type cmd in the start menu search box and hit CTRL+Shift Enter.

Does you anti-virus show anything in its scan?
 
I was able to access the firewall advanced settings in safe mode + network support, but when i booted in a selective startup with all non-microsoft services being disabled and not allowing the startups to run I still am not able to access the firewall settings. I am not sure at this point what else could be the issue.


If you can access it in Safe Mode but can't on normal boot, then some ' third party program has probably "usurped" the windows 7 firewall.'

Do you have any security software installed?
 
I am running Symantec Endpoint Protection which has
1) Antivirus / Antispyware
2) Proactive Threat Protection (Trojans and Worm Scan)
That is all it does.
That is all i have in terms of security software I am not running any third party firewalls nor have i had them installed on this box.
 
As suggested in this thread, disable Symantec Endpoint Protection and see if you can access Windows Firewall advanced settings.
 
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