Posted on 03/22/2011 4:39:49 PM PDT by Zionist Conspirator
I’ve been reading the replies ZC and many of them offer good advice. One question that I haven’t seen asked or answered (yet) is, “Why is the firewall failing?” A quick Internet search returns a bunch of possibilities, mostly revolving around viruses/malware or programs (like other firewalls, virus protection programs, etc) doing the “turning off”. I also read two pieces that pointed to Microsoft patches being the culprit (sometimes they don’t install cleanly).
It seems to me that you can patch, and plug, and layer on more programs, but will they solve the root problem? A more conservative approach may be to attempt to correct the problem rather than bandaid it.
When did this start occurring? You say it was a used PC...has it done this right from the time you got it? Are you certain of all the software installed on this PC? Have you tried a scan with the Malwarebytes program in safe mode? (There was one Trojan floating around that defied detection/eradication without doing a safe-mode scan).
There was one other non-invasive thing that you could try called “SFC”, the Windows File Checker. I saw it here: http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f10/xp-firewall-keeps-turning-off-on-restart-177784.html
Basically it does a scan of Windows system files and replaces any counterfeit ones with originals. In order to do that you have to be able to supply it with an installation CD of the same version as what you have (Windows XP Professional or Home Edition, SP2, SP3, etc).
Good luck to you!
FYI: Just thought I’d point a few changes just up to version 3...
FIXED! BSOD SESSION_INITIALIZATION_FAILED after ChkDsk.
FIXED! COMODO Firewall firewall driver can not be installed properly in Vista operating systems
FIXED! When the firewall alerts were disabled, all the traffic was blocked.
FIXED! Slow network performance under certain circumstances
FIXED! CFP freezes the computer in certain cases of network traffic
FIXED! CFP GUI slows down when some other software is installed
FIXED! Logoff/Login stops the functionality of some applications
FIXED! cmdagent.exe no longer consumes 100% CPU64 Mb RAM
There’s hundreds of bug fixes, I only grabbed a few and only from the firewall installer change logs: http://www.filehippo.com/download_comodo/changelog/4196/ click on the different versions to see all change logs, lots of critical bug fixes.
I’m just saying it’s not a good idea to recommend outdated software full of bugs to someone having issues with software in the first place. Especially security software! You can use it yourself all day long, but are you going to CrossLoop someone to debug their system?
I’m sure you mean well, and are truly trying to help and in good faith, from your own experiences, but think about it.
I wonder if you have another firewall program installed on that computer that is set to default. The two would conflict if they ran together so one would have to shut the other off.
I know when installed Symantec on an XP machine it did.
Here’s a note on the firewall on a MS Win XP help page:
If Windows Firewall shows OFF, it has been disabled. If you have another firewall installed, this is probably OK. If you don’t have another firewall installed, you will need to re-enable Windows Firewall from within Security Center.
There is also a check-box for “I have a firewall solution that I will monitor myself...” to kill the disabled warning.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/security/winfirewall.mspx
Posts 13 and 14 get my vote if Microsoft Security Essentials works with XP. (It should be easy to check, but I have to read to some kids right now.) I haven’t used Comodo, but MSE is good and it’s free.
The XP firewall has a simple and small graphic interface but a rather complex set of command-line (CL) parameters available ‘under’ it. There is a simple CL command to reset XP’s firewall CL settings to default: Start, Run, CMD, then: NETSH FIREWALL RESET.
My advice is to follow others’ advice and install a 3rd party (free) firewall like Zone Alarm. You could also install Avast! free anti-virus which has a free firewall with nice features. Before going to MS Security Essentials Avast! was my AV program.
No, all I have is Windows firewall (till I downloaded Comodo). The computer came with Norton, but I removed it (it was messing up everything).
I have Avast anti-virus. Does it have a firewall? Are its eight shields the same as a firewall?
I think Avast does offer a firewall.
I have the free version of Avast. I don't know if it has a firewall, but it has eight shields. Do these constitute a "firewall?"
If it does it's not under that label. It does have eight shields, though.
Click on the Avast icon in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen.
Click “Open avast! user interface” in the menu that pops up. A window showing all the Avast programs installed on your system will open.
Unfortunately, the free version of Avast does not have a firewall. That comes only with the full version.
You can also go to your control panel and click on “add or remove programs” and if there is another security program on your computer it will be listed in there.
The only security programs in my "add or remove" are the ones I know about. I have Avast free anti-virus and Malwarebytes free anti-malware, and I now have the Comodo firewall TomGuy recommended. That's it.
I would check out that site I was talking about earlier. I'm suspicious about that computers behavior.
I understand that. My question is why did I need to download Comodo in the first place? What's wrong with my Windows firewall?
Look, the easiest way is process of elimination. First off eliminate all the other security software you’ve mentioned that you or no one else seems to know if they even have a firewall that may or may not be conflicting. McAfee, Avast, Avira, Comodo? Whatever uninstall all of it.
As I said before you can leave Malwarebytes. Install MSE I’ve already posted the link. MSE will manage your Windows Firewall the one your having problems with. Doing this eliminates the possibility of any conflicts. And uninstall that dinosaur bug infested version of Comodo. I run Comodo, but not version 2 from ‘07.
If you still have issues after uninstalling everything and having only MSE (I say MSE for a reason because, it uses Windows Firewall), then we know it’s not a conflict in security software. And can try something else in the process of process of elimination.
I hope this helps,
Chris
XP is on Service Pack 3, which you might consider installing if you don’t have it. You should then get current and install the appropriate security updates.
Assuming you update your av and malware programs - they should be current too. I guess your Malwarebytes scans are clean - no infections.
Sometimes when I have a problem, I’ll run disk cleanup and maybe defrag, even though they won’t directly solve the problem. They are good for your system.
There are other free malware and cleaner programs that are highly regarded which can be used as on-demand scans. I’ve used IObit Security 360 - the two elements here for you would be Security Holes and Privacy Sweeper. CCleaner from Piriform is another good one with file cleaner and registry cleaner. SuperAntiSpyware is another. These are very easy to use. Of course it takes time to download and run them. Microsoft Security Essentials is highly regarded also. It’s a good idea to have a real-time malware/adware scanner plus another that you use for on-demand scans.
Since these kinds of problems can drive any of us batty, there are XP forums out there that you could search, where others with similar issues have posted and probably gotten help.
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