Windows 7: Cannot Turn off Windows Firewall

boweasel · 17 Nov 2010

64 bit version. I'm trying to work through an iTunes problem - it tells me that the iTunes application could not be opened - and in an effort to diagnose the problem I wanted to turn off the firewall on my antivirus.

I turned off AVG, but when I go to Control Panel and click on Windows Firewall it reads:

Home or work (private) networks Not Connected
Windows Firewall state On

Public networks Connected
Windows Firewall state On

There is an option on the left 'Turn Windows Firewall on or off' that does turn blue and becomes underscored when I hover the mouse over it. But left or right clicking produce no result.

Lemur · 17 Nov 2010

Are you going to Windows Firewall or Windows Firewall with Advanced Security?

Windows 7 Firewall Review & Guide - Learn Windows Firewall Options

boweasel · 17 Nov 2010

Just Windows Firewall

Lemur · 17 Nov 2010

Do you have a third party firewall?
Also, check for malware using malware bytes.

boweasel · 17 Nov 2010

No Malware. Already ran thru MalwareBytes. And no 3rd party firewall.

brianzion · 18 Nov 2010

go to services and disable it there

left click start orb
type services in start menu search box
in results click services
find windows firewall in the list
right click on it
go down to properties and click
in the general tab you will see a box start up type
scroll down till you see disabled and click
click apply
click ok
close services

reboot

boweasel · 18 Nov 2010

Yeah, I'd already considered that, but I thought the fact that I couldn't turn it off in a normal manner was indicative of a bigger problem - one that may be affecting my inability to run iTunes.

Bill2 · 18 Nov 2010

You can try turning off the firewall from the command line. Click Start orb, type cmd in the box, then right click on the result and click Run as administrator.

At the prompt, type: netsh firewall set opmode disable

Now check the status. To turn the firewall on again type: netsh firewall set opmode enable

But try running a sfc scan to fix corrupted system files, if any.

SFC /SCANNOW Command - System File Checker

boweasel · 18 Nov 2010

Well, since I can turn the Firewall of through services.msc, there's really no need to do through a command line. I tried it just for kicks, and it does work, although I get a msg about netsh firewall being deprecated.

I just thought that since I am unable to do anything with the left pane of the Firewall page, other than click Advanced Settings, it might be part of a larger problem that is causing to not be able to open iTunes.

Windows 7: Cannot Turn off Windows Firewall

Cannot Turn off Windows Firewall problems?