Cannot start windows firewall service

I cannot start the windows firewall service.

At first it did not appear on the services .msc list, so I followed balon's advice to add it to the registry in this older thread http://www.sevenforums.com/system-security/202166-unable-start-windows-firewall-2.html

Now the firewall service is in the list but when I try to start it, I keep getting an error message:

Windows could not start the Windows Firewall on Local Computer. For more information review the System Event Log. If this is a non-microsoft service, contact the service vendor, and refer to service-specific error code 5.

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Why not dump the Windows 7 Firewall and use any one of the free third party firewalls. I would recommend Comodo.