Chris
Sun Dec 18 00:12:01 CST 2005
Many thanks , Malke. I very much appreciate you sharing your time and
expertise with someone like me who is technically clueless! I'll do a bit of
troubleshooting as you suggest and see what I can work out though I must
admit to being reluctant to mess too much with something that doesn't appear
to be 'broken', merely slightly annoying. Thanks again.
"Malke" wrote:
> Chris wrote:
>
> > I'm using Windows XP, with SP2, and Norton Antivirus (2003) with the
> > regular Windows firewall, not a third party one. Norton is active and
> > fully updated and Spybot and ad-aware show the computer to be clean.
> > I move around with my laptop a lot and each time I connect to a new
> > network, the red shield pops up and I have to manually switch it back
> > on. It's not a big deal, but it would be easier if this happened
> > automatically.
> >
> > "Malke" wrote:
> >
> >> Chris wrote:
> >>
> >> > Each time I connect my computer to a new internet connection the
> >> > firewall turns off (the red warning shield pops up) and I have to
> >> > manually turn the firewall back on. Is there any way I can set the
> >> > firewall to turn on automatically? It gets very tedious having to
> >> > do this multiple times in a day.
>
> This isn't normal behavior for the Windows Firewall. Here are a few
> suggestions:
>
> 1. Make sure you are using the latest versions of Ad-aware and Spybot.
> Update both their definitions and do a scan with them in Safe Mode.
>
>
http://www.spybot.info/en/faq/46.html
> www.lavasoftusa.com
>
> 2.This probably has nothing to do with this specific issue, but when
> your subscription for NAV expires, don't just renew but instead replace
> it with a current version full-featured av. The NAV 2003 is a 3-year
> old program, which is very old in computer-years. Personally, I don't
> recommend newer Norton products. People I respect recommend Kaspersky
> or NOD32. I use F-Prot on my Windows machines.
>
> 3. I would also do some troubleshooting with the System Configuration
> Utility to see what is set to start with Windows. Perhaps you have
> something running that is turning off the WF - normally we look to this
> as being malware, but it might be something else. If you have the MS
> Antispyware program installed, it has an issue with turning off the WF.
>
> Start>Run>msconfig [enter]
>
> Here are some links where you can look up what you find:
>
>
http://castlecops.com/StartupList.html
>
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm
>
http://www.blackviper.com/
>
http://www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm
>
http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/processlibrary/
>
> Here are some links for troubleshooting the WF:
>
>
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/892350
>
> MS antispyware tool disables Windows Firewall (or to reset firewall):
> Start>Run cmd [enter]
> netsh winsock reset catalog [enter]
> Follow prompts and reboot.
>
> Windows XP Service Pack 2 problems/The Service Pack 2 firewall
>
http://www.michna.com/kb/WxSP2.htm#The_Service_Pack_2_firewall
>
> Without examining your computer, I can't tell you what is causing this
> behavior but I can tell you it isn't normal. My son's laptop goes back
> and forth between school and home - different networks entirely - every
> day, as do the other ~150 laptops in the school program. All of those
> laptops use the WF and none have the issue you are describing. So
> something on yours is turning off the WF and you should find out what
> it is.
>
> After you've done a bit of troubleshooting, if you need more help post
> back with results.
>
> Malke
> --
> MS-MVP Windows User/Shell
> Elephant Boy Computers
> www.elephantboycomputers.com
> "Don't Panic"
>