Advice Request Windows Firewall won't start

[RoboMan]

Windows Firewall is broken! It wasn't before, but I decided to uninstall Kaspersky Internet Security (which handled its own firewall) and now Windows' one is disabled and I can't manage to turn it on again. I am now using Windows Defender.

Whatever option I use it never turns on.

Issue: Windows Defender can't be enabled
Symptoms: Event Viewer drops several messages, including "access denied, not enough permissions".
I tried:

• System reboot
• SFC and DISM scans
• Malware scan (anyways I know it's not)
• Windows Troubleshooter
• Restart WF service
• Deleted temp windows update folders
• Net commands to strart and restart services such as WF, Windows Update
• Enabling from CMD with elevated privileges

Any ideas?

 

[valvaris]

Hello @RoboMan

it could be that there are some things left behind from Kaspersky and that Windows thinks the Firewall needs to be disabled.

The application is no longer supported

Overview of settings and features available in a Kaspersky application and guides on how to use them.

support.kaspersky.com

Kaspersky Removal Tool

Removal tool for Kaspersky applications on Windows (kavremover)

Overview of settings and features available in a Kaspersky application and guides on how to use them.

support.kaspersky.com

For the GPO / Group Policy use GPO-Search and search for "Windows Firewall"

Group Policy Search

The GPS is a group policy search tool for Microsoft Active Directory Group Policy Settings.

gpsearch.azurewebsites.net

Sincerely
Val.

 

[kC77]

againts my better judgement on a laptop i tested out Bitdefender last week and a similar thing happened to me....

bit defender found some "vulnerability" which it removed.... but then windows firewall wouldn't start, so I went to quarantine and it couldn't restore the item it removed
first thing i tried was dism/sfc etc...

easiest fix is remove the trash BD/KAV products....
grab the latest iso/install media (in my case 21h1) and run an install from windows, keeping your settings

next step once completed run disk cleanup to remove the old install (to free up space)

next download windows defender configurator, set to high mode.... and forget all about kav and BD products

 

[CyberTech]

Yes because you are inactive in this forums, be active and Windows Firewall might be start anytime..

 

[kC77]

Yes because you are inactive in this forums, be active and Windows Firewall might be start anytime..

helpfull

 

[harlan4096]

@RoboMan: did You use Defender Control tool to disable WD? try it to re-enable...

 

[oldschool]

@RoboMan: did You use Defender Control tool to disable WD? try it to re-enable...

What?

 

[SeriousHoax]

It could be due to the known issue of Kaspersky's broken uninstaller that I have talked about in the forum a couple of times. It's an old issue by now but they haven't fixed it yet
Try the solution I suggested here:

Troubleshoot - How to clean all registered security programs in Windows defender center?

Hi there yesterday i tryed to install for testing forticlient and it prompt me some security software was installed on my pc. Is more time i dont use those programs, and i think some of them have "traces" on windows center and are still registered as av, firewall, etc. I tryed to use pc cleaners...

malwaretips.com

 

[RoboMan]

Thanks for all tips!

FYI:

• I already uninstalled Kaspersky
• I did use Defender Control to disable Defender, but used it again to re-enable it

I am now trying Kavremover to delete any remnants and Farbar Recovery Tool...

 

[oldschool]

@RoboMan we miss you!

 

[RoboMan]

NOTHING WORKED!!!

Ah shoot.. here we go again... *grabs a Windows 10 copy*

PS: @oldschool I miss you guys too, I've just been buried in work

 

[kC77]

NOTHING WORKED!!!

Ah shoot.. here we go again... *grabs a Windows 10 copy*

PS: @oldschool I miss you guys too, I've just been buried in wor

NOTHING WORKED!!!

Ah shoot.. here we go again... *grabs a Windows 10 copy*

PS: @oldschool I miss you guys too, I've just been buried in work

Try everything except what the first person suggests

 

[Dave Russo]

No system restore available ?

 

[Deletedmessiah]

Try Windows Repair toolbox: Windows Repair Toolbox - Have you tried it?

 

[oldschool]

No system restore available ?

Good (restore) point! Always helpful to create them prior to any install. They haven't failed me yet.

 

[Jaspion]

This might be helpful. I remember it has a "Repair Firewall" option. Just follow the instructions. This has saved a few machines from reinstalling the OS for me.

Tweaking.com - Windows Repair Free/Pro

Unlock the power of Tweaking.com Windows Repair Free and Pro. Repair and optimize your Windows system by clicking here and trying it out!

www.tweaking.com

 

[eonline]

you can try with FRST this code:
CMD: netsh advfirewall reset CMD: netsh advfirewall set allprofiles state ON

 

[valvaris]

Of course allot of install / uninstall mishaps can be solved with a fresh / repair install of windows - But sometimes there is no room for that and is up to the user how they want to solve there issue.

I find it disrespectful @kC77 towards others that try to help - Because posts like this tend to scare ppl off trying to help others

Sincerely
Val.

 

[pxxb1]

NOTHING WORKED!!!

Ah shoot.. here we go again... *grabs a Windows 10 copy*

PS: @oldschool I miss you guys too, I've just been buried in work

You should have installed Kaspersky again and then removing it, with it`s own tool. Should most likely worked. But first activate WD with Defender control, a tool that is not necessary at all because Kaspersky takes care of that.

 

[Zartarra]

againts my better judgement on a laptop i tested out Bitdefender last week and a similar thing happened to me....

bit defender found some "vulnerability" which it removed.... but then windows firewall wouldn't start, so I went to quarantine and it couldn't restore the item it removed
first thing i tried was dism/sfc etc...

easiest fix is remove the trash BD/KAV products....
grab the latest iso/install media (in my case 21h1) and run an install from windows, keeping your settings

next step once completed run disk cleanup to remove the old install (to free up space)

next download windows defender configurator, set to high mode.... and forget all about kav and BD products

I had the same problem with Bitdefender. After uninstalling it, I couldn't start the WIndows Firewall service.

I solved it by adding the mpssvc account to the regkey Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\SharedAccess.