Yesterday, after rebooting my computer, I found out that Windows Firewall did not start, because dependency service BFE did not start with error 5: Access is denied. I use W7 64-bit and another colleague from network department uses W7 32-bit and he has the same problem with me. I am using Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit on HP Pavilion dv3 with Intel Core 2 Duo T6400, 4 GB of RAM installed. All latest updates are installed. Latest program install was Paint.NET update 2 days ago and some critical updates which did not require restart. Previous install was Opera 10.63, 17 days ago. Latest installed Microsoft updates are: Definition Update for Windows Defender - KB915597 (Definition 1.95.422.0) Security Update for Microsoft Office 2010 (KB2289161), 64-Bit Edition Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool x64 - November 2010 (KB890830) Definition Update for Microsoft Office 2010 (KB982726), 64-Bit Edition The issue does not look like user rights issue since the service runs with Local Service account, which I did not change. Checking the security log, I found out Event ID: 4656 Source: Microsoft Windows Security, Task Category: Other object access events, Object Server: PlugPlayManager which succeeds 3 4674 Sensitive Privilege use entries. The other friend who encountered the problem tried restoring to a previous date, with no success. Any help will be appreciated. Ozgur

Hi, Thanks for the post! I suspect there could be some applications change the firewall settings. I recommend you use Clean Boot to find which could result this issue. Regards, MiyaThis posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. | Please remember to click "Mark as Answer" on the post that helps you, and to click "Unmark as Answer" if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Hello Miya, I have disabled all non-Microsoft services and restarted computer. However one exception still runs and cannot be stopped: ESET Service. Still same error: The Base Filtering Engine service terminated with the following error: Access is denied. ESET also complains about not functioning status of Windows Firewall. WF does not work due to BFE. BFE did not start after disabling all non-MS services, with exception of ESET Service, and rebooting. ESET did not have a major update lately, at least in our organization. Only signature updates are received. How shall I proceed? Cordially, Özgür

Hi, Do you have any related group policy on your computer? You can refer to this thread: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/itprovistanetworking/thread/5744a4b6-31a2-4f2e-b27e-e99627be5aba/ Regards, MiyaThis posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. | Please remember to click "Mark as Answer" on the post that helps you, and to click "Unmark as Answer" if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

We have solved the problem by giving permission (full access) to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services for the local user: NT Service\bfe Found the solution in the following link: http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7security/thread/754bba1e-d100-45b2-8a2e-91ed41af61e3?prof=required This solved the problem of 5 computers with different hardware and W7 (32 and 64-bit) versions in our company.

Glad to hear that you solve the problem and sharing the solution. You’re most welcome to ask question in Windows 7 Forum. Regards, MiyaThis posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. | Please remember to click "Mark as Answer" on the post that helps you, and to click "Unmark as Answer" if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Unfortunately it is just a temporary solution. After a reboot, the system resets permissions for the registry key, so on each restart, you need to set the permissions again. Of course a script may be a workaround solution, but I believe there shall be a real solution for this problem. Now that we have understood the error comes from permissions on "services", what shall we do next? I will be glad to receive help. Özgür

Hi, For the Script help, the Script Forum would be better for you. Regards, MiyaThis posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. | Please remember to click "Mark as Answer" on the post that helps you, and to click "Unmark as Answer" if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Dear Miya, I have already told that script solution would not be suitable. Resetting permissions on Windows registry on each boot is far from being called as solution. Why are you directing me to script forum? Could you or someone else provide a real solution? Özgür

Hi, For the Script help, the Script Forum would be better for you. Regards, Miya This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. | Please remember to click "Mark as Answer" on the post that helps you, and to click "Unmark as Answer" if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread. He who marks this as answer is not acting for benefit of Microsoft. There is a problem which disables Windows Firewall and a correct solution shall be found. For the record, setting permission solution does not work anymore. Many Win7 computers in our organization is running with Windows Firewall disabled at the moment.