Can't turn off Win 7 domain firewall
We downloaded Windows 7 from Technet and installed it on one of the machines in our office. It is on a Windows Server 2003 domain. Everything works fine except for one thing - we can't turn off the Windows Firewall. Just the one for domain, the home and private you can turn off but not the one for domain.I've tried configuring it in Group policy and also deleted the registry key to no avail. There is no policy set on the Domain level that affects the firewall. I did try disabling firewall in the default domain policy, and that worked on the XP machines but of course the Win 7 machine was untouched.I have also made sure the logged in user is both domain and local administrator. I need to turnthe firewalloff in order to get some other software to work. Does anyone have any ideas what's going on here?
September 10th, 2009 6:20pm

You must unjoin the client from the domain and then join it to the domain again.Bye
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September 10th, 2009 11:34pm

Hi, Could you please verify it?To disable Windows Firewall in a domain environment, the Group Policy setting you would use is located in Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Network\Network Connections\Windows Firewall\Domain Profile. The setting is called Windows Firewall: Protect all network connections. If you disable this policy setting, Windows Firewall does not run and it cannot be started.Thanks.
September 11th, 2009 6:06am

Hello, thanks for the replies. I did disable that group policy setting but it didn't work. Am I supposed to unjoin/rejoin the domain after making the policy change?
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September 11th, 2009 9:32pm

I just tried it, made sure the policy was disabled then unjoined and rejoined. Still the option to turn off the firewall is greyed out.
September 11th, 2009 10:40pm

Hi, Try entering gpedit.msc on the Win 7 machine. Go to Computer Configuration - windows settings - Security Settings - Windows Firewall with advanced Security - local Group - in domain profile box click Windows Firewall Properties - and change firewall state to off. Slan go foill, Paul
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September 13th, 2009 4:38pm

Thank you. I also tried that Group Policy. In there, it says the Domain firewall is turned off, but again when you go into the Control Panel firewall settings it still shows it as turned on with the options to change it greyed out.
September 14th, 2009 10:35pm

I also tried a couple of things in the registry:HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\DomainProfile -- set "EnableFirewall" to "0"HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Security Center\Svc -- tried to set "FirewallOverride" to 0 but got an error, "Cannot edit FirewallOverrride: Error writing the value's new contents"I also tried stopping the "Windows Firewall" service. I was able to stop it, but apparently the firewall was still running because my application continued to have the same problem as before.Does anyone have any other ideas?
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September 15th, 2009 9:37pm

FWIW I have the opposite problem. I have group policy set up in the domain to turn on the firewall. All the XP machines are running firewall. Vista and Windows 7 machines do not run firewall despite the fact that they indicate in the Windows Firewall dialog that "Some settings are controlled by group policy"
November 16th, 2009 9:17pm

In order to stop firewall service u also have to stop,disable it and then try to perform what u looking for!if even disabling the service it doesnt work(which i find very dificult to happen) then u try in the non-Plug&play devices !Hope this helps!RR
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November 16th, 2009 9:35pm

What are you talking about computer configuration? ive never heard of anything called that on a pc. And apparently according to my empty search box niether has microsoft. You shouldnt have to go to the registry and mess with that ____ to turn on or off windows firewall. If it is seriously this complicated to turn something like windows firewall on and off then microsoft has dropped the ball on that and needs to get there head out of there ____. Anyone have any logical answers on how to turn windows firewall on and off?
December 26th, 2009 3:11pm

Hi I'm having the same problem. Have you resoved it?Thanks
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March 17th, 2010 2:34am

Hi, you can use this Microsoft link http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc766337%28WS.10%29.aspx Worked fine for me Thanks
June 3rd, 2010 4:26pm

I have exactly the same problem. I cannot turn windows firewall off for domain profiles for computers running win7. All the options is grayed out. I've tried netsh, domain group policies, local computer policies, everything, but I just cant turn it off. For private and public networks however the firewall state is free to be modified by users. This is quite a big problem, since our users dont have admin priviledges to allow programs to pass trough the firewall and we are using a reputable 3rd party firewall in our company.
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June 11th, 2010 9:30am

Hi this resolved my similar issue on a Win7 box. 1) Control Panel > System and Security > Windows Firewall > Advanced Settings 2) Click the Windows Firewall Properties link in the Overview section. 3) In the Domain Profile tab - the Firewall state is greyed out - but you are allowed to change the "Inbound Connections:" dropdown list to "Allow". HTH somebody.
September 25th, 2010 9:20pm

I was able to resolve by Creating a new GPO: See Robinson Zhang's information. "To disable Windows Firewall in a domain environment, the Group Policy setting you would use is located in Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Network\Network Connections\Windows Firewall\Domain Profile. The setting is called Windows Firewall: Protect all network connections. If you disable this policy setting, Windows Firewall does not run and it cannot be started." Connected it to my domain. Linked it also Enforced it. (by right clicking on the policy after you have created it) Went to my machine, opened the Run box. Entered in: gpupdate /force (to force the GP update; didn't feel like waiting for it to refresh itself) http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc776678(WS.10).aspx ( Create or delete a Group Policy object)
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September 27th, 2010 5:52pm

The only time that I have seen this, is when the domain policy forces you to use the firewall. I have used both (force to use, and disable the use of a firewall) in my domain.
March 3rd, 2011 7:53pm

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