I've got a problem with a machine which won't connect to the internet. I thought that it was something to do with a faulty network card at first but have changed the card and the problem persists. Whilst I was monkeying around with the card, a popup appeared telling me the firewall wasn't running. I went in to the Control Panel and tried to switch the firewall on and got an error 0x8007042c "Windows Firewall can't change some of your settings." I decided to look this up, and eventually made my way in to services.msc . This showed me that a number of services weren't starting. I traced through the dependencies and discovered that they were all dependent on the Base Filtering Engine. I tried to start the Base Filtering Engine Service and got "Error 2 - The system cannot find the file specified''. I have run sfc/scannow several times, both from my Windows 7 CD and within Windows itself. It hasn't found any problems. I have tried deleting BFE.DLL and running sfc/scannow. It restored the file and the problem still hasn't gone away. The amount of information I've managed to get from the internet has been sparse and I don't know what to do next. I really am at my wits end with this one. If anyone could help I'd be most grateful. Thanks.

Hi, You may re-build the BFE-related enties in registry for a test. Please save the following contents as reg file. Then execute this file to import to reistry. Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\BFE] "DisplayName"="@%SystemRoot%\\system32\\bfe.dll,-1001" "Group"="NetworkProvider" "ImagePath"=hex(2):25,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,72,00,6f,00,6f,00,\ 74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,\ 00,76,00,63,00,68,00,6f,00,73,00,74,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,20,00,2d,00,\ 6b,00,20,00,4c,00,6f,00,63,00,61,00,6c,00,53,00,65,00,72,00,76,00,69,00,63,\ 00,65,00,4e,00,6f,00,4e,00,65,00,74,00,77,00,6f,00,72,00,6b,00,00,00 "Description"="@%SystemRoot%\\system32\\bfe.dll,-1002" "ObjectName"="NT AUTHORITY\\LocalService" "ErrorControl"=dword:00000001 "Start"=dword:00000002 "Type"=dword:00000020 "DependOnService"=hex(7):52,00,70,00,63,00,53,00,73,00,00,00,00,00 "ServiceSidType"=dword:00000003 "RequiredPrivileges"=hex(7):53,00,65,00,41,00,75,00,64,00,69,00,74,00,50,00,72,\ 00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,00,00 "FailureActions"=hex:80,51,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,14,00,00,\ 00,01,00,00,00,c0,d4,01,00,01,00,00,00,e0,93,04,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\BFE\Parameters] "ServiceDll"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,\ 00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,\ 62,00,66,00,65,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,00,00 "ServiceDllUnloadOnStop"=dword:00000001 "ServiceMain"="BfeServiceMain"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.

Hi, You may re-build the BFE-related enties in registry for a test. Please save the following contents as reg file. Then execute this file to import to reistry. Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\BFE] "DisplayName"="@%SystemRoot%\\system32\\bfe.dll,-1001" "Group"="NetworkProvider" "ImagePath"=hex(2):25,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,72,00,6f,00,6f,00,\ 74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,\ 00,76,00,63,00,68,00,6f,00,73,00,74,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,20,00,2d,00,\ 6b,00,20,00,4c,00,6f,00,63,00,61,00,6c,00,53,00,65,00,72,00,76,00,69,00,63,\ 00,65,00,4e,00,6f,00,4e,00,65,00,74,00,77,00,6f,00,72,00,6b,00,00,00 "Description"="@%SystemRoot%\\system32\\bfe.dll,-1002" "ObjectName"="NT AUTHORITY\\LocalService" "ErrorControl"=dword:00000001 "Start"=dword:00000002 "Type"=dword:00000020 "DependOnService"=hex(7):52,00,70,00,63,00,53,00,73,00,00,00,00,00 "ServiceSidType"=dword:00000003 "RequiredPrivileges"=hex(7):53,00,65,00,41,00,75,00,64,00,69,00,74,00,50,00,72,\ 00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,00,00 "FailureActions"=hex:80,51,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,14,00,00,\ 00,01,00,00,00,c0,d4,01,00,01,00,00,00,e0,93,04,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\BFE\Parameters] "ServiceDll"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,\ 00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,\ 62,00,66,00,65,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,00,00 "ServiceDllUnloadOnStop"=dword:00000001 "ServiceMain"="BfeServiceMain" 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. ” Thanks very much for your message. I have run this and the problem remains - an Error 2 on the Base Filtering Engine Service. However, one thing has changed. Before I ran this registry patch the icon by the clock for the network showed five black bars with a sun, indicating that there were networks available. Now that does not show. When I click on that icon it tells me that the networking service is disabled. Can you suggest anything I can do now?

Hi, Whether the Network Store Interface Service is running or not? If not, please try to start it manually. In fact, The Base Filtering Engine (BFE) is a service that manages firewall and Internet Protocol security (IPsec) policies and implements user mode filtering. So it should not be the cause of this issue. Additionally, based on my experience, I think the easiest way to fix it is to perform a In-place Upgrade Installation. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2255099 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.

Looks like a serious level of system corruption might be easier to backup your files and installed Windows clean Windows MVP, XP, Vista, 7. Expanding into Windows Server 2008 R2, SQL Server, SharePoint etc. I feel badly for my American friends who have to endure the extremists in Washington who are bankrupting the nation over ideology. My page on Video Card Problems is now my most popular landing page. See my gaming site for game reviews etc. Developer | Windows IT | Chess | Economics | Hardcore Games | Vegan Advocate | PC Reviews

Apparently the Network Store Interface Service is running. I can't run an in-place upgrade installation. When I try to run it I get an error telling me that the 'Your Current version of Windows is more recent than the version you are trying to upgrade to. Windows cannot complete the upgrade."

Hi, Have you installed SP1. If so, please uninstall it, then try In-place upgrade again.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.

Hi Juke, I too have the exact same issue with BFE as originally described by MrFrisky. I have attempted all the fixes on this forum to no avail. I am also unable to do an in-place upgrade reinstall of my Windows 7, I am getting the same error as MrFrisky ("'Your Current version of Windows is more recent than the version you are trying to upgrade to. Windows cannot complete the upgrade."). I removed my Service Pack 1 installation, and attempted to do another in-place upgrade, and I was still unable to (same error as above). Help please!!

given the mess, I would recommend backup of data files then install windows clean Windows MVP 2010-11, XP, Vista, 7. Expanding into Windows Server 2008 R2, SQL Server, SharePoint, Cloud, Virtualization etc. etc. Hardcore Games, Legendary is the only Way to Play Developer | Windows IT | Chess | Economics | Vegan Advocate | PC Reviews

Hi Vegan Fanatic, I'm afraid I can't do that. I don't understand why I am unable to do an in-place reinstall, despite uninstalling service pack 1. Trust me, if I could just reformat and lose all my programs and settings I would, but when you have over 4TB of delicately calibrated software and configuration settings I can't reformat. It would take me months to get it re-set.

You might want to consider a server for all of your data so that it is safe from workstation problems Windows MVP 2010-11, XP, Vista, 7. Expanding into Windows Server 2008 R2, SQL Server, SharePoint, Cloud, Virtualization etc. etc. Hardcore Games, Legendary is the only Way to Play Developer | Windows IT | Chess | Economics | Vegan Advocate | PC Reviews

This is getting more common. Follow this guide and it will have everything working again: Base Filtering Engine Service Access Denied