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ajmitch
Former Member
Message 1 of 12

McAfee Firewall is disabled by Windows 7

Since a recent Windows 7 update, my McAfee Firewall keeps turning off..  I checked task manager and it says that the service is stopped.  From task manager, I went into Services, which shows McAfee Firewall as disabled.  After opening up my McAfee interface, I turned on the firewall, then went in further to view the settings, but it said there that the firewall was off.  I clicked on the button 'turn on', but it immediately turns off again. 

As Windows Services says that it is disabled, how do I re-enable it.  It seems obvious that one of the Windows updates has caused this, but what?

I checked the Windows firewall and other service as described in other discussions here and they are both running.

Other than uninstalling and re-installing my McAfee software, I don't know how to proceed.

Any help would be appreciated. 

Thanks..  Tony

11 Replies
exbrit
MVP
MVP
Message 2 of 12

Re: McAfee Firewall is disabled by Windows 7

Mine is functioning OK and I just checked for updates, in case I was missing any.

On yours the main services that should be running appear OK, all except the actual McAfee Personal Firewall.

Have you tried running the Virtual Technician?  http://mvt.mcafee,com/  that may fix it.  Run a few times if necessary.

Two other things to check, are you totally up to date with Windows Update?

That would include things you may not use such as Internet Explorer, which should be IE10.  McAfee and other processes use IE regardless of default browser choices.

Also check should you have been running any kind of registry cleaner if it has a reverse button.  Those are infamous for ruining security software amongst other applications.

If all else fails, Technical Support is available free of charge using online chat at weekends.   (Also by phone during the week).

See Useful Links at th top of this page.

exbrit
MVP
MVP
Message 3 of 12

Re: McAfee Firewall is disabled by Windows 7

Correction, phone support is now 24/7.

ajmitch
Former Member
Message 4 of 12

Re: McAfee Firewall is disabled by Windows 7

A full scan of my PC revealed some required Windows updates.  These are currently being installed.  I revisited the Services window and noticed that other McAfee services were disabled, you can see these in the screen shot above.  I restarted these and set them to Automatic.  However, the firewall remains disabled and the properties window for it is all greyed out, so I have no options to do anything with it. 

When I looked in the folder in which the firewall program resides, I noticed what I believe is the compatibility symbol alongside the filename (the little blue and yellow sheild).  The firewall is the only McAfee application that has these against it's file name.  Any ideas why?

There are no registry cleaners on my PC, so no danger of that.

Message was edited by: ajmitch on 5/18/13 12:45:18 PM CDT
exbrit
MVP
MVP
Message 5 of 12

Re: McAfee Firewall is disabled by Windows 7

You are logged in to Windows as a user with Admin privileges I assume?   I don't see any such blue and yellow symbol in mine so not sure about that.

The software is fuily compatible with all versions of Windows from XP upwards but they must be up to date.   I assume 7 is SP1 too?

You have 2 choices. You can try a complete uninstall via Control Panel > Programs > Uninstall a Program

Then run the MCPR Cleanup Tool and reboot (run it again if it says incomplete)

Then reinstall from your online account at home.mcafee.com.

or............................

Contact Technical Support by phone or online chat as I suggested earlier.

Or both of course.

ajmitch
Former Member
Message 6 of 12

Re: McAfee Firewall is disabled by Windows 7

I have all the latest Windows and McAfee updates installed. 

My version of Windows is as shown in the attached screenshot.

system information.jpg

exbrit
MVP
MVP
Message 7 of 12

Re: McAfee Firewall is disabled by Windows 7

That looks fine to me so the software should be working.  Try the suggestions I just posted.

ajmitch
Former Member
Message 8 of 12

Re: McAfee Firewall is disabled by Windows 7

When I ran McAfee Virtual Technician, it too found a problem with Firewall, but was unable to do anything about it.

So I uninstalled McAfee from my computer and then ran the McAfee cleanup tool, rebooted the computer then went online and reinstalled my McAfee product.

When I look, I find that firewall is disabled. 

I don't know what is going on, but even the McAfee site has problems as when I logged in it says that my subscription has expired, yet when I check my subscription status it shows that my subscription is valid until next year.

See the screen shots below. 

This is getting beyond silly now.  Even in Windows, despite the fact that I am an administrator on this PC, I have these little User Account Control blue and yellow sheilds everywhere, so maybe it is a Windows problem after all.

exbrit
MVP
MVP
Message 9 of 12

Re: McAfee Firewall is disabled by Windows 7

Beyond silly perhaps, but obviously something there is causing it and I don't know what it is, that's where Technical Support are extremely useful.

The account is simply displaying a previous subscription I think.  Mine has several, some years old that I never renewed.   If you click the + and then Subscriptions you'll see them there.

If there is a problem with the account side of things, that's no big deal, a phone call or online chat with Customer Service (also linked under Useful Links at the top of the page) will get that sorted out.

We have no access to that side here.

Regarding the firewall refusing to start.   Have you ever had another firewall installed (other than Windows own) and if so did you uninstall it using whatever tools they have?

Also you might want to check for malware using Malwarebytes Free, see the last link in my signature below.  Do NOT accept the free trial or you'll get the wrong version.

After that tells you things are OK I would take up my last suggestion, which is to contact Technical Support.

ajmitch
Former Member
Message 10 of 12

Re: McAfee Firewall is disabled by Windows 7

Never had any other firewall except Windows and McAfee.  I didn't even enable the windows firewall until I learned that the McAfee Firewall was dependant on it.

All was working fine with my computer until about two weeks ago when I let Windows do the upgrades that it had been pestering me for, for ages. 

After that, I started getting the message saying that my computer was at risk and that the McAfee Firewall was turned off.  I turned it on again from the window that came up each time, but some time later, it would happen again.  That's when I started investigating and found in Windows Services that the McAfee Personal Firewall was disabled, despite it showing McAfee Firewall Core Service as running.

When I click on the McAfee icon, the home window opens up and shows that the Firewall is on, yet when I click on Firewall to view the settings, it shows it as turned off, so you can understand my confusion and frustration.

I have considered doing a system restore to the point prior to the Windows updates that seemed to trigger all the trouble, but I know that those updates were neccessary, so the computer does need them.  I'll give that a go and see what happens, then bring the computer back to the present state and contact tech support to try and talk through it.

The following screen shots show how confusing the McAfee interface was being..

The first one is the home screen...

The second was after clicking on "View firewall and anti-spam settings"

The third was after clicking on "Firewall" on the second screen.

Message was edited by: ajmitch on 5/19/13 8:14:20 AM CDT
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