Mcafee Firewall and Windows 7 Firewall

[Leeeeeeelo]

Hello everyone !

I recently installed Mcafee Virus Scan Plus on Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bits ( RC ) , and I just noticed in the Control Panel that Windows Firewall and Mcafee Personal Firewall are both turned on . It seems weird because on my other PCs ( Windows XP and Vista ) , when I installed my Mcafee product, Windows Firewall was automatically disabled ( turn off ) . Well this doesn't seem to be the case in Windows 7 . Is this normal or is it a bug ? I donno if this usually happens on Windows 7 or it just happened with me due to some error , did it happen with anyone running Windows 7 ? Should I manually turn off Windows Firewall ?

I have an additional question , is there a way I can test the performance of Mcafee Personal Firewall ? I am worried about the security Mcafee offers on Windows 7 ( I do not doubt the great security it offers on Windows XP and Windows Vista , I am actually a very happy Mcafee Customer for more than 2 years ) .

Thank you in advance ,

Sincerely ,

Leeeeeeelo .

Message was edited by: Leeeeeeelo on 11/29/09 9:31 AM

Message was edited by: Leeeeeeelo on 11/29/09 9:32 AM

[exbrit]

Windows 7 treats 3rd party firewalls differently from other systems in that it allows them to control it.  It should actually be off although I see in my machine that under Advanced Settings it shows that it is on.

I will flag this issue and see if anyone knows the answer.

[Leeeeeeelo]

Hello Ex_Brit ,

Thank you for your prompt reply ! Are you having the same issue on Windows 7 ? However about how Windows 7 treats 3rd party firewalls , I would like to point out that when I bought my PC , it came with BitDefender 2010 installed on Windows 7 and its firewall ( Windows Firewall ) disabled ( turned off ) , however I donno if the technician who built my PC, turned it off or BitDefender turned it off . When I uninstalled it ( BitDefender ) so I can install Mcafee , Windows prompted me to turn on its firewall ( and so I did ) . However I did not receive any warning concerning Windows Firewall afterwards ( after the installation of my Mcafee product ) . It was by searching in the Control Panel that I discovered that Windows Firewall is actually turned on , along with Mcafee Personal Firewall . Should I manually turn off Windows Firewall ?

[exbrit]

Well after reading your post I checked both my regular McAfee Firewall and my beta McAfee Firewall which are installed in 2 separate Windows 7's and both had failed to turn off Windows Firewall.  I have since filed a bug report for the beta one and have flagged this thread in our Moderation section, plus I have turned off Windows Firewall in both my Windows 7 installations.  Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

Message was edited by: Ex_Brit on 11/29/09 6:41 PM

[exbrit · Accepted solution]

OK I've just been on the conference call with the technicians and apparently McAfee works differently with Windows 7  than with any previous system.   Apparently McAfee's firewall integrates with Windows Firewall and  they work together so WF showing as "On" is normal behaviour....in Windows 7 ONLY.

Message was edited by: Ex_Brit on 11/30/09 2:33 PM

[newjack]

Hey ex-brit,IF i understand correctly i should be able to use both firewalls for extra protection?If that is correct,i can`t eable my windows firewall.when i open my firewall(win 7) it shows all the obtions, but if i click on it to enable it does nothing.Allmost like it does when something is grayed out.I am a little paranoid as i have been haveing windows media out bound events when i have them blocked outgoing.Plus a few other odd things.

[exbrit]

No, that isn't true.  Two software firewalls deliberately set to "On" could actually defeat each other.  I already said that in Windows 7 the two work together differently than they do in Vista or XP.   Just leave the settings as they are.

[newjack]

Thanks,I misunderstood.

[ashmk4]

I also cannot enable/dissable the windows firewall as it says "these setting are being managed by a vendor application Mcafee personal Firewall"  I need to temporary turn off the firewall to install software. Do u know of any way to do so?

Thanks ashley

[Peacekeeper]

Open Security centre below from Help in security centre

To Turn firewall protection off

In some rare situations, you might want to turn off Personal Firewall temporarily. For example, you might need to turn Personal Firewall off while you  troubleshoot an issue.

Task

How to disable firewall

Message was edited by: Peacekeeper on 4/05/10 7:01:28 PM