Symptoms
Consider the following scenario:
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You manage rules by using the Windows Firewall snap-in in the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) feature on a Windows Server 2012 R2, or Windows Server 2012-based computer.
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The writing process is interrupted abnormally. For example, this situation can be caused by terminating Microsoft Management Console (MMC), logging off of the session, or clicking End Now to cancel the writing process.
In this scenario, the Registry.pol file is corrupted. Several firewall rules and other necessary policies may be missing from the file.
Cause
This issue occurs because the system does not handle the writing process as expected, and it cannot write back all the changes to disk.
Resolution
To resolve this issue for Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2, install update rollup 2975719.
To resolve this issue for Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012, install update rollup 2934016.
Note Even though this issue has only been observed in Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2012, the updates apply to Windows 8.1 and Windows 8 as well.
Update information for Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2
For more information about how to obtain update 2975719, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
2975719 August 2014 update rollup for Windows RT 8.1, Windows 8.1, and Windows Server 2012 R2
Update information for Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012
For more information about how to obtain update 2934016, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
2934016 Windows RT, Windows 8, and Windows Server 2012 update rollup: April 2014
Status
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.
More Information
For more information about software update terminology, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
824684 Description of the standard terminology that is used to describe Microsoft software updates
