You cannot turn on or turn off the Windows Firewall setting on a Windows XP Service Pack 2-based computer

You cannot turn on or turn off the Windows Firewall setting on a Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2)-based computer.

This article helps you reset the Winsock settings so that you can turn on or turn off the Windows Firewall setting.

To have us reset the Winsock settings for you, go to the "Fix it for me" section. To reset the Winsock settings yourself, go to the "Let me fix it myself" section.

To reset the Winsock settings automatically, click the Fix it button or link. Click Run in the File Download dialog box, and then follow the steps in the Fix it wizard.

Fix this problem

Note this Fix it solution works for all languages. However, for some languages, the wizard text may be in English

Note if you are not on the computer that has the problem, save the Fix it solution to a flash drive or a CD and then run it on the computer that has the problem.

Next, go to the "Did this fix the problem?" section.

To reset the Winsock settings, follow these steps:

1. Repair the Winsock registry key. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
   2. At the command prompt, type netsh winsock reset, and then press ENTER.
   3. Type exit, and then press ENTER to close the Command Prompt window.
   4. Restart the computer.
   
   
   Warning The netsh winsock reset command may adversely affect programs that access or monitor the Internet such as antivirus programs, firewall programs, or proxy clients. If you have a program that does not function correctly after you use the command, reinstall the program to restore functionality.
   
   If steps a through d do not resolve the issue, continue to step 2.
2. Reinstall the Netfw.inf file. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Click Start, click Run, type explorer, and then click OK.
   2. Locate and then open the following folder:
      %Windir%\Inf
      Note The %Windir% folder is the folder where you installed Microsoft Windows. The Inf folder is a hidden folder. To view the Inf folder, you must change the folder options on the computer so that you can view hidden files and folders. To do this, follow these steps:
      1. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options.
      2. On the View tab, click Show hidden files and folders in the Advanced settings list.
      3. Click Apply, and then click OK.
   3. Right-click the Netfw.inf file, and then click Install.
   4. Change the folder options on the computer so that you cannot view hidden files and folders. To do this, follow these steps:
      1. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options.
      2. On the View tab, click Do not show hidden files and folders in the Advanced settings list.
      3. Click Apply, and then click OK.

Check whether the problem is fixed. If the problem is fixed, you are finished with this article. If the problem is not fixed, you can contact support (http://support.microsoft.com/contactus) .

To turn on or to turn off the Windows Firewall setting, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type firewall.cpl, and then click OK.
2. On the General tab, click On (recommended) or Off (not recommended), and then click OK.

For computers that are running Windows XP SP2, the netsh command can rebuild the Winsock registry key. For more information, visit the following Microsoft Web site: