BleepingComputer.com: Greyed Out Firewall Control

Hi, I have had this problem for a while i think, but have only noticed it in the last couple of weeks.
I have lost the ability to turn windows firewall on or off. It is set in the on position and seems to be grayed out and preventing me from clicking off.
I have a feeling this occurred when i installed a trial of windows onecare as i noticed it was like that then.
I was not happy with onecare and uninstalled it using add/remove programs and have since trialled comodo and zone alarm but have been stuck with two firewalls on at the same time.
Is there a registry setting or other fix for this problem as i really don't want to use windows firewall.
I am using xp sp2, have done numerous scans for malware etc. and also run hi-jack this with no abnormal results.

Any ideas?

Did you completely uninstall zone alarm? Please go over the below mentioned steps :

To remove ZoneAlarm completely from your computer in case normal uninstall can’t be run or doesn’t run properly, do the following:



* Right click the ZoneAlarm systray icon and click Restore ZoneAlarm Control Center.

Go to Overview > Preferences and uncheck Load ZoneAlarm at startup.

Close Control Center, right click the icon again and then click Shutdown ZoneAlarm.

Note: If you're unable to carry out this step because the icon is missing, you can skip it and proceed with the next steps, but in this case do them all in safe mode!



* REBOOT



* Go to Start > Programs > ZoneLabs and click Uninstall, or uninstall ZA using Control Panel > Software > Add/Remove Programs.

If a security check appears, click Yes and continue the uninstall procedure.



* REBOOT



* Make sure hidden files and folders are shown. To do so open Windows Explorer. Depending on your OS click Tools or View and then Folder Options > View.

Choose Show hidden files and folders, uncheck Hide protected operating system files (Windows 2000/XP/2003 only) and click OK.



* Next go to Start > Search > Files and Folders. Make sure the location box is set to search your Local Hard Drive (usually C:\ ) or All Local Drives. Also make

sure the Advanced Search Options are set to search subfolders and hidden files. Now copy the entire line below, paste it into the search box and click Search Now.



Zonelabs; "zone labs"; "Internet logs"; vsconfig.xml; vsdata.dll; vsdata95.vxd; vsdatant.sys; vsmon.*; vsmonapi.dll; vsnetutils.dll;vspubapi.dll; zaplus.*; zapro.*; zllictbl.dat; zlparser.dll; zonealarm.exe; zoneband.dll; vsutil.dll; zlclient.*





A list of files and folders belonging to ZoneAlarm will appear in the Search Results pane.

Note: if you’re using McAfee software be sure to check the vsutil.dll if found: right click the file and choose Properties. Verify it belongs to ZoneLabs.

If it does not do not remove it. Now proceed by deleting all ZoneLabs files and folders that were found.



* Empty the Recycle Bin.



* Now remove all ZoneLabs keys that may be left in the Windows registry. To do this copy the lines below and paste them into Notepad.

Save the file as zabegone.reg, double click it and allow for the registry changes to be made.





REGEDIT4



[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ZAMailSafe]



[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Zone Labs]



[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Zone Labs]



[-HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Zone Labs]





* REBOOT



ZoneAlarm will now be completely removed from your computer. If you wish to install a new copy of ZA, be sure to do so under an administrator account with full rights and permissions.

Next step

Download install and update Ccleaner
After installing and updating go to options - advanced and tick prompt for registry back ups
Now Start up in safe mode
Do two runs

a) Click on problems and tick all. Click on analyse. At the end you will be prompted for storing a backup.
This will be stored, as a default, in My documents.
Click on cleaner click on analyse and accept all files to be removed.

This will remove any reference to previous uninstalled programs.

Than reboot again and try again

Others have successfully used the ZA uninstaller described in the link below:
http://www.greenwood.iwarp.com/sgcomputer.html
If you are having trouble updating or installing the Zone Alarm firewall, with error messages such as "Validation failed for..." any number of dlls, or that it can't shut down the True Vector Monitor, etc., here is the solution. First, if you were already using Zone Alarm, uninstall it. Second, there's a mess of files and folders you must delete. ZoneLabs gives lengthy instructions on how to do that, but to make it easy, I wrote a simple command file. Download and unzip the CMD file zfix.zip, then run it. It'll clean all traces of any old installation from your system, and you can now run a fresh installation with no problem.
To clarify why this happens, the explanation is simple. Uninstalling Zone Alarm in the normal fashion does not remove all the files and folders. When a new version of ZA is applied, XP prevents old files from being replaced by new files because of certificate verification mismatches. Thus, ALL old files have to be manually removed. This doesn't affect the computer or registry in any way. When the new ZA is installed, registry entries for the old installation are still valid as they simply point to newer versions of the exact same files in the exact same pathways.
WARNING: Zfix is an easily edited command file. If you downloaded it anywhere but here, you may want to verify it by right-clicking it, selecting the "Edit" option, and comparing it to this text:
http://www.greenwood.iwarp.com/downloads/zfix.zip
rd /s /q C:\"Program Files"\"Zone Labs"
rd /s /q C:\WINDOWS\system32\zonelabs
del /q C:\WINDOWS\system32\Vsconfig.xml
del /q C:\WINDOWS\system32\Vsdata.dll
del /q C:\WINDOWS\system32\Vsdatant.dll
del /q C:\WINDOWS\system32\Vsinit.dll
del /q C:\WINDOWS\system32\Vsmonapi.dll
del /q C:\WINDOWS\system32\Vspubapi.dll
del /q C:\WINDOWS\system32\Vsregexp.dll
del /q C:\WINDOWS\system32\Vsutil.dll
del /q C:\WINDOWS\system32\Vswmi.dll
del /q C:\WINDOWS\system32\Vsxml.dll
del /q C:\WINDOWS\system32\zlcomm.dll
del /q C:\WINDOWS\system32\zlcommdb.dll
end
Any other text should be removed.

This post has been edited by buddy215: 16 December 2006 - 05:28 AM

Sorry for the slow response, things are really busy here right now. Will have a look at your suggestions and get back to you.

Checked out your suggestions and there is no evidence of zone alarm on my system. I still think it was caused by the onecare installation i think i will do some more research on its removal.
Any other suggestions?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301

Windows Support Tools, provided free by Microsoft, are a suite of some 20+ separate applications that are extremely handy for a number of uses. Ordinary PC users probably won't use many of these apps — they're mostly used by IT pros to troubleshoot and analyze Windows XP. But even if you're not an expert, don't be afraid of using the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility, which will help you remove all leftover files from a failed uninstall of a Windows Installer application.


Download Windows Support Tools from Microsoft's Download Center. (If you're curious about the other apps in the suite, check out the help file included in the Windows Support Tools Program group.)


To run the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility, go to the command prompt (select Start > Run) and type msicuu.exe. You'll see a list of all applications with uninstall data. Select the ones you want to get rid of and click the Remove button. Obviously, you want to use caution here — don't clear the install data for an application unless you're absolutely sure you won't ever need it.

Did you ever resolve the issue?

I noticed that I have the exact same problem - firewall is on, but buttons are greyed out. I was able to disable and stop the windows firewall service so I at least only have one firewall running, but I would like to know how to fix the underlying problem.

PS - I don't have Zone Alarm running - I blame Symantec for these woes

This post has been edited by ajcstr: 02 January 2007 - 05:13 PM

I know that ZoneAlarm and Kerio Personal Firewall automatically stop the Windows Firewall when they are installed. I suspect Comodo does the same. You can always check in the security center to see if it is actually on: Start > Control Panel > Security Center > Firewall

Orange Blossom

Unfortunately i have been unable to fix this problem so far. I tried some fixes from microsoft with no luck. The last suggestion from then was to reinstall windows lol. It was definetley caused by the one care installation but was not restored when one care was uninstalled.
Sorry i have been away from this for so long but any suggestions are still most welcome.

I don't have it with me now, but I did find the registry key that turns the windows firewall on and off - I can post that if you would like. At least you will be able to still toggle the firewall that way.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ SharedAccess\Parameters\FirewallPolicy\DomainProfile\

The EnableFirewall REG_DWORD will have a value of 0x00000001 (1) if the firewall is enabled.

Setting it to 0 disables the Firewall entirely.


Found this also

http://www.winxptutor.com/sp2/resetfw.htm

esdog--
OK, I cannot tell from your responses what you have done to fix your problem. Be specific with your answers.
Did you run the Windows cleanup utility? If so, for which programs?
Did you run the uninstaller as described in post #3 for Zone Alarm?
How do you know that Windows Firewall is actually enabled and running?

Sorry ajcstr and buddy215 i have been away all responses will be replied to promptly from now.
buddy215 i ran the cleanup utility but found nothing that i wanted to uninstall. I also ran the uninstaller for za with no result. I know the firewall is running as the service is started and i get the occasional block message.
ajcstr i have looked at the registry as you suggested however i have a current control set 1 and 2 and neither seems to have a enable firewall entry and dword.

When you ran the Windows Cleanup Utility, was One Care listed and did you attempt to clean up One Care? My understanding now is that you do not have a third party firewall installed on your computer and all remnants have been removed. Is this correct?
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/resetfwpol.htm


http://www.winxptutor.com/sp2/resetfw.htm

One care was not listed and i have no third party firewall installed and cannot find any remnants of them. I am just trying to reset firewall again. Will let you know how i went shortly.