How to Remove Firewall Included in Windows XP

Posted on January 2, 2009 by Cak RaYZa

Windows Firewall, as the name suggests, creates a protective wall between your computer and the external traffic coming on to it. Firewall helps in restricting and monitoring information that is transferred between your computer and external sources such as a network or the Internet. Configuring a firewall helps in preventing unauthorized access to your computer and prevents malicious use of your computer by hackers. On a Windows XP Service Pack 2 PC, the Windows Firewall is enabled and turned on by default. In this article, we will discuss the steps to remove firewall from your computer.

Windows Firewall removal is primarily a three-step process:
1. Disable the firewall.
2. Stop the firewall.
3. Remove all the files of the firewall.

To disable and stop the Firewall, perform the following steps:
1. Open Start menu and select Control Panel.
2. Select the Performance and Maintenance link and then select the Administrative Tools link.
3. Next, double-click on the Services option.
4. In the Services management console window, right-click on the Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) service and select Properties.
5. In the properties dialog box that is displayed, select the Disabled option from the Startup type list and click on the Stop button.
6. Select Apply to confirm your changes and click OK to exit the properties dialog box.

To remove all files and registry entries related to the Firewall on your computer, perform the following steps:
1. On Start > Run type cmd and press Enter to open the Command Prompt window.
2. In the Command Prompt window, run the following command and press Enter.

sc delete SharedAccess

Running this command removes all files and registry entries related to the firewall service from your computer, and enables you to completely remove firewall from your computer.

Reinstall Windows Firewall
Now, if you wanted to remove firewall only to fix certain errors, or you want to reinstall the firewall later, then run the following commands one after another at Command Prompt.

rundll32 setupapi,InstallHinfSection Ndi-Steelhead 132 %windir%\inf\netrass.inf

netsh firewall reset

Next, exit the Command Prompt window and open the Control Panel. Here, double-click on the Windows Firewall option. Click Yes when a message is prompted asking you if you want to start the Windows Firewall/Internet Connection haring (ICS) service. When you select Yes, the service is started and the Windows Firewall dialog is displayed that you can use to configure your firewall.

If this does not enable you to restore the firewall, you may need to reinstall Windows XP SP2, which includes the installation for the Firewall. You may also opt to perform System Restore and revert your computer back to the time when the Windows Firewall still existed on your computer.

0 Responses to "How to Remove Firewall Included in Windows XP":

Recent Post