Options to enable Windows Firewall is grayed out

You may not be able to enable the windows firewall under Windows XP with service pack 2.

Follow these two methods to resolve the issue.

Method 1:

In Windows XP Home and Professional Editions
- Click Start, Run and type Regedit
- Navigate to the following location:
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Policies \ Microsoft \ WindowsFirewall
- Backup the key and then delete the WindowsFirewall branch.
- Close Regedit and restart computer.

Method 2:

For Windows XP Professional
- Click Start, Run and type Gpedit.msc
- Navigate to the following branch:
Computer Configuration
- Administrative Templates
- Network
- Network Connections
-Windows Firewall
- Standard Profile

Set the following options to Not Configured (defaults):

Windows Firewall: Protect all network connections
Windows Firewall: Do not allow exceptions
Windows Firewall: Define program exceptions
Windows Firewall: Allow local program exceptions
Windows Firewall: Allow remote administration exception
Windows Firewall: Allow file and printer sharing exception
Windows Firewall: Allow ICMP exceptions
Windows Firewall: Allow Remote Desktop exception
Windows Firewall: Allow UPnP framework exception
Windows Firewall: Prohibit notifications
Windows Firewall: Allow logging
Windows Firewall: Prohibit unicast response to multicast or broadcast requests
Windows Firewall: Define port exceptions Windows Firewall: Allow local port exceptions
Exit Group Policy editor.