I don’t know how why or when but I’ve just noticed this message when I try to go into the firewall settings. It simply says '“Due to an unidentified problem Windows cannot display firewall settings”.
In the hope of sorting this, I unistalled AVG and installed Avast but it made no diffference.
I’m running XP Pro 64 bit Service Pack 2 and hopefully someone can help.
attach a OTL diagnostic log http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=53253.0
Sorry for delay in getting back on this but hopefully log files now attached
oops, other 2 attachments on their way…
I am assuming here that you are not getting windows updates either… As a lot of services have been destroyed by what looks like zero access
First download and then run the ESET service repair tool
THEN
Run an OTL scan with the following script to see what still needs to be repaired
[*]Double click on the icon to run it. Make sure all other windows are closed and to let it run uninterrupted.
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/73555776/OTL_Main_Tutorial.gif
[*]Select All Users
[*]Under the Custom Scan box paste this in
netsvcs
BASESERVICES
%SYSTEMDRIVE%*.exe
[*]Click the Run Scan button. Do not change any settings unless otherwise told to do so. The scan wont take long.
[*]When the scan completes, it will open two notepad windows. OTL.Txt and Extras.Txt. These are saved in the same location as OTL.
[*]Post both logs
2 files now attached as requested.
OK could you download the zip here located here https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/73555776/stephenc.zip to your desktop
Extract all the .reg files to your desktop
Double click each in turn and allow to merge with the registry
THEN
Warning This fix is only relevant for this system and no other, using on another computer may cause problems
Be advised that when the fix commences it will shut down all running processes and you may lose the desktop and icons, they will return on reboot
Run OTL
[*]Under the Custom Scans/Fixes box at the bottom, paste in the following
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/73555776/OTL_Fix.GIF
:Commands
[CREATERESTOREPOINT]
:OTL
O16 - DPF: {CAFEEFAC-0015-0000-0010-ABCDEFFEDCBA} http://java.sun.com/update/1.5.0/jinstall-1_5_0_10-windows-i586.cab (Reg Error: Key error.)
O16 - DPF: {CAFEEFAC-0015-0000-0011-ABCDEFFEDCBA} http://java.sun.com/update/1.5.0/jinstall-1_5_0_11-windows-i586.cab (Reg Error: Key error.)
O16 - DPF: {CAFEEFAC-0016-0000-0001-ABCDEFFEDCBA} http://java.sun.com/update/1.6.0/jinstall-1_6_0_01-windows-i586.cab (Reg Error: Key error.)
O16 - DPF: {CAFEEFAC-0016-0000-0005-ABCDEFFEDCBA} http://java.sun.com/update/1.6.0/jinstall-1_6_0_05-windows-i586.cab (Reg Error: Key error.)
O16 - DPF: {CAFEEFAC-0016-0000-0007-ABCDEFFEDCBA} http://java.sun.com/update/1.6.0/jinstall-1_6_0_07-windows-i586.cab (Reg Error: Key error.)
:Files
Netsh firewall reset /c
netsh int ip reset c:\resetlog.txt /c
ipconfig /flushdns /c
ipconfig /release /c
ipconfig /renew /c
:Commands
[resethosts]
[emptytemp]
[Reboot]
[*]Then click the Run Fix button at the top
[*]Let the program run unhindered, reboot the PC when it is done
[*]Open OTL again and click the Quick Scan button. Post the log it produces in your next reply.
After the reboot could you now retry windows firewall
Wonderful! That’s the Windows Firewall started again - thanks so much for sorting this problem as I was getting close to the point where I’d thought I’d have to reformat and start again from scratch. I really appreciate this!
I’m not sure if I should create a new post for another issue which may be part of the same problem. Since the firewall went down, I’ve had no sound and have tried everything I know including new sound card and updating drivers, etc. As you can see from the attached image, Windows is reporting ‘No Audio Device’ yet the device manager shows them properly installed. (please ignore the exclamation mark at the HP printer in ‘Other Devices’).
I can’t help thinking this is part of the same virus attack which have stopped the sound services. Could you advise please?
Have you tried uninstalling the sound card from device manager (Right click > Uninstall), rebooting and then allowing windows to install the generic drivers ?
I’ve just tried this again. It rebooted found 1 driver automatically and then took the other from Windows Update, however when I go into Control Panel | Sounds and Audio Device Properties it still reports ‘No Audio Device’ in the Volume tab.
When I go into Audio, as the attached shows it doesn’t even display a Default Device under Sound playback.
What sound card do you have ?
The model shown on the side of the card is SB0570. It’s an old spare card I had lying around.
The other sound chip is on the motherboard - Asus P5VDC-X which is some sort of SoundMax device. I’ve reloaded the drivers for it too but it’s quite old and not updated.
I was wondering if the same virus which caused the firewall to switch off could have switched off the sound?
It is not normal for malware to attack sound drivers
services.msc
Scroll down to Windows Audio in the right-hand column and double-click on it,
Make sure the Startup Type is set to Automatic and click on the Start button under Service Status. The Windows Audio service should restart and the error with the volume control should be resolved.
It was already sitting at Automatic with the service status reported as being ‘Started’, so I restarted it.
It made no difference.
Essexboy, I’m delighted that you have been able to fix the firewall issue. Would you like me to mark this as resolved and put the problem into a seperate forum post?
Aye as generally on malware type posts no one else offers suggestions, but as it is a general windows problem then it may help to throw it open in the general fourm
A big thanks to Pondus and particularly essexboy who resolved the firewall issue after weeks of me trawling the net and trying just about everything! 
It’s not what you know but who you know