I Cannot Configure Windows Firewall with Advanced Security

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Applies To: Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista

If all the settings for the properties of Windows Firewall with Advanced Security are not available (appear grayed out), then your computer is either:

  • Part of a managed network and the network administrator has used Group Policy to configure Windows Firewall with Advanced Security behavior. In this case, you would see a "For your security, some settings are controlled by Group Policy" message at the top of the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security snap-in. Your network administrator has configured policy that prevents you from changing the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security configuration.

  • Running Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 and is not a part of a managed network, but local Group Policy settings have been set to configure Windows Firewall with Advanced Security behavior.

To edit local Group Policy settings for Windows Firewall with Advanced Security, use the Local Computer Policy snap-in. To open the local Computer Policy snap-in, type secpol at the command prompt. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Continue. Navigate to Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Windows Firewall with Advanced Security to configure the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security policy.