Cannot Start Windows Firewall

Anonymous
2021-07-14T02:29:02+00:00

Hi!

So my computer has been going through a lot this past week and I will include a TL;DR somewhere around this post, but keep reading if you want because I'll try to explain my situation as clearly as possible because I think windows could use the info I'm about to give and I hope people having this problem won't have to go through as much as I did. I am no expert with windows or computers, forums and talking with strangers online is extremely intimidating, but one day I'm going to have to step out of my comfort zone. I hope you guys find my situation useful and I hope you guys have some answers.

I have a Alienware 17 r4 laptop

Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700HQ CPU @ 2.80GHz

NVIDIA gtx 1060

I have 16 gb ram


Precursor

First, my computer would do SupportAssist scans whenever I boot my computer. It would say that "Hardware scan complete with no issues. No bootable device found! Possible causes could be a corrupt OS image or a boot device is not enabled for BIOS Set up". It would rarely say no bootable devices found. I would later fix this by changing my boot priorities in the BIOS from these "NIC ipv4" then "NIC ipv6" then Windows Boot Manager thingies I don't remember their exact names to Windows Boot Manager then the ipv4/6 stuff. I didn't do anything to make this situation happen iirc (I did this boot manager fix at around July 11 or 12).

My computer started crashing with BSODS at about July 5. These would happen while I was using my computer. It gave the error code system_service_exception for about the next 2 days. I didn't think much of them, but I was already worried because it has crashed once 3 days in a row. After these 3 days, my computer had been experiencing BSODS but with error code critical_process_died in place of the system_service_execption codes. Once, when I started my computer, it showed a blue screen indicating that my PC had to be repaired with a code 0xc000000d. So I did a lot of stuff with safe mode like the sfc /scannow and chkdsk stuff with command prompt (I continue to use these commands throughout my entire situation) in WinRe because my computer would not want to boot in anything other than WinRe. I was stuck using safe mode for majority of what I did until my computer would boot properly. I also uninstalled avast antivirus at around this time. I also installed WhoCrashed and found that the issue was from ntoskrnl.exe. At around this time, the sfc /scannow would actually solve a problem. I vaguely remember it saying that it found corrupt files and repaired them. My computer hasn't had a blue screen since.

Based from the ntoskrnl.exe, I tried running the windows memory diagnostics and by the time it finished, I didn't see results from it. I disregarded this and I believe my memory is fine.

Yesterday, (July 13) I had a full scan done by windows defender and it found two instances of malware, one says 'Threat blocked' and the other says 'Remediation Complete'. They are from the same file. I ran another full scan and then no threats were found. So I believe the malware and been fully eradicated.


My Problem

A lot of things happened on July 12 and 13 because those were the days I saw the problems with my computer. When trying to play minecraft, I noticed my fps was reduced dramatically. BSL shaders were highly buggy and they came with error codes, but I won't include that here. So I thought that minecraft was running on my intel 630 gpu (idk if it is a gpu). Then found that I could not open NVIDIA Control Panel, Microsoft Store (wsreset.exe doesn't work came with an error 'ms-windows-store:PurgeCaches' Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again).

I think I messed up Microsoft Store by resetting the application, as I followed a tutorial to fix downloads from Microsoft store, because any application I tried to download from the store would not finish downloading and would receive an error. I could no longer find the Microsoft store from my application list in apps and features. I found a tutorial that used powershell to redownload the Microsoft store package thing (I really had no clue what I was doing there) and found that it would not redownload because my FIREWALL was down. Plus, I could run barely any troubleshooters because my Diagnostics Policy Service was not running.

https://www.winhelponline.com/blog/fix-base-filtering-engine-service-startup-problems/

In the article above, you will see my situation, including the error codes I've experienced. My Diagnostics Policy Service thingy wasn't running(error 5: access is denied), the BFE wasn't running(error 5: access is denied), and therefore the Windows Defender Firewall Service wasn't running (all of these services are automatic). I followed the article above, and the base filtering engine was now running. So I tried to run windows defender firewall service, but it stuck at running. I downloaded the windows firewall troubleshooter and it seemed to do its magic for the registry permissions, but it couldn't start the firewall. Sometimes it would display the same error code as it did before the BFE fix, and sometimes it would say: "Windows could not start the windows defender firewall service on local computer. the service did not return an error. this could be an internal windows error or an internal service error."

A few times before this point I really wanted to reinstall windows. I finally decided to do the deed. I followed a tutorial from Youtube to reinstall windows without losing data. However... It was stuck at 0%. Guess what the first solution was. Enable Firewall.

I should also mention that I tried to update my NVIDIA drivers and network adapter drivers. When I try to view the driver details of any of my display adapters, device manager would crash. From the alienware drivers and downloads page, I tried to use the automatic download and install option for my pc, but the download would always fail. I guess the firewall is the culprit again. So, I manually downloaded and installed the *urgent* Qualcomm drivers and installed them. I don't think it fixed anything. On the alienware drivers and downloads page, it says that my network adapter version should be 12.0.0.916. but it is on 12.0.0.948. I'm not sure what is going on here.

I've also tried using restoro to scan things, but I found no security issues, just the random stuff like the stability stuff.

I also know about system restore, but that can't do anything for me anymore because I have no good restore points.


TL;DR

My computer dies. BSODS left, right and center. I uninstall avast, run chkdsk (/f /r) and sfc /scannow (mostly in safe mode or in WinRe[or whatever it is called] because computer doesn't wanna boot to anything other than WinRe and I use safe mode for most of my troubleshooting. I manage to fix crashes. WhoCrashed said ntoskrnl.exe is the culprit. I look up things about ntoskrnl.exe and they say memory is the problem. I run memory diagnostics, nothing happens. I didn't have a crash since. Found malware, Win Defender got rid of it. NVIDIA control panel won't start. I wanna reinstall it but microsoft store won't start either. I found that firewall isn't on. I can't do anything to turn it back on at the moment. Drivers relating to the network adapter and NVIDIA gtx 1060 should be up to date. I decide to use media creation tool thing to reinstall windows. But I can't. Because Firewall isn't on.


Please feel free to ask any questions. I hope this post was not confusing or too much.

Thank you so much

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Internet and connectivity

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-07-14T04:00:38+00:00

    Thank you so much for the quick reply. I'll perform your suggestions and get back to you asap. Thanks for the information about Restoro.

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-07-14T03:17:45+00:00

    Hello Eidolyn, I'm Greg, an Independent Advisor.

    I wish you would have asked here sooner as we could have told you that Restoro is a malware PUP, not recommended by anyone except to uninstall and then run scans to see if it was packaged with anything.

    While Defender is adequate protection which assures best Windows Performance, we don't use it if we think we're infected, but instead escalate to the best on-demand scanner to which none others come close. Download, install and run a full scan with the most powerful on-demand free scanner Malwarebytes:

    https://www.malwarebytes.com/mwb-download/ Make sure to only choose the Free version.

    In the Malwarebytes Settings (gear icon) > Security tab set it to include scanning for Rootkits.

    If necessary run it in Safe Mode with Networking, or Safe Mode accessed by one of these methods: https://www.digitalcitizen.life/4-ways-boot-saf...

    Clean up anything found, restart PC and then run again until it comes up clean.

    Then download, install and run a full scan with AdwCleaner:

    http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/adwcle...

    Remove whatever it finds.

    Check for anything it finds but is still left over in Settings > Apps > Apps & Features, and C:\Program Files and C:\Program Files(86) to uninstall or delete them. I can guide you how to do this if there are problems.

    Also in each of your browser's Extensions, Home Page settings, Search service or Add-On's as shown here: https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001411.htm

    to disable anything you didn't add yourself and are sure you need. Ask back if in doubt.

    Then check for damaged System files by running System File Checker from Step 10 in this checklist:

    Windows 10 Performance and Install Integrity Checklist - Microsoft Community

    If completing all of Step 10 in above Checklist doesn't fix it then run a Repair Install which reinstalls WIndows while keeping your files, programs and most settings in place, by installing the Media Creation Tool from this link: Download Windows 10, open the tool and choose Upgrade This PC Now. This will solve most problems and also bring it up to the latest version which you need anyway and by the most stable method.

    If you want to keep Malwarebytes as an on-demand scanner then you can turn off its Real Time trial version using the slider buttons on it's front panel.

    Based on the results you post back I may have other suggestions if necessary.

    ______________________________________________

    Standard Disclaimer: There are links to non-Microsoft websites. The pages appear to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the sites that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the sites before you decide to download and install it.

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