One or More Windows Firewall Settings Appear Dimmed

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Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

This problem occurs when you open Windows Firewall in Control Panel and you cannot configure settings because they appear dimmed.

Cause

Windows Firewall settings appear dimmed when you do not have the appropriate administrative rights to configure Windows Firewall or Windows Firewall settings are being managed by Group Policy. You must be a member of the Administrators group to configure Windows Firewall settings. Domain-based policy settings override local Windows Firewall settings.

Solution

Make sure you are a member of the Administrators group on the computer you are trying to administer.

To verify that you are a member of the Administrators group

  1. Open the Computer Management snap-in.

  2. In the console tree, double-click Local Users and Groups, and then click Groups.

  3. In the details pane, double-click Administrators and verify that your account name or a group to which your account is a member appears in the Members list.

You can also tell if you have the appropriate administrative rights to configure Windows Firewall by opening Windows Firewall in Control Panel. If you do not have administrative rights, all of the controls in the Windows Firewall user interface will appear dimmed and a warning will appear in the user interface (UI) telling you that you need to be a computer administrator to change any settings.

If you are a member of the Administrators group and some controls appear dimmed in the Windows Firewall UI, you can use the Resultant Set of Policy snap-in to determine which policy settings are being applied to the computer. Any controls that are managed by Group Policy will appear dimmed in the Windows Firewall UI.

To determine which policies are being applied to a computer

  1. At the command prompt, type rsop.msc, and press ENTER.

  2. In the console tree, open Computer Configuration, open Administrative Templates, open Network, and then click Network Connections.

  3. In the console tree, click Windows Firewall, and double-click any policies that appear in the details pane to learn more about the policy.

  4. In console tree, click Domain Profile, and double-click any policies that appear in the details pane to learn more about the policy.

  5. In the console tree, click Standard Profile, and double-click any policies that appear in the details pane to learn more about the policy.