xp thinks there is a firewall but there isn't

Ok, got a small problem. I had Primedius firewall. Was having problems connecting to the internet right after I installed it. So, I uninstalled and was just going to go back to either sygate or comodo.

But, now I have a problem. XP thinks the Comodo Firewall is running. When I go to the security center - firewall, it tells me comodo firewall is running. I don't even have Comodo anymore and the windows firewall is turned off.

I have no idea what is going on. I have gone to each user account on my computer (daughter and wife) to ensure nothing was going on there and all seems well.

Anybody got any ideas.

HijackThis log is included if it will help:

Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.1
Scan saved at 3:55:32 PM, on 6/13/2007
Platform: Windows XP SP2 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v7.00 (7.00.6000.16473)

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgamsvr.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgemc.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgcc.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
C:\hjt\HijackThis.exe

R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Local Page =
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Local Page =
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {53707962-6F74-2D53-2644-206D7942484F} - C:\PROGRA~1\SPYBOT~1\SDHelper.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AVG7_CC] C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgcc.exe /STARTUP
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ctfmon.exe] C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
O11 - Options group: [INTERNATIONAL] International*
O16 - DPF: {0742B9EF-8C83-41CA-BFBA-830A59E23533} (Microsoft Data Collection Control) - https://support.microsoft.com/OAS/ActiveX/MSDcode.cab
O16 - DPF: {55027008-315F-4F45-BBC3-8BE119764741} (Slide Image Uploader Control) - http://www.slide.com/uploader/SlideImageUploader.cab
O16 - DPF: {6414512B-B978-451D-A0D8-FCFDF33E833C} (WUWebControl Class) - http://update.microsoft.com/windowsupdate/v6/V5Controls/en/x86/client/wuweb_site.cab?1177102472540
O16 - DPF: {6E32070A-766D-4EE6-879C-DC1FA91D2FC3} (MUWebControl Class) - http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/V5Controls/en/x86/client/muweb_site.cab?1177164642694
O16 - DPF: {8AD9C840-044E-11D1-B3E9-00805F499D93} -
O16 - DPF: {A90A5822-F108-45AD-8482-9BC8B12DD539} -
O16 - DPF: {CAFEEFAC-0016-0000-0001-ABCDEFFEDCBA} -
O16 - DPF: {CAFEEFAC-FFFF-FFFF-FFFF-ABCDEFFEDCBA} -
O16 - DPF: {D27CDB6E-AE6D-11CF-96B8-444553540000} (Shockwave Flash Object) - https://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab
O20 - Winlogon Notify: WgaLogon - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\WgaLogon.dll
O21 - SSODL: WPDShServiceObj - {AAA288BA-9A4C-45B0-95D7-94D524869DB5} - C:\WINDOWS\system32\WPDShServiceObj.dll
O23 - Service: AVG7 Alert Manager Server (Avg7Alrt) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgamsvr.exe
O23 - Service: AVG7 Update Service (Avg7UpdSvc) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgupsvc.exe
O23 - Service: AVG E-mail Scanner (AVGEMS) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgemc.exe



Hope someone can help.

Mitch

 

Hello Mitch,

Turn Windows Firewall on.

Then you can either clean out any remnants of Primedius, which I would recommend, and install Comodo.

I would say that in trying Primedius, you either didn't uninstall Comodo, or the uninstall didn't take out all of Comodo.

Regards - Charles

 

I've solved that problem with another firewall (Sygate) which I had uninstalled but was apparently still blocking things.

I reinstalled Sygate, saw that it had the settings retained from the previous installation so reconfigured it to let everything through, then set it not to load on startup and rebooted to make sure none of it was loaded.

When I uninstalled it after that, it was truly gone.

 

Oh thank you. first I'll try Charles' suggestion and if that don't work, I'll do what Miz suggested.

Will report back.

Mitch

 

Still in same boat.

turned on Windows Firewall and cleaned up everything I could find for Comodo and Primedius. Rebooted. XP still said Comodo Firewall was on.

So, downloaded Comodo, installed, set to allow all, couldn't find a selection for "don't load at startup ". Uninstalled Comodo, XP said Comodo is turned off. Turned on Windows Firewall, cleaned up Comodo (had to use Killbox to get rid of the directorys under Documents and Settings, downloaded CCleaner, got rid of registry entries for Primedius and Comodo. Rebooted. Turned off Windows Firewall (just to check) and it said "Comodo Firewall reports it is turned off ".

Turned on Windows Firewall and it only says "Windows Firewall is on" rather than "at least one...is running ".

But if I turn off Windows Firewall it still thinks Comodo is turned off rather than Windows Firewall.

I am so confused.

Going back to sygate but still concerned about this odd item.



Mitch

 

Well, didn't go back to sygate. As much as I like it I am concerned about updates especially after reading all the threads about firewalls here on the BBS.

Will read reviews and make a decision. Windows firewall will protect me from incoming for now and my Vonage router has a built-in firewall as a hedge. I guess I should be less concerned about process memory and more concerned about security.

I just need to find something that isn't cumbersome and won't pop up everytime an installed (always used) app tries to access the internet. My daughter uses this machine too and Comodo (when I had it a couple of months ago) would make her so mad she would turn it off. She uses Media Player, IE7, Outlook, and Bearshare almost exclusively and even though I told Comodo to allow it still asked. And if y'all know teenagers...they're impatient and unobservant most of the time.

Oh well, the search is on.

Mitch

 

The following posts are from Comodo forums. The Global Moderator - provides a solution which is OPPOSITE of your problem ....

He provides a solution -
Rebuild Repository Folder to Recognize Comodo


--------------------------------- Recommended Action ---------------------------------------
I am providing this information for REVIEW by yourself and fellow posters. Let our forum members comment on provided posts / solution. In addition, you could post on the above forum for suggestion / solution (must be a member to post - free).

 

Hi Mitch,

There's a discussion here on outbound only firewalls, may give you some ideas: http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=177234&highlight="outbound+firewall"

On one of my OS's, I use a combo of XP's FW + this execute monitor application http://syssafety.com/

I use the paid version which has Network Access protection (outbound firewall). I use SSM on all my installations, it's a powerfull security tool.

There's also a free version, minus outbound blocking, but may be of interest.

The RAM load is under 10MB's for both versions.

Regards - Charles

 

Thanks Charles, I'll check those out and let you know how I fair

Mitch

 

Dennis, Thanks. This fixed my problem.

Mitch

 

Glad to help, thanks for the update.

Per your "Which firewall to choose" .......
In a couple of years I hope to move all the house computers to Vista / upgrade my network. I am considering removing software firewalls out of the mix. With dropping cost of hardware, I hope to purchase a small business level router. My current Netgear (14 months old / $50) came with NAT/SPI and numerous options... which once you get past "I'm scared to touch/configure" becomes a very effective / efficient way to manage traffic on your network.