You might find this issue where when you try to turn on Windows Firewall it would say the service is not running. Then when you try to start the Windows Firewall service you’ll get this error message: Windows could not start the Windows Firewall on Local Computer.

In this article I’ll suggest a few tip to resolve this problem.

Step 1:

This step is standard to fix most of the Windows related issues. Yes we have to run SFC Scan to see if Windows could fix it by itself.

1. Go to Start under search type in CMD
2. Right Click and Run as administrator
3. Then type in SFC /SCANNOW and press Enter.

For further details check this article System File Checker.

Step 2:

If there is permission related issue we have to give enough permission to those key.

1. Go to Start under search type in Regedit
2. If it prompt for administrator password type it in
3. There go to Computer and Right click and Click on Export
4. Under File name type in Regbackup and click on save

Then you have to give permission to the following keys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SharedAccess\Epoch
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SharedAccess\Parameters\FirewallPolicy
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SharedAccess\Defaults\FirewallPolicy
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dhcp
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dhcp\Configurations

• Right click the key, and click Permissions.
• Click on Add
• In the “Enter the object names to select field, type “NT SERVICE\mpssvc“. Then click “Check name.”

• Click OK.
• Then click on Add again
• Type in Everyone then click OK.
• Then select the account which appears in the list, and add the proper permission for it.
• Under the Allow section put a check mark on Full control

• When this is done, click OK and restart your Computer.

If you’re getting access denied, Turn Off UAC via your Control Panel and try it again.

Step 3:

Sometime Malware infections can cause the service to fail. So I would recommend that you run a full scan of your anti-malware. You may also download a second stand-alone scanner like freeware Malwarebytes, Emsisoft or the new Microsoft Safety Scanner and run a complete system scan in Safe Mode, to get a second opinion.

Step 4:

If your system fails to find any infection the last thing left to do is to run a Repair Install on Windows most one or more system files might have corrupted. Follow this post on how to run a Repair Install on Windows 7.

These links may also interest you:

• Windows Firewall Fails To Start At Startup
• Windows Firewall Troubleshooter
• Troubleshoot: Windows 7 Firewall, Diagnostics, Tools.