The Windows firewall, aka the firewall, is the default means of protecting the system and user data from external interference by preventing all sorts of hacker attacks carried out over the Internet or local area networks. This component analyzes all incoming and outgoing traffic and, based on the results, blocks potentially dangerous software applets. As a rule, you do not need to disable it in any version of Windows. But sometimes it is necessary to do this in connection with the installation of third-party security software (for example, anti-virus packages with a built-in firewall) or with incorrect recognition of the user application as dangerous or unwanted software, although it is not actually malicious.
How to turn off the firewall, and then we will talk. To perform such actions, you can offer either its complete deactivation, or selective shutdown for user-selected applications.
How to turn off the Windows Firewall in a classic way?
Since in any modification of Windows there is such a component as the "Control Panel", we will begin by considering the deactivation of protection through its settings. If we talk about how to turn off the Windows 8 firewall or any other OS of this family, you should immediately pay attention to the fact that when installing an antivirus that already has a built-in firewall (for example, ESET Internet Security), the system’s own protective tool will be deactivated automatically.
In other cases, without fail using the administrator account, you need to go to the “Control Panel” (control in the “Run” console), switch to the small icon display mode, go to the firewall section and set its disconnect lines for private and active for public networks (although these settings will be marked as not recommended). After this, the options should be saved, and you can not reboot.
How to turn off the Windows 10 and lower firewall through the services section?
Another fairly simple technique is to deactivate the corresponding service, which is responsible for the activity of the firewall. How to turn off the firewall in this case?
To do this, first of all, you need to call the services section (services.msc), find the firewall service in the list on the right, double-click to open the parameter editing window, and then (ATTENTION!) First stop it by pressing the corresponding button, then set the start type to disabled by selecting it from the drop-down list, and only after that save the changes made.
Deactivate protection through the command line
Now let's see how to turn off the firewall using the Shell toolkit. Please note that even when entering the system under administrator registration, you need to call it again on behalf of the administrator (in Windows 10, this is easiest to do through PCM on the start button).
In the console, for complete deactivation, enter the command netsh advfirewall set allprofiles state off, press the enter key. To enable protection again, the off parameter changes to on.
Disabling the firewall for individual programs
Finally, we will figure out how to turn off the firewall for selected user applications so as not to deactivate the protection entirely. Two main methods are used for this.
In the first situation, you need to go to the above section of the "Control Panel", go to the settings for managing interaction with other applications, click the button for changing permissions and select the desired program from the list. If it is not there, you should use the permission button of another application and specify the path to the executable file of the program on the hard drive. As an additional action, you can select the type of networks for which such permission will be set.
The second technique looks somewhat more complex, but no less effective.
In this case, it is necessary to use the inbound connection section located in the list on the left, and on the right select the item for creating a new rule. After starting the “Wizard” at one of the stages, you will need to indicate that this rule is created for the program (or for the port, if it is used specifically for the incoming connection). Upon completion of the installation of the necessary options, similar actions are performed for outgoing connections.