T1B

I'm running SP Home Edition on this machine, and I finally got around to dl'ing and intstalling SP2 and all the subsequent updates. When I rebooted I found that I could no longer share files or printers from this machine, which is the main computer hardwired to my Cisco wireless network. All the printers are connected here so I need to be able to share them.

After doing a little research I found that the problem might be that the Windows firewall wasn't set to allow file and printer sharing. So I went to check the firewall settings through Control Panel and got the following message:

"Due to an unidentified problem, Windows cannot display Windows firewall settings."

Through a Windows user group a found a way to get the firewall applet running but all of the choices (on, off and on with restrictions) were grayed out, as if the firewall was not installed, which was apparently the case. I'm thinking this might have something to do with NAV 2005, which I am running, but i've given up and just restored my system to the state where it was all working.

Any ideas on how I can get SP2 working?

Dump the Windows firewall and get ZoneAlarm (free), or even better, ZoneAlarm Pro.

try a system restore.

If you have the system backed up, its a good idea to restore, assuming you have all the data you need. You can also try to roll back the SP2 update so that windows will be back to SP1 and then try again. The windows firewall and some other 'security' features in Sp2 are questionable. A step in the right direction for sure, but the implementation isn't the best. Hell, even Linux gives you choices when you enable the firewall so you get rolling with a working system for what you need.

Anyway, don't forget to upgrade to Windows XP Pro if you can, its better with more controls.

Yeah, I already rolled back to SP1 and tried to reinstall twice without any good results. So, I'm back to SP1 now because everything works. I don't really think I need the Windows Firewall anyway because I have a firewall activated through my Cisco router.

Roll SP2 back to Sp1 and do a thorough scan and clean of your PC for spyware. Loading SP2 on a spyware infected machine will cause exactly the type of problems you're encountering. Once you get SP2 installed, shitcan the Windows firewall. It's crap. Don't use it. The hardware firewall is a good first line of defense, but get a software firewall as well. If you've got NAV 2005, the Symantec firewall is a good choice. It'll integrate with NAV and run on the live update schedule. If you purchased Norton Internet security, the firewall is included, just make sure you put the range of IP's in your network into the exception list, or file sharing will also be restricted.