help firewall setting

[nell]

Was given a dell laptop 8200 everything ok but.... when i try to open the fiewall in control panels i get " due to unidentified problem, Windows cannot display windows firewall settings" this unit is registered with the persons name who gave it to me , it won't allow me to change the name in windows system folder either. Could this be the problem? if so, how can it be changed? Running windows xp home.
thanks

 

[Sjbrand99]

Have you recently installed any new software? If so then try reinstalling it.
Have you recently installed any new hardware? If so then check the drivers.
Always take these steps first for problems like this.

Hope this helps!

 

[nell]

Yes to both, checked, no conflicts

 

[N3051M]

can you get into safe mode to change the settings?

It could be possible of a malware infection, in which case read up on here: https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic50981.html

If you're talking about the Owner information like the one you see when you right click My computer and Properties then i guess you're stuck. The only way i know is to wipe and reinstall the OS, then register it under your name. If you're talking about a user account then you may need admin privileges to change it.

Read up the knowledgebase at Microsoft's website on firewall problems. Otherwise, ditch that altogether and just install Kerio or Zonealarm Free (included in the link above)