Windows 7 Firewall Behavior
We all know windows firewall and its behavior from windows XP Service Pack 2,
Apparently its behavior has been significantly changed in windows 7.
Can't Remote Control
I've just tried to remote control my new windows 7 station from my old xp station,
Tried mstsc and got
I'm in the same network with the windows 7 station, so what is wrong?
Windows Firewall is blocking Remote Desktop.
I've stopped and disabled the "Windows Firewall" Service and tried again, can't remote control and cant ping it either.
In XP this workaround worked great, what changed in 7?
Basic Firewall Settings
I've tried to change the settings of the firewall, started its service.
By typing "firewall" in the start search pane I entered "Windows Firewall with Advanced Security"
"Windows Firewall with Advanced Security" > Right click on windows firewall > switched Firewall State to off
Ping again
Still I didn’t got a reply, so the firewall setting are applied also if I've changed the firewall state to off, how come?
Firewall Grouping
After searching windows 7 for another firewall setting, I found another setting by entering the "Network and Sharing Center".
Clicking on this setting opens the Windows Firewall Window
Here we can see that the firewall is divided to 2 section: Home or Work (Private) and Public, They both set to on.
Here I'm using home network (can be identified by the 
Home icon near the network), switched home firewall to off.
Pinging again
Got a response, ICMP is opened.
Let's try remote desktop again
Great, it's working!!!
Conclusion
So there are 2 main differences from windows 7 Firewall to XP Firewall
- Disabling the service, don’t remove its policies and hardening.
- There is a firewall setting for Home\Work Networks and for Public Network.
Microsoft did a great job by separating the hardening\policy and the service, now windows is more secured!