McAfee constantly tells me that the Windows firewall is OFF, but when I check the security settings Windows 7 tells me that the Windows firewall is ON

Hi,

Welcome to Microsoft community and thank you for posting the question. I will surely help you to find a resolution regarding the issue.

1.       Does McAfee program come with an inbuilt firewall?

2.       Have you made any changes to the computer prior to the issue?

3.       Do you get any error messages?

4.       Other than McAfee, do you have any antivirus program installed on the computer?

Method 1:

Let’s disable McAfee program and check if Windows firewall is working.

Disable antivirus software
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Disable-antivirus-software

Firewall: frequently asked questions
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Firewall-frequently-asked-questions

Note: Make sure you turn-on the security software and Windows Firewall later once you are done with the test.

Method 2:

Step 1: Run the fix-it and check if it helps.

Diagnose and fix Windows Firewall service problems automatically

http://support.microsoft.com/mats/windows_firewall_diagnostic/

1. Click on Start

2. In the start Search box type Services

3. Right Click on - RUN AS ADMIN

Check if the below mentioned services has the mentioned status and start up type.

Windows firewall Started Automatic\Manual.

base filtering engine Started Automatic\Manual.

Windows firewall authorization driver Started Automatic\Manual.

Also check the dependency services that are required for Windows Firewall Service to run.

To check that double click on the service and click on the dependency tab.

Also refer:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-IN/windows7/Firewall-frequently-asked-questions

I would also suggest you to post the question in McAfee forums for more information:

Personal Firewall

https://community.mcafee.com/community/home/web_email/personal_firewall

Hope this information helps. Please reply back with the status so that we could help you further.