Windows Firewall / Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) service

When I go to Control Panel and double click on Windows Firewall, I get a prompt saying "Windows Firewall settings cannot be displayed because the associated service is not running" and it asks me whether I "want to start the Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) service." Every time when I click on Yes, it will be trying to open the service but a few seconds later, "Windows cannot start the Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) service" prompt is shown. After this, I can't do anything about it anymore.

Solution:

1. Rebuild the Winsock LSP chain. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Log on to the Microsoft Windows XP workstation as an administrator.
   2. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
   3. At the command prompt, type the following, and then press ENTER:
      netsh Winsock reset, When the program is finished, you will receive the following message: Successfully reset the Winsock Catalog. You must restart the machine in order to complete the reset.
      If you receive this message, go to step 1d.
      
      If you are not logged in as an administrator, you will receive the following error message:
      Unable to reset the Winsock Catalog. Access is denied. If you receive this message, log off the computer, and then log back on by using an account with Administrator access. Typically, the first user account that was created has Administrator access. Then, repeat steps 1b and 1c.
   4. Restart your computer.
2. Test each of your third-party programs that are known to use LSPs.
3. Reinstall any malfunctioning third-party programs that are known to use LSPs.

Source or 892350