My Windows 7 computer uses the Home/Private network profile and has only the Public firewall turned on. I am wondering if the fact that the firewall profile and the network profile aren't the same means that the firewall rules are not applied. Or do all firewall rules (for public or private profiles) still apply independently of the network profile you're using?
1 Answer
Short answer: Yes, if only the Public firewall is turned on, and you are on a Home/Work network, then your firewall is effectively off.
More details: The Windows firewall has a large set of pre-built rules that apply inbound+outbound, and to one or all profiles:
You can run this command to see which profile is active, and if the firewall rules are on for it. Note that each network interface can have a separate profile (a vpn for example):
PS C:\> netsh advfirewall show currentprofile state
Public Profile Settings:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
State ON
Ok.
If you're still not sure, you can enable logging for a specific profile with
netsh advfirewall set currentprofile logging droppedconnections enable
By default, these save to %systemroot%\system32\LogFiles\Firewall\pfirewall.log