Cannot start Windows firewall could be considered a critical error, as this now lowers the level of security on your computer considerably.

While you cannot start the Windows firewall it would be very advisable to not connect to internet or if you really need to keep browsing to a minimum until this is resolved.

The actual error Error 2 The system cannot find the file specified occurs when using Windows XP service pack 2, and either the files ipnat.sys or ipnathlp.dll are missing or have become corrupt.

So we need to replace either or both of the files which can be copied from another computer, from your Windows XP cd, or you may have a directory called i386 which contains all the Windows XP installation files.

ipnat.sys can be found in your Windows directory\system32\driversipnathlp.dll can be found in your Windows directory\system

Note
Files on the Windows XP cd will be compressed so you will need to expand them before being able to use them

To expand the files and copy to the destination in one go use the following.

Open up a command prompt, from the Run Menu type CMD

Now type the following, replacing ** with the drive letter of your CD, or the location of the i386 directory if you have a local copy on your hard drive.

Expand **:\i386\ipnat.sy_%systemroot%system32\drivers\ipnat.sysExpand **:\i386\ipnathlp.dl_%systemroot%system32\ipnathlp.dll

Once this is done Reboot Windows and enable the Windows Firewall

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