winxp sp2 firewall blocking Steam? How to disable the firewall?

[Goethe]

well I added Steam.exe and HL2.exe to the exceptions list, I disabled the Firewall, and I still can't connect to the Steam servers (or play the offline game for that matter).

Since this problem occured after I downloaded the latest Steam update, or more specifically, after Steam chose to download the lastest update, I haven't been able to connect to the Steam servers -- though I am stil able to download the updates each time I reinstall Steam.

So I can only suppose the problem is with the firewall, as many people have suggested, but so far I can't solve the problem that way. Any help?

 

[Ennui]

i fixed it by removing sp2!

 

[Goethe]

Audio, could you please be more specific?

Were you having the exact same problem?
Is there a way to remove the firewall without having to remove SP2? I am not sure I saved the files so in my case I guess that means reinstalling the OS

 

[Goethe]

I have given up all hope, but anyway, here I go: ^

 

[Edgar]

I have the same problem, and I don't have SP2.