Allow Pings In Windows

In Windows 7 when you are in a workgroup ping replies are disabled by default in the Windows firewall. One way to get around this is to disable the firewall but this is really only a good idea if you are in a lab environment. Otherwise you want to keep your firewall always turned on and instead create a rule to allow echo requests inbound

Windows 7 Firewall ICMP Rule

  1. Open Control Panel and then open Windows Firewall
  2. Click on Advanced Settings
  3. Select Inbound Rules
    4. Inbound Rule
  4. Select New Rule
    5. Inbound Rule
  5. We will be using a "Custom" rule
    6. Inbound Rule
  6. This rule will apply to all programs
    7. Inbound Rule
  7. Protocol Type is changed to ICMPv4
    8. Inbound Rule
  8. We will apply this to any local and remote networks
    9. Inbound Rule
  9. Allow the connection
    10. Inbound Rule
  10. Select which profiles you want this to pertain to
    11. Inbound Rule
  11. Lastly we will name the rule
    12. Inbound Rule





Windows 10 Firewall ICMP Rule

In Windows 10 this is a bit easier as the rule already exists and we just need to enable it

  1. Open Control Panel and then open Windows Firewall
  2. Click on Advanced Settings
  3. Select Inbound Rules
  4. Find the rule called "File and Printer Sharing (Echo Request - ICMPv4-In)
  5. There will be one for each profile (Public, Private and Domain) right click the one you want and "Enable Rule"
    6. Inbound Rule