Cannot disable smart firewall and turn on windows firewall - nis 2011 and win 7

i recently installed win 7 on my laptop and immediately installed nis 2011.  i've had trouble getting most of the websites that i regularly visit to load properly and have tried many times to disable nis smart firewall and turn on windows firewall - with no success.

 

i can disable smart firewall, but when i try to turn on windows firewall, the win 7 action center almost immediately tells me both firewalls are off.  i click the option to turn on windows firewall, and next thing i know it is off again.

 

i was a pretty savvy xp user but i'm new to win 7.  i'm looking for an explanation as to what the problem is without digging too deep into the windows 7 plumbing.

 

can anyone provide an explanation as to whats happening, and/or any suggestions that would enable me to disable smart firewall and turn on windows firewall?  i posted a similar question several months ago - no response.

 

much appreciated.

joc512