How To Disable Your Windows Firewall

This guide will show you how to disable your firewalls which is required for connecting your PC to your iPad.

Mathieu Gordon avatar
Written by Mathieu Gordon
Updated over a week ago

Overview

The most common reason why users' encounter the error above is because their firewalls are enabled. 

A) Access Your Firewall Settings
B) Disable Both Private & Public Network Settings
C) Reconnect PicPic Social App
D) Additional Troubleshooting

A) Access Your Firewall Settings

To access your Windows Firewall settings please open up Control Panel (the easiest method is through the Power User Menu or the Start menu in Windows 7). Within Control Panel select the System and Security link. Once in System and Security choose the Windows Firewall option. Depending on how your computer is set up, it might instead be called Windows Defender Firewall. If so, treat every instance of "Windows Firewall" within this guide as if it read "Windows Defender Firewall."

If any part of your screen is GREEN you must disable the Windows Firewall.

  1. Click on Turn Windows Firewall On or Off

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you see a banner across your Firewall settings stating that These settings are being managed by a Third Party Anti-Virus software, please scroll down to D) Additional Troubleshooting section of this guide for further instructions.

B) Disable Both Private & Public Network Settings

  1. To disable your Private network settings, click on Turn off Windows Firewall

  2. To disable your Public network settings, click on Turn off Windows Firewall

  3. Click on OK once you have disabled both networks to save your settings

After you save the settings your screen will look like the image above.

C) Reconnect PicPic Social App

After you have disabled your Windows Firewall please make sure you do the following:

  1. Press Stop on your device server

  2. Force Close/Kill your iPad App 

To Force Close an iPad application please double-click the Home button at the bottom of your iPad tablet and swipe the PicPic Social sharing station application upwards.

If you are using our Android application please force close the app by clicking on the Task Manager button to the left of the Home button at the bottom of your tablet and press the X that is in the upper-righthand corner of the PicPic Social app or select close all that is at the bottom of the tablets screen. I've included two video tutorials that explain how to force close apps on both devices as well:

Once this is done press Start on the PC Device Server software again and reopen the PicPic Social app.

***If you are still getting a message that says "Server Not Found" please see the additional troubleshooting steps below*** 

D) Additional Troubleshooting

Are you using Venue/Office WIFI?

If the above steps were followed and you are still having connection issues than your network connection may have a hardware firewall that you can not access to disable. Connect to another network. Ideally your own personal hotspot and then try again.

Have you ever heard of Connectify?

If you do not have an additional network to connect to we recommend you trying to use a program called Connectify. This can aid in overcoming hard firewalls as well as assist in keeping a secure connection between your PC and tablet device. You do have to pay for Connectify though. It is not a free service. Here is a guide on How To Setup Connectify?

Is an antivirus software managing your Windows Firewall?

When seeing a message like in the photo above it is a clear indication that you have a 3rd Party Antivirus software managing/controlling your firewalls. Some examples of the most common version of this type of antivirus software are McAfee, Norton, AVG etc.. We recommend uninstalling them entirely but I've included video tutorials that explain how to disable the firewalls within their settings as well below: 

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you do not see your software here, you can refer to the guide that came with the software or contact the company for further assistance on uninstalling the Antivirus software.

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