How to disable the Windows Firewall on Server 2008

If you’re wondering “Should I turn off the Windows Firewall service to disable the Windows Firewall?” The answer is NO! It may prevent all network traffic to the server until you turn on the service again. To disable the built-in firewall, run this command instead:

netsh advfirewall set allProfiles state off

This will disable the firewall for all profiles (on the domain network, not on the domain network, etc.). The Windows Firewall service will continue running.

Full details here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc766337%28WS.10%29.aspx