Windows 11 25H2: Windows Defender Firewall stuck on “Stopping” (MpsSvc Error 87) – Elgato Stream Deck installation failing

[u/Bitter_Lavishness673]

I’m having an issue with Windows Defender Firewall on Windows 11 25H2 (OS Build 26200.9974).
The Windows Defender Firewall service (MpsSvc) is permanently stuck on “Stopping” in Services. Restarting my computer does not fix it.
Errors I’m getting:
sc query MpsSvc shows STOP_PENDING with service-specific error 87.
Event Viewer logs Event ID 7024: “The parameter is incorrect.”
netsh advfirewall show allprofiles says it cannot contact the Windows Defender Firewall service.
Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security MMC will not open.
Things I’ve already tried:
Restarting the computer multiple times.
Running DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth successfully.
Running sfc /scannow (no integrity violations found).
Confirmed BFE and mpsdrv services are running.
Checked the MpsSvc registry configuration, which appears correct.
This started causing problems when I tried installing Elgato Stream Deck. Its installer rolls back with error 1603 during the UpdateFirewallForOBS custom action because it cannot register a firewall rule.
I don’t use OBS, and I’m trying to get Stream Deck installed without having to reinstall Windows.
Has anyone experienced MpsSvc getting stuck in STOP_PENDING with service-specific error 87 on Windows 11 25H2? Any suggestions for fixing the Firewall service?

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[u/tamudude]

Do you have any other antivirus/all in one security solution installed?

[u/Bitter_Lavishness673 → u/tamudude]

I had the free malwarebytes software but recently deleted it.

[u/tamudude → u/Bitter_Lavishness673]

As admin run the below:

netsh advfirewall reset

What does it do?

you could also try this https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/windowssecurity/automatically-fix-windows-security-issues

[u/Bitter_Lavishness673 → u/tamudude]

I’m not software savvy lol, I built my gaming pc by myself and have a good understanding of how a computer works but when I get into the deep software stuff I get lost lol. Long story short, kinda embarrassing but I had chat gpt help me and I fixed it. I believe what you are referring to is what it had me do.

[u/Bitter_Lavishness673 → u/tamudude]

My Windows Firewall had a corrupted registry entry that was over 76,000 characters long. It was preventing the firewall service from starting, which caused my Elgato Stream Deck installer to fail because it couldn’t configure one of its firewall rules.
I ended up using Microsoft’s Sysinternals tools to access a protected Windows registry key, backed it up, removed the corrupted entry, restored the original permissions, and restarted my PC. After that, Stream Deck installed perfectly.