Sp2 Install Firewall Grayed Out

I'm trying to configure the Windows Firewall after recently installing SP2, but it's set to 'Off' and the options to turn it on are greyed out. A message at the top says "For your security, some settings are controlled by Group Policy". After googling for some answers, I came across a couple of solutions, some of which involve reg editing, and others using the gpedit.msc tool. Problem is, I'm using XP Home, on which the reg keys don't exist and the gpedit tool doesn't either. SOMETHING must be blocking these things. So how can I disable this Group Policy thing, even though XP Home isn't meant to use it, doesnt have it and I never changed any settings like that in the first place?

I found I can turn the firewall on/off by changing the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWin dowsFirewallStandardProfile EnableFirewall=0/1. and in the Contrl Panel util it changes it's status, but it's still greyed-out with that Group Policy stuff. This is my first post after searching hi and low for help. Thanks for any you can provide. I understand windows, ha ha, but am not a nuts and bolts insider with registry or editers. Just want firewall to work. I upgraded my laptop with noproblem with sp2......