With every new version of Windows Server, it appears the firewall gets more and more restrictive. By default Server 2008 R2 restricts ICMP packets which prevents you from being able to ping the server. If you need to be able to ping your Server 2008 R2 system, run a command prompt as administrator and type the following command:
netsh firewall set icmpsetting 8
This should now allow ICMP packets through the firewall
Written By: Amardeep Juneja