Ok I installed COMODO internet security. I was able to restart Minion all I wanted with the default settings. I even uninstalled Minion, downloaded it off the website again, re-installed it and restarted Minion many times.
Does anything show up under your network log in Comodo when you launch Minion?
How about blocked intrusions?
Does it list Minion under sandboxed apps? What is the Restriction setting say?
What do your firewall settings look like?
Under "File rating" >> "Unrecognized Files" setting do you see some Minion.exe's there? Can you right click them and make them trusted?