privatefirewall free

[simisg]

privatefirewall free rocks!!! best free firewall very fast light and secure well done privacyware. works good with microsoft security essentials.....

[bonedriven]

My only problem is its HIPS has never popped up. I have disabled all trainings and ticked the manual control,ticked disable auto-response. Still,no pop ups at all except that it asks about whether to allow internet access. Other than that,everything's fine.

[Victek123]

-{ Quote: "My only problem is its HIPS has never popped up. I have disabled all trainings and ticked the manual control,ticked disable auto-response. Still,no pop ups at all except that it asks about whether to allow internet access. Other than that,everything's fine." }-
.
Check your applications list to see if programs are being filtered.

[bonedriven]

-{ Quote: ".
Check your applications list to see if programs are being filtered." }-

Yes. But application list is only for internet access control. Process monitor is about HIPS I think. And there are only 10 common processes in the list,which for me is the strangest part. I have set it to "high" already though.It is then supposed to monitor all processes,while in fact it is not at the moment,I guess.

[webster]

-{ Quote: "Yes. But application list is only for internet access control. Process monitor is about HIPS I think. And there are only 10 common processes in the list,which for me is the strangest part. I have set it to "high" already though.It is then supposed to monitor all processes,while in fact it is not at the moment,I guess." }-

Take a look at the trusted publishers list. It`s a whitelist.

From the help file:

-{ Quote: "Privatefirewall Trusted Publisher includes a list of pre-approved vendors of popular security, productivity and other general desktop applications, but primarily performs its white-listing function using dynamic verification as new applications are run for the first time. Once a software publisher (vendor) has been added to the list, Privatefirewall will allow (not alert or block) any program associated with the software publisher’s verified Certificate." }-

I guess that`s why it`s so nice and quiet ;D

[lws]

Is there anyway of disabling the splash startup screen for private firewall like you can do with antiVir personal antivirus with /nosplash in run HKLM

[henris]

Not work if terminal service disabled :(

[Woody777]

Did you click Process List & make sure its set at medium or above?

[JerryM]

This is new to me. I see some that are paid.
Is there a link to the free version and for XP?

Lately when I have tried a fee AV I have used the Windows XP firewall. I am also behind a NAT router.

Would the Privatefirewall offer any significant improvement?

Thanks,
Jerry

[JohnnyDollar]

-{ Quote: "This is new to me. I see some that are paid.
Is there a link to the free version and for XP?

Lately when I have tried a fee AV I have used the Windows XP firewall. I am also behind a NAT router.

Would the Privatefirewall offer any significant improvement?

Thanks,
Jerry" }-
Give you outbound protection.

[JerryM]

-{ Quote: "Give you outbound protection." }-

Thanks, Johnny.
I realize that if malware got into your system it might go on-line. However, I am convinced the top notch AVs should catch anything that is executing, and wonder if the outbound protection is really necessary.

In my case in 10 years I have never experienced an infection. The few attempts at penetrating my system were stopped by the AV. Until recently I have used either an Internet Security type AV or a stand alone firewall. The two firewalls I used were LooknStop and Kerio 2.1.5.

Regards,
Jerry

[Espresso]

-{ Quote: "Not work if terminal service disabled :(" }-

I don't have it enabled and PFW works fine.

[the Tester]

Privatefirewall is another nice free firewall.
Light on resources and configurable.
Runs well with Avast free too.

[Victek123]

-{ Quote: "Privatefirewall is another nice free firewall.
Light on resources and configurable.
Runs well with Avast free too." }-
.
I ran it with Avast and it worked well for me too. Unfortunately I started having problems with the latest build, which is 6.1.20.27 and decided to stop using it for a while. If anyone has problems I would recommend the 6.1.20.24 build (if it can still be had).

[the Tester]

I have build 27 and so far, so good.

[demoneye]

never understand this software , it doesnt act like a typical hips , i mean after install it i can install any software i want with out any alerts from PF...

cheers

[the Tester]

I haven't tweaked it, but this might be where you change the settings?

212723

[bonedriven]

-{ Quote: "never understand this software , it doesnt act like a typical hips , i mean after install it i can install any software i want with out any alerts from PF...

cheers" }-

Same here. I had set almost everything to high though.

[Technic]

Set all sliders to high.

Click settings -> Basic: Select manual control and Disable Auto-Response.

Reboot. You will get noisy firewall. Plenty of HIPS alerts etc. :P

[bonedriven]

-{ Quote: "Set all sliders to high.

Click settings -> Basic: Select manual control and Disable Auto-Response.

Reboot. You will get noisy firewall. Plenty of HIPS alerts etc. :P" }-

Sorry but not at all here.

There could be only crazy firewall popups,but definitely not HIPS pops.

You can make out many HIPS popups? Envious! :doubt:

[scott1256ca]

I tried this out a while ago, but have since removed it.
From memory though, doesn't it enable "training mode" by default? If so, perhaps you can check and make sure it is disabled, otherwise HIPS won't popup (if I recall correctly). Also, I think I had to disable training mode in 2 places, not just one.

[Technic]

-{ Quote: "Sorry but not at all here.

There could be only crazy firewall popups,but definitely not HIPS pops.

You can make out many HIPS popups? Envious! :doubt:" }-

Please define HIPS pops. I'll try to answer after that. :D

[the Tester]

-{ Quote: "I tried this out a while ago, but have since removed it.
From memory though, doesn't it enable "training mode" by default? If so, perhaps you can check and make sure it is disabled, otherwise HIPS won't popup (if I recall correctly). Also, I think I had to disable training mode in 2 places, not just one." }-

Nope. Training mode was not enabled by default here.

[bonedriven]

Training mode was on by default here. But come on... I'm not a noob like that...
Training mode was OFF and process monitor was set to HIGH.

-{ Quote: "Please define HIPS pops. I'll try to answer after that. :D" }-

It popups when sth tries to connect to internet. I'm not sure if it can be called HIPS popups,but besides that,the only other popups I got were when I upgrade programs,sth like " *.exe has changed,would you like to keep the settings?" And it always asks after I have successfully launched the program. :blink:

I'm curious to know what other kind of popups you can get from PF?

[Technic]

-{ Quote: "Training mode was on by default here. But come on... I'm not a noob like that...
Training mode was OFF and process monitor was set to HIGH.



It popups when sth tries to connect to internet. I'm not sure if it can be called HIPS popups,but besides that,the only other popups I got were when I upgrade programs,sth like " *.exe has changed,would you like to keep the settings?" And it always asks after I have successfully launched the program. :blink:

I'm curious to know what other kind of popups you can get from PF?" }-

I get plenty other pops too. About processes, priviledge elevations etc. This and that program tries to do this and that. I hope you got me. No screens to to offer at the moment. For me PF is working pretty nicely.

[thanatos_theos]

Privatefirewall 7.0.20.29 released 10/13/09

Release notes:
-resolved Vista/Win7 signature validation issue
-updated Help File

http://www.privacyware.com/PF_support.html

Anyone tried this yet? I tried the prior version but it had some bugs (like allowing an application net access even though no action was taken). Stem, will you give this a roll :D? Thanks!

[Stem]

-{ Quote: "Stem, will you give this a roll :D? Thanks!" }-

I have looked at earlier versions, I did not at the time have any major issues with it, if I remember correctly there was just a problem with DNS lookups if the DNS client was disabled and no loopback interception.

I will have a look at this version later today.


- Stem

[thanatos_theos]

Will you check if these were fixed?

-When the firewall prompts you of an outgoing connection and you choose 'more info', the application connects (eg: updates)! No action was taken.

-When you click 'more info' in a Process Monitor alert, and click 'allow', check 'remember'. Run the application again and you get the same alert. You need to click 'allow' in the first alert to end this alert loop.

Thanks Stem. :)

Those who want to disable the splash screen for 6.1, merge this to the registry:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\PWI, Inc.\Privatefirewall 6.0\General Settings]
"SplashScreen"=dword:00000000

[Stem]

-{ Quote: "Will you check if these were fixed?

-When the firewall prompts you of an outgoing connection and you choose 'more info', the application connects (eg: updates)! No action was taken.

-When you click 'more info' in a Process Monitor alert, and click 'allow', check 'remember'. Run the application again and you get the same alert. You need to click 'allow' in the first alert to end this alert loop." }-If you mean when checking the Details/options before allowing? then yes, it appears to be functioning correctly (on XP pro sp3).


- Stem

[thanatos_theos]

In the alert click details, don't click allow or deny. It will auto-allow the application even if you haven't clicked allow/deny yet. This was with 6.1 on an XP Home SP3. So this was fixed? Then great.

If you want to check 6.1,
http://privacyware.com/software/PF_6.1.20.27.exe

[Stem]

-{ Quote: "In the alert click details, don't click allow or deny. It will auto-allow the application even if you haven't clicked allow/deny yet. This was with 6.1 on an XP Home SP3. So this was fixed? Then great." }-

In the alert (this is for internet access) there is the "Details/options"

213005

I clicked that, then waited,and firefox timed out.

213006


- Stem

[thanatos_theos]

Yes, I'm talking about Internet Access. In 6.1, I did it with MBAM. I was updating MBAM and clicked 'details' and was reading the window and MBAM was already updating. I never clicked allow. The MBAM window shows that it is updating (downloading).

I reported this bug and as you say it seems fixed in v7.

[thanatos_theos]

Sorry for double-posting but did you encounter this:

-When you click 'more info' in a Process Monitor alert, and click 'allow', check 'remember'. Run the application again and you get the same alert. You need to click 'allow' in the first alert to end this alert loop.

Also, I'm interested to hear your other thoughts with this version. Is the dns problem still there? Thanks.

[Stem]

-{ Quote: "-When you click 'more info' in a Process Monitor alert, and click 'allow', check 'remember'. Run the application again and you get the same alert. You need to click 'allow' in the first alert to end this alert loop." }-My reply in post 29 was also to indicate that function does appear to work (well, up to now), sorry if that was not clear.
-{ Quote: "
Also, I'm interested to hear your other thoughts with this version. Is the dns problem still there? Thanks." }-The DNS problem appears to be resolved, but have still not seen loopback interception (not really a problem unless using a localhost proxy).

I did get a change of settings after boot, I will need to check again after a few more boots to see if any changes are made.

I thinks its main intention is to give basic application Internet control + HIPs, which it appears to do.


- Stem

[thanatos_theos]

localhost proxy like that of Ad Muncher and NOD32?

-{ Quote: "I did get a change of settings after boot, I will need to check again after a few more boots to see if any changes are made." }-
The firewall/HIPS settings were lost after reboot? Can you please elaborate?

Did you take a look at its logging? It's not customisable and Firewall logging is sparse - only dropped connections. No HIPS logging. It makes tracking of actions hard especially if you made a mistake and was unsure with the action taken.

It also had issues with my Asus bios updater. The updater reports too much connection on FTP. But with Windows firewall I can connect fine to the FTP using the updater. The firewall doesn't prompt me that the updater wants to connect out and it's set as Allow in Process Monitor.

Do you suggest using Training mode for Process Monitor to lessen prompts? In Training mode will it just filter what access rights are needed by your applications or will they be auto-allowed all rights?

[Pfipps]

I tried out the latest version and the firewall log problem STILL exists. You can never clear the log file in the advanced reports. You can clear the log in the firewall program, but the data is not being deleted, as shown in the advanced reports.

Unless someone knows something else?

[Stem]

-{ Quote: "localhost proxy like that of Ad Muncher and NOD32?" }-Yes.

-{ Quote: "
The firewall/HIPS settings were lost after reboot? Can you please elaborate?" }-The setting for internet access was reset to default. But after re-setting it was then OK.
-{ Quote: "
Did you take a look at its logging? It's not customisable and Firewall logging is sparse - only dropped connections. No HIPS logging. It makes tracking of actions hard especially if you made a mistake and was unsure with the action taken." }-I did not see any change to how the logging is made from previous versions.

-{ Quote: "
Do you suggest using Training mode for Process Monitor to lessen prompts?" }-On a known clean system, yes.


- Stem

[Pfipps]

-{ Quote: "I tried out the latest version and the firewall log problem STILL exists. You can never clear the log file in the advanced reports. You can clear the log in the firewall program, but the data is not being deleted, as shown in the advanced reports.

Unless someone knows something else?" }-

Has anyone been able to reproduce the problem I have here?

[Technic]

Privatefirewall 7.0 (Windows 7, Vista 32/64* bit compatible) - VERSION 7.0.20.32, posted 11/04/2009


http://www.privacyware.com/PF_support.html



RELEASE NOTES - 7.0.20.32, posted 11/04/2009
- modified GUI settings synchronization with service rules

RELEASE NOTES - 7.0.20.31, posted 10/21/2009
- updated driver certification for Windows 7 GA release
- fixed blue screen crash in observed in Windows 7 x32

Please tell your comments if you are using/testing this FW.

I like this FW personally. :argh:

[HappyRain]

I bought a brand-new computer two weeks ago that had Windows 7 on it, and downloaded/installed Privatefirewall 7.0 as Kerio 2.1.5 dosen't work on Win7. :(

Main reason I picked this was due to the download size (IIRC, something like 3 MB vs. 30MB+ for other firewalls listed on Snapfiles), as I use dial-up internet at home.

So far, I've been dissatisfied with Privatefirewall. I tell it to allow a program access, and it keeps asking. I create specific, manual rules to try to alleviate the problem, it still asks and/or refuses access.

Specifically:

I use Avira AntiVir Personal; trying to updated the virus definition file doesn't work unless I turn Privatefirewall completely off. This is even after I create a manual rule to specifically allow access.
Using my free PDF reader (SumatraPDF) results in Privatefirewall giving me an error on some "process anomaly" every few seconds. This is even if I'm not accessing an online document.
Using XMPlay (audio player) results in a pop-up that prevents me from listening to streaming audio until about three or four tries, it finally lets the program connect. (In fact, the problem with streaming audio is why I finally registered here after reading the site for the past few days... I wanted some quick tunes while connected to the wifi and doing work at my college; 15 minutes later and the firewall finally lets XMPlay connect.)
Reading about the opt-in publisher lists makes me think this firewall is all about making people's computers available to major companies, rather than providing security.

As this is my first real post here, may I ask: if I'm looking for help in finding a different firewall, should I post a separate thread in this forum? Thanks!

[Espresso]

-{ Quote: " I use Avira AntiVir Personal; trying to updated the virus definition file doesn't work unless I turn Privatefirewall completely off. This is even after I create a manual rule to specifically allow access." }-

I had this problem with Webroot a while ago. It has to do with a parent process being blocked (check the log) but I forget how I dealt with it at the time.

-{ Quote: " Using my free PDF reader (SumatraPDF) results in Privatefirewall giving me an error on some "process anomaly" every few seconds. This is even if I'm not accessing an online document." }-

I would turn off that feature. I can't see a situation where that would ever be useful that's not covered by any of the other HIPS features.

[MrBrian]

There is a big problem that I encountered while trying Privatefirewall v7.0.20.37 on Windows 7 x64: Privatefirewall doesn't allow multiple instances of itself to run. Thus, Privatefirewall will not run when logging into a second user account when another user account is still logged into.