Beta-testing TinyWall

[peters4000]

Opps ok try again ....
Hi i installed this program yesterday spent all day reading this post and getting my programs running :thumb: i was very impressed thank you

Today start my computer and although the service is running the Icon (controller) is not ? when i click from the start menu it gives me this message
" the program is blocked by group policy contact your admin "

Looking in program data i have this Error log
------- 06/30/2012 09:12:26 -------
System.OperationCanceledException: The operation was canceled.
at System.Diagnostics.Eventing.Reader.EventLogException.Throw(Int32 errorCode)
at System.Diagnostics.Eventing.Reader.NativeWrapper.EvtNext(EventLogHandle queryHandle, Int32 eventSize, IntPtr[] events, Int32 timeout, Int32 flags, Int32& returned)
at System.Diagnostics.Eventing.Reader.EventLogWatcher.RequestEvents()
at System.Diagnostics.Eventing.Reader.EventLogWatcher.SubscribedEventsAvailableCallback(Object state, Boolean timedOut)
at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state, Boolean ignoreSyncCtx)
at System.Threading._ThreadPoolWaitOrTimerCallback.PerformWaitOrTimerCallback(Object state, Boolean timedOut)

Please help i was very impressed with this program

Peter

Im running win7 64 bit ultimate

EDIT

Apologies after reinstalling and generally playing around I think it was caused by Window 7 Applocker now works great many thanks

Is this the forum where i could ask questions about TinyWall's workings ?

[Veteran]

-{ Quote: "
Is this the forum where i could ask questions about TinyWall's workings ?" }-
Yes, This thread(Beta-testing TinyWall) is for TinyWall ::)

[talapantas]

hi!
thanks for this great little software!
i've been using it since i saw it being featured on a popular download site and all i can say is that, it's absolutely great.

now playing on it urged me to register on this site for some questions and suggestions.
first question is, in auto-learn mode where you have to run a program(s) so it can be added into exceptions at later time, are all programs allowed on this feature? because i am using tor obfsproxy browser bundle but what happened when i tried auto-learn mode is that, tor is the only program allowed to get through but obfsproxy immediately stopped saying it encountered an error and needs to be closed and adding it manually to exceptions get it to work.

as for suggestion, i am occasionally moving portable programs from one folder to another, same as moving programs over our network to a couple of computers and sometimes, deleting invalid locations under application exceptions one-by-one is a bit time consuming. hope it will be possible in future releases to do batch jobs by allowing multiple selections and a confirmation dialogue before exceptions can be deleted.

well thats all for now that i would like to share. thank your for the author of this program for hardening and making it simple to manage windows firewall :thumb:

[Melf]

Sorry if this has been covered already - is there a way to create a kind of "apply to descedents" rule?

I have a program (a game) where the patcher is always the same, but the executable is placed into a different directory (or possibly the directory is renamed) each time it is patched. So making a rule for the patcher and all of its "descendants" would be handy. As it stands, I have to re-allow the game each time it is patched (which is frequently).

[talapantas]

@Melf, i think this is one of the things i would like to point out as well
exactly the same as with flash updater located at
C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash\FlashUtil32_11_3_300_262_Plugin.exe
its previous version was blocked because it was named something like FlashUtil32_11_3_300_258_Plugin.exe

fortunately, auto-learn mode managed to detect it and was added to exceptions, might as well that it would also work for you :)

[ultim]

Hi Everyone!

Sorry for the long delay. I've got many things going on, having just recently moved back to my home town, a bit of pressure from my master's thesis, applying for a job, just to a name few examples. But I'm still alive and kicking and will soon try to address all of your issues.

As an interesting fact, for a few days TinyWall has been the 2nd most often downloaded firewall on chip.de, probably the largest German download site. It has already been downloaded almost 9.500 times, from that single site alone.

I'll be back soon,
ultim

[peters4000]

hello ultim thanks for your great Firewall

For users of Malwarebytes Pro you might like to add the mbamservice.exe to the firewall exceptions

[cskunk]

-{ Quote: "Minor suggestion to the Connections Windows
-Add option for Always on Top ;D
-Auto refresh (So that users can see in real time connections being created and cancelled)" }-

These are a deal breaker for me, and everyone else with more than one screen would benefit. Nice software! Would be great to see these features added in the future.

[Veteran]

Welcome back ultim, hope everything goes well :)

@Peters4000
Malwarebyte is not a very common app like web browsers and maybe someone doesn't want to see Malwarebytes Pro in TinyWall's default whitelist! like me :D :P You can add it manually to your whitelist.

[ultim]

-{ Quote: "...
1- Ok, I saw "DevelTool", What is it exactly? What can I do with it? I have no idea!
2- Maybe a bug: I ran DevelTool to play with a bit and went to "Update Creator" tab then pushed that big "Create" button and error happens:
(My OS is Windows7 Ultimate SP1 x64)
..." }-

The DevelTool is not supposed to be used by end users. It is a helper tool for me. The only reason I include it in the start menu is for users to use its "Profile Creator" tab, when advised to by me. The profile creator can be used to extract information from applications so that I can include it in TinyWall's database.

[ultim]

-{ Quote: "When i try to update the software,here is what i got.Even elevated,the issue remains.Win Vista Premium x32." }-
This was a temporary problem that existed only for a few hours, by a mistake I uploaded the x64-only setup to update server and it could not install on 32bit machines. I corrected it on the same day, try again and you should not have this problem anymore.

[ultim]

-{ Quote: "Hi ultim,

some new information about the network printer problem. I have tried another Win7-PC and its the same problem. So I can say its not only Win 8 problem.

Allow outgoing = same problem
Disable Firewall = same problem
Uninstalling Tinywall = All is fine

But this not the solution. I want to keep Tinywall.
" }-

So it doesn't even work when TinyWall is set to disable the firewall? Then the only reason can be the port-based blocklist. Try to disable that. Otherwise, I am clueless, because in the disabled mode TinyWall allows all and everything, with the exception of the blocklists.

I actually wonder if this qulifies as a bug. Should TinyWall disable the blocklists when mode is "Disabled"?

[ultim]

-{ Quote: "
It's better to use a checkmark in front of Active mode so users know which mode is active right now. Please see the attached pic for more ;D

233491

I think this is better :thumb: what do you think?
" }-
Yeah, why not. Thanks for the suggestion.


-{ Quote: "
One more thing: See the "Allow Outgoing icon", It's red. Red in many ways means don't allow, don't cross, don't go... maybe another color or icon for "Allow Outgoing icon"? ("Block all icon" is also not all right, Yellow/Orange color for blocking all?) what do you think?
" }-

My idea was for colors to denote danger levels. When I created the icon, there were only the green, yellow and red modes, and from these the red mode was the least secure, this is why it is red. Since then there are also the grey and blue modes, so the logic does not apply anymore, but I did not want to change colors so that exisiting users won't get confused. For the same reason I'm not going to change the colors in version 2, but maybe in a future version.

-{ Quote: "
On my laptop I have "Connectify (http://www.connectify.me/)" so it's been possible to share my Internet over WiFi so my brother can use it too.

I have created Application Exception's list of my desired programs in TinyWall and everythings was ok but when I enabled connectify I noticed that my Application Exception's list in TinyWall gone! and I had to recreate my list! BUT after disabling connectify, surprisingly my original Application Exception's list is back!!

Now, why enabling connectify make Application Exception's list go away and disabling connectify make it back?

I don't know is it a bug or not ???
" }-

It's actually not a bug, but I admit that it can be a bit of a wierd behavior if you do not know about it. Connectify must be changing the network profile on your computer (Home/Work/Private). So when the network profile is changed, TinyWall loads the new profile which does not contain your rules from the previous profile. When you disblae connectify, your network profile is set back to its original state, TinyWall reloads that profile and hence your rules are back.

So TinyWall is not losing your Application Exception list, it is merely changing it to a new (empty) one, then changing it back. But when changing back, TinyWall also saves Connectify's profile. So you can also add applications to the (yet) empty list when connectify is run, so that you can have a different set of allowed applications while using connectify.
I hope this helps.

Let me know if there are any other issues.

[ultim]

-{ Quote: "Personally I havent found any use of allowing only outgoing, but I guess there are?" }-

It is a compromise between computer usability and security. With allow outgoing most of your desktop applications will work without having to whitelist them, but you still get all the inbound protection.

[ultim]

Hi talapantas, thank you for your feedback.

-{ Quote: "
first question is, in auto-learn mode where you have to run a program(s) so it can be added into exceptions at later time, are all programs allowed on this feature? because i am using tor obfsproxy browser bundle but what happened when i tried auto-learn mode is that, tor is the only program allowed to get through but obfsproxy immediately stopped saying it encountered an error and needs to be closed and adding it manually to exceptions get it to work.
" }-
Yes, it should allow all programs. But because of the way auto-learn works, it might take a few seconds for TinyWall to realize that a program accessed the internet. So after using an app in auto-learn, be sure to wait a few secs before switching to another mode to make sure TinyWall has created a rule for it. This is the most likely reason, but of course it is possible that something else is going on. Let me know and I will look into it more carefully if this does not solve oyur problem.

-{ Quote: "
as for suggestion, i am occasionally moving portable programs from one folder to another, same as moving programs over our network to a couple of computers and sometimes, deleting invalid locations under application exceptions one-by-one is a bit time consuming. hope it will be possible in future releases to do batch jobs by allowing multiple selections and a confirmation dialogue before exceptions can be deleted.
" }-

Nice suggestion! Will do.

[ultim]

-{ Quote: "Sorry if this has been covered already - is there a way to create a kind of "apply to descedents" rule?

I have a program (a game) where the patcher is always the same, but the executable is placed into a different directory (or possibly the directory is renamed) each time it is patched. So making a rule for the patcher and all of its "descendants" would be handy. As it stands, I have to re-allow the game each time it is patched (which is frequently)." }-

No such support yet. I'd also be very interested to add such feature, but I have to look into the technical details how and if at all it is possible.

[ultim]

-{ Quote: "Malwarebyte is not a very common app like web browsers and maybe someone doesn't want to see Malwarebytes Pro in TinyWall's default whitelist! like me :D :P You can add it manually to your whitelist." }-

Malwarebyte is a well-known (trusted) security app and I'm trying to allow security apps with good reputation in TinyWall by default. This is why Malwarebyte is in the default whitelist.

[1000db]

I've been using TW on a 32-bit Windows 7 laptop and with TW installed I can't connect to it via Teamviewer. I tried adding exceptions in the management console but that didn't work. I tried switching TW to learning mode but that didn't work either. Disabling the fw also didn't work, which puzzles me. However uninstalling TW allowed the remote connection to work. Any ideas?

[Veteran]

Thank you ultim, very useful information. I'm proud for using TinyWall, Keep up the good work.

[Seven64]

I checked TinyWall update and there are none. How long does it take on your side to get the MPV Host file updated? Has been updated 7/3/12.

[Vilmalith]

Changing settings via the right/left click menu don't seem to take affect until you actually open the app and hit apply.

And I just want to make sure, cause I swear in the beta I had these, but I'm not getting any pops when it blocks internet access for an app/process.


*this is well running v2.0.1, also managed to kill it. Put it in learning mode cause it was blocking some game installers, searching for the app and then choosing to allow it out wasn't working. Switched it to learning mode, which let the installers start. And then no network connectivity, tinywall service stopped, could not be started. Rebooted, still would not start, uninstalled tinywall.

[sukarof]

I have noticed that it doesnt always work to "whitelist by window" Some programs just wont do that. If I put on learning mode or whitelist the program by file it works, but not by whitelisting by window. It is no biggie but is that supposed to happen?Right now I cant remember what programs it was (Im at work) but I can check it if nessecary..

[Seven64]

-{ Quote: "I have noticed that it doesnt always work to "whitelist by window" Some programs just wont do that. If I put on learning mode or whitelist the program by file it works, but not by whitelisting by window. It is no biggie but is that supposed to happen?Right now I cant remember what programs it was (Im at work) but I can check it if nessecary.." }-

I notice this also. Most of the time it will work on the second try, and sometimes it will close TW service (grey icon).

[Vilmalith]

I also noticed another "issue", I use OpenDNS DNSCrypt. When tinywall seems to block something it kills DNSCrypt sometimes for a split second, other times for a couple seconds. Each time it happens this also kills internet activity, so downloads die, games disconnect, etc.....

[hogndog]

Some sites say it runs on XP?

http://tinywall.findmysoft.com/

[spocko]

I recently started playing with TinyWall 2.0.1 on Window 7 x64. I never used previous versions, so this is my first impression.

First, I want to say a big thank you to Ultim for your work on TinyWall, and for making it free! You've done some very nice work here.

Second, I'd like to provide a few comments.

The philosophy of silently blocking almost all outbound connections could potentially decrease security by preventing important updates to applications and services. For example, things like Flash and Java often have important security updates. I really think TW needs to provide a better way for users to see what is being blocked, so they can make sure that something important is not being blocked.

I think the simplest way to do that would be to provide better logging. Currently it appears that the history of blocked connections is limited to the last 2 min. If something got blocked 3 min ago, how would I know? I think the history of blocked connections should be complete, and should be persistent unless cleared by the user. It should be possible to look back at the previous day, week, month etc. to see what was blocked.

Another concern is that learning mode silently creates rules without any user review. This potentially reduces security because unintended rules could be created. After using learning mode, the user needs to go review the entire list of exceptions to see if anything unintended snuck in. I see 2 obvious ways to solve this.

First, I know this may go against one of the design philosophies of TW, but I would actually like to have the option of displaying interactive popup notifications similar to ZoneAlarm, etc. If the notifications were user configurable (i.e. user could independently enable/disable inbound and/or outbound notifications in each mode) then I think everyone could be happy. People like me might enable notifications during learning mode only. Others might like to see notifications during normal mode also. Completely silent mode, as we have it today, could still be available and could still even be the default.

If popups are not feasible, or if they are simply too distasteful to the author, then I think the next best solution would be that when learning mode is turned off, the list of new rules/exceptions that were just learned could be presented to the user for review before they are saved permanently.

It would also be helpful if learning mode could persist across restarts. Currently I think the mode always reverts to Normal at startup. That prevents me from "learning" about connections that occur during startup.

Lastly, it would be a nice convenience if the TW tray app provided a shortcut to open the Windows Firewall advanced settings, in case I wanted to go over to that interface to review rules, etc.

That's my 2 cents. Thanks for listening. :)

Edit: At least sometimes, the current TW version doesn't even show what was blocked in the last 2 min. For example, the Adobe Flash updater triggered on my machine this morning and was blocked. The TW "Show Connection" window didn't show the blocked connection. If the flash updater hadn't notified me that the update had failed, I wouldn't have known.

[peters4000]

hi, I have two computers on my home network connected using a router. One is a Wifi laptop. Everytime one goes to sleep my network discovery and file sharing gets turned off and i have to reset it to allow (turn back on) , I have allowed "Unblock Lan traffic" and "File and printer sharing" on TinyWall any ideas ?

Win 7 64 bit

EDIT: I should have added that this does not happen if i disable TinyWall

[roark37]

Hi, I am considering trying Tinywall and had a couple of questions/recommendations. First like spocko above I would love to see the option of pop up notifications similar to many firewalls like Zone Alarm. As I like to see all the programs that are attempting access. Is that an option you are considering adding?

Also, does Tinywall uninstall cleanly and completely just using add/remove programs? I ask as I am always concerned with firewalls of having difficulty removing if I need to.

Thanks.

roark

[ultim]

-{ Quote: "Changing settings via the right/left click menu don't seem to take affect until you actually open the app and hit apply.

And I just want to make sure, cause I swear in the beta I had these, but I'm not getting any pops when it blocks internet access for an app/process.


*this is well running v2.0.1, also managed to kill it. Put it in learning mode cause it was blocking some game installers, searching for the app and then choosing to allow it out wasn't working. Switched it to learning mode, which let the installers start. And then no network connectivity, tinywall service stopped, could not be started. Rebooted, still would not start, uninstalled tinywall." }-

Hi Vilmalith,
If TinyWall's service stops or exists for any reason, for me that is to be fixed ASAP with highest priority. If it crashed there should be a file called "errorlog" in C:\ProgramData\TinyWall , yould send it to me please? It would help me a lot.

[ultim]

-{ Quote: "I notice this also. Most of the time it will work on the second try, and sometimes it will close TW service (grey icon)." }-
Please send me C:\ProgramData\TinyWall\errorlog, if there is such a file.

[ultim]

-{ Quote: "I also noticed another "issue", I use OpenDNS DNSCrypt. When tinywall seems to block something it kills DNSCrypt sometimes for a split second, other times for a couple seconds. Each time it happens this also kills internet activity, so downloads die, games disconnect, etc....." }-

TinyWall does not kill other programs (unless you order it from the connections window). The only explanation that I can come up with is that DNSCrypt crashed when it got denied internet access. If I am right, than this is a bug to be fixed DNSCrypt.

[Seven64]

I will next time it happens, I try now just to go through and find the program manually.
What about the blocklist update, MVP Host file?

[ultim]

Hi spocko, thank you for your detailed input. I'll try to address each of your points.

-{ Quote: "
The philosophy of silently blocking almost all outbound connections could potentially decrease security by preventing important updates to applications and services. For example, things like Flash and Java often have important security updates." }-
I know, and this is why TinyWall automatically whitelists well-known security software. Unfortunately this database is impossible to always keep up-to-date, and it of course can also never be complete. I have plans to do a better job at this by incorporating a new community-based feature in a future version, but it won't come for a few months. Currently I have minimal time for my hobby projects to implement it.


-{ Quote: "I really think TW needs to provide a better way for users to see what is being blocked, so they can make sure that something important is not being blocked.

I think the simplest way to do that would be to provide better logging. Currently it appears that the history of blocked connections is limited to the last 2 min. If something got blocked 3 min ago, how would I know? I think the history of blocked connections should be complete, and should be persistent unless cleared by the user. It should be possible to look back at the previous day, week, month etc. to see what was blocked." }-
The reason for this limitation is laptop users and hard-disk life. Windows' built-in firewall does not simply allow monitoring blocked or accessed connections, the only way to do it is to let it log every single network-related action to a log file, and TinyWall then reads this log. Needless to say, when active this generates a LOT of hard disk activity, and it sure won't let a laptop user's HDD spin down. So TinyWall's "solution" is to only request firewall logging (which enables monitoring connection) when the Connection window is open. This means it won't generate HDD activity unless you are actually looking at the network activity. This is the basic explanation of all restrictions based on connection monitoring. I guess I could make this an option for some people who don't care about the HDD, and laptop users could keep the current behavior. But I do feel this would be a real geek option that would go in the face of TinyWall's simplicity.


-{ Quote: "
Another concern is that learning mode silently creates rules without any user review. ..." }-
First of all, displaying popups would mean needing to let HDD logging run 24/7. Second, popups would not be as usefull as with "large" commercial firewalls. Those big companies can delay another app's connection request by bringing their own drivers. They allow a program's execution to be paused while the user makes a choice to allows or deny a program. TinyWall cannot do that unless it also starts installing drivers. This means, even if it did display popups, the other applications would already error out by the point when the user makes a choice, and the user would need to restart the whole operation whatever he/she was doing. Third, I do displike popups, which is the reason I created TinyWall. I should have a lot more time on my hands to start implementing something like that, because if I would, I'd only do it properly, that is, writing my own driver for it... but then another key feature of TinyWall would disappear, that it does not install drivers.

The ability to review new exceptions when switching out of autolearning would be a good thing and is something I've also thought of, and I will probably implement it once I have more time. Unofortunately, probably not happening over this summer. Not just this feature, but any major feature. I can barely take the time to keep TinyWall maintained at the moment. I know this will change, but not for a couple of months.

-{ Quote: "
It would also be helpful if learning mode could persist across restarts. Currently I think the mode always reverts to Normal at startup. That prevents me from "learning" about connections that occur during startup.
" }-
This is a valid point. My original reason to not remember autolearning was to prevent the firewall from accidentially staying in a mode where it provides basically no protection. But I can see your point. No promises about an implementation, but I will think about it.


-{ Quote: "
Edit: At least sometimes, the current TW version doesn't even show what was blocked in the last 2 min." }-
That is probably because the Connections window was not open. As I described earlier in this post, connection monitoring is only active while that window is open. So if you open this window for the first time, it won't even show you connections from the past 2 mins, since it just started logging them. However, there is a deactivation timer. If you close the Connections window, than firewall monitoring still stays on for (guess what...) 2 minutes before shutting the HDD activity down. This means you can open the window, close it, and if you reopen it within the next couple of minutes than it will also show blocked connections that happened while the window was closed. But this is just an implementation detail. I incorporated this timer so that when a user often opens/closes the list of blocked connections he won't miss a thing inbetween.

The main problem is, to sum up, that TinyWall does not bring its own filtering driver. This is, of course, also an advantage, but it also has its deficiencies: It must rely on the technical limitations of the Windows Firewall, which has great filtering capabilites and a great programmatic way to manage firewall rules (like for TinyWall), but it lacks at other areas (like reporting connections by logging, unability to delay connection requests of other applications etc.).

[ultim]

-{ Quote: "Hi, I am considering trying Tinywall and had a couple of questions/recommendations. First like spocko above I would love to see the option of pop up notifications similar to many firewalls like Zone Alarm. As I like to see all the programs that are attempting access. Is that an option you are considering adding?

Also, does Tinywall uninstall cleanly and completely just using add/remove programs? I ask as I am always concerned with firewalls of having difficulty removing if I need to.

Thanks.

roark" }-

Hi, sorry but I am currently not considering adding popup notifications. TinyWall v2 will uninstall cleanly from add/remove programs, but note that if you have custom rules in windows firewall, you will lose them. TinyWall resets the Windows Firewall into its default state when you uninstall it.

[Seven64]

What about the blocklist update, MVP Host file?

[ultim]

-{ Quote: "What about the blocklist update, MVP Host file?" }-
Hi,
The hosts file was updated, but its update is completely in the background. If you manually start update checking from the Manage window, it will only report program updates. But the next time the service checks for updates, it will still install the new hosts file.

[m0unds]

-{ Quote: "*snip*
This is a valid point. My original reason to not remember autolearning was to prevent the firewall from accidentially staying in a mode where it provides basically no protection. But I can see your point. No promises about an implementation, but I will think about it.
" }-

maybe something like this?

Pop-up dialog:
how long would you like TinyWall to stay in learning mode?
1 Hour, Until reboot, 24 hours, etc

[Werderforever]

I know, you have less time, but it´s neccessary for me, that I can use my networkprinter.

Do you have a solution in the next time? I have tried many things (see posts 480, 483, 485, 490, 492 and 495) and nothing helps.

[Ring0]

-{ Quote: "learning mode silently creates rules without any user review" }-

-trying to correct unwanted connections with rule;

-{ Quote: "actively blocks hundreds of trojans, viruses and worms,with "Malware port block" rule" }-

-in this way, are permitted all unwanted connection, later make efforts to hunt the same.

-such connection control, I would call: KISS (Keep it simple, Stupid!) connection control.

-malware port ? operates in the range 0-65535, not only this from your list.

-simple control connections to the outside is, block all, and allow the desired.

-who says otherwise, know little of firewalls, I hope that you will learn with time, I said.

[Seven64]

-{ Quote: "-trying to correct unwanted connections with rule;



-in this way, are permitted all unwanted connection, later make efforts to hunt the same.

-such connection control, I would call: KISS (Keep it simple, Stupid!) connection control.

-malware port ? operates in the range 0-65535, not only this from your list.

-simple control connections to the outside is, block all, and allow the desired.

-who says otherwise, know little of firewalls, I hope that you will learn with time, I said." }-

WTF????

[Scoobs72]

-{ Quote: "WTF????" }-

Glad I'm not the only one that thought that :)

[spocko]

Ultim, thank you very much for your feedback on my comments! A few followup comments below.


-{ Quote: "I have plans to do a better job at this by incorporating a new community-based feature in a future version" }-

That's a neat idea. You could either have the list be moderated, or you could incorporate some kind of "confidence rating" for the community submitted exceptions, based on how many people submitted the same exception.

-{ Quote: "
The reason for this limitation is laptop users and hard-disk life. Windows' built-in firewall does not simply allow monitoring blocked or accessed connections, the only way to do it is to let it log every single network-related action to a log file, and TinyWall then reads this log.
" }-

Ahh, didn't know that, thanks for the explanation. People with SSDs probably wouldn't want the logging enabled all the time.

-{ Quote: "
I guess I could make this (continuous logging) an option for some people who don't care about the HDD, and laptop users could keep the current behavior. But I do feel this would be a real geek option that would go in the face of TinyWall's simplicity." }-

I understand the concern about disk activity, but I disagree that better logging would be a geek feature. I think many users, including non-geeks, would like the ability to see what is being blocked. It sounds like TW currently prevents that by turning Windows FW logging off when the connections window is closed. An option to enable continuous logging would be nice. Whether the feature is geek-oriented or not may depend on how the log info was presented to the user.


-{ Quote: "
First of all, displaying popups would mean needing to let HDD logging run 24/7.
" }-

I'd be ok with that, as long as it was optional.

-{ Quote: "
They allow a program's execution to be paused while the user makes a choice to allows or deny a program. TinyWall cannot do that unless it also starts installing drivers." }-

Not delaying other programs would be ok with me. The popup would still make me aware that the program was blocked. Adding a custom driver for TW is something that I would not want. I really like the fact that TW works without installing any drivers.

In general, I'm not too hung up on the idea of popups. I do think they could be useful in some cases, particularly learning mode, but the aren't necessary. The real need IMHO is to let the users know what is being blocked, and that need can be addressed in other ways such as logging.

-{ Quote: "
The ability to review new exceptions when switching out of autolearning would be a good thing and is something I've also thought of, and I will probably implement it once I have more time.
" }-

Awesome, thanks.

-{ Quote: "
My original reason to not remember autolearning was to prevent the firewall from accidentially staying in a mode where it provides basically no protection." }-

I understand. Again this raises the logging question, because that is another way that the need could be addressed. Currently if something gets blocked during startup, I have no way of knowing about it. I can't "learn" an exception for it since the mode reverts to normal, I can't manually add an exception since I don't know what was blocked. If I was able to log activity during startup, and easily add exceptions based on the log, then I could add any needed exceptions manually. Then maybe I wouldn't care about being able to autolearn them.

-{ Quote: "
That is probably because the Connections window was not open." }-

That is true. I didn't know that logging only was enabled while the connections window was open. A note somewhere in the window might make it more obvious to simpletons like myself.


Thanks again for all your effort, and please don't take any of this as complaining. It's intended it to be constructive. I totally understand that TW is free software developed in your own spare time, so you should do with it as you wish. :)

Cheers!

P.S. Anyone who really wants popups could check out Windows Firewall Notifier. Unless you don't like disk logging, because this one keeps it on all the time.
http://wokhan.online.fr/progs.php?sec=WFN

[Seven64]

-{ Quote: "I checked TinyWall update and there are none. How long does it take on your side to get the MPV Host file updated? Has been updated 7/3/12." }-

Still wating for a reply (asked about 3-times) thanks. Whats the point of having auto-updates checked if such a long delay (of host files).
I dont mean to sound a-holish, just me!;D

[peters4000]

Seven64
See post 536

[hogndog]

-{ Quote: "Still wating for a reply (asked about 3-times) thanks. Whats the point of having auto-updates checked if such a long delay (of host files).
I dont mean to sound a-holish, just me!;D" }-

Host file gets updated once a month, its been that way for as long as i can remember.. ;)

To view the HOSTS file in plain text form. (588 kb) (opens in browser)
Note: The text version also makes a terrific searchable reference for determining possible unwanted connections..

Download: hosts.zip [right-click - Select: Save Target As] [Updated July-03-2012]
If you found the MVPS HOSTS file useful ... please consider a donation

http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm

Hogndog

[roark37]

Hi, I am getting ready to try TinyWall and have read a few how to use guides I found online but have a question. It seems after you have Tinywall running by default it blocks all outbound access. If I want to leave it that way but only allow my browser, say Chrome, to be allowed internet access do I only have to whitelist the chrome.exe process? Or are there a bunch of other services I also need to allow? Or does Tinywall already know to allow those services? Ideally that is what I would like, no access allowed outbound at all except for the browser, is that easily doable with Tinywall? Thanks.

roark

[EboO]

Hi,

In options you can detect applications to allow and you just have to select which one you want to allow.

[Jarmo P]

I am back to using the basic Windows 7 firewall. Tinywall was very nice in knowing what applications wanted to to connect out while i am behind my cable modem router and a learning mode. I might install it again for that reason.

Good work Ultim.

[roark37]

Hello, I installed Tinywall yesterday so have only used it for a very short time but I really like it so far and have found it trouble free and very easy to use. So thanks and compliments to the developer.

Some questions though; if you turn off/disable Tinywall does that also stop Windows Firewall or will that remain on at whatever settings you have for it which it my case is the default?

Also, I have not tried to connect to my work yet but that uses Juniper Networks jpass for vpn and then I remote access into my desktop at work. If I leave Tinywall on I figure I must give jpass access but is there anything else I need to allow so I can connect through remote desktop? Or is it not really worth it and while I connect to vpn for this would I simply be better off turning off/disabling Tinywall and then turning on again after logging off vpn?

Thanks again.

roark

[Seven64]

Never mind, got it updated. Thanks!

[Mr. Y]

If you ever put in a "real time" firewall log as good as "Tiny Firewall", then I will try out your "TinyWall"!

[Volare]

Hi All,

I'm a new user of Tinywall and I'm impressed. Congratulations to the developer :thumb: Windows 7 Firewall is meant to be a pretty good firewall, so I thought, why not use it and install a good front-end app like Tinywall to improve it further. I've also tested WFN, which is another good value-add to W7 Firewall.

There's limited information online on how to use Tinywall, or recommended practises. I'd like to know what everyone's thoughts are on how to best use Tinywall. It does require some manual work to add applications to the exceptions list. This question is also relevant to other firewall users, who may get pop-ups and just click "accept" to allow and then the firewall creates a rule by providing unrestricted oubound and inbound access.

When adding an exception to Tinywall (or possibly any other firewall), do you often just stick with the default rule which is allow "Unrestricted UDP and TCP traffic"? Or do you occassionally chose to set-up different rule, such as "No Restrictions" (which allows access using any protocol), or maybe even "Allow outgoing UDP and TCP traffic" only? I'm guessing this will all depend on what application/file needs access, but how would you know for the majority of applications (especially various AV files needing access).

Having tested Windows Firewall Notifier previously, it goes about creating outbound rules only by providing pop-ups for apps/files that need outbound access. It leaves any inbound rules to Windows 7 Firewall to set-up by providing the Windows 7 firewall pop-up. Therefore there's not many inbound rules set-up in your Windows firewall. However after using Tinywall and usually just adding application exceptions by chosing the default to allow "Unrestricted UDP and TCP traffic", I have noticed I have lots of inbound rules set-up in the Windows 7 Firewall. Its beginning to look like a big dog's breakfast. I never used to have so many inbound rules set-up when using WFN.

Is it better to just provide outbound access to most apps? When adding an exception in Tinywall and if you were to chose "Outbound UDP and TCP traffic", does it create an inbound rule as well to block inbound traffic for the specific app? Or does it create an outbound rule only, which would mean if inbound access was ever required for the specific app, then Windows 7 Firewall should provide you with its own pop-up requesting inbound access?

How does everyone else go about deciding on how to best set-up their rules? Thoughts?

[Undesirable]

I have Portable Firefox installed in a secure container, and every time I restart my computer it gets blocked and I have to re-add the executable to the whitelist. I've had this issue with every other firewall I've tried, whereby they decide Portable apps inside my container are new applications after each computer restart, despite mounting them on the same drive letter each time. I don't suppose there is any way around this? My only other workaround in other firewalls is to accept trusted applications so it doesn't ask me about them.

[mattbiernat]

How do I configure TinyWall for VPN?

[sukarof]

-{ Quote: "How do I configure TinyWall for VPN?" }-

I put Tinywall on learning mode while starting OpenVpn application and login. It did not work by "whitelist window".

[brainrb1]

I am using win 8 build 9200 64 bit with TinyWall since a few days any suggestions ?

[Syobon]

does this works under limited/stadanrd user account?

[moontan]

i think this is what i've been looking for all along! :thumb:

i'm gonna test this for a few more days but so far so good.

if i decide to keep it i will certainly donate a few $ to help for the development of TinyWall.

[moontan]

Firefox: built-in rule = works

Skype portable: "Whitelist by window" = works
uTorrent portable: "Whitelist by window" = works

Gibson's Shields Up = All green

awesomeness! :thumb:

[AMIGA500]

-{ Quote: "Firefox: built-in rule = works

Skype portable: "Whitelist by window" = works
uTorrent portable: "Whitelist by window" = works

Gibson's Shields Up = All green

awesomeness! :thumb:" }-
All green at shields up is meaningless.stealthing does not add anymore security to you.
I dont trust these tests at all.
It seems to have automated messages about your firewall etc.
i have tried tinywall and i liked it very much but as long as ports are closed then you are secure.All this stealth nonsense is just marketing lingo.
Regards.:lurking: :dry:

[moontan]

-{ Quote: "long as ports are closed then you are secure.All this stealth nonsense is just marketing lingo." }-

closed or stealthed, either way i'm happy with the results.
Regards.

[Aventador]

Remember people Shields Up checks your router first. So if your behind a router with NAT it is NOT testing your software firewall.

Anyone using this figure out how to add "avast.setup" to the out going rules when the exe is not even in the program folder?

[moontan]

-{ Quote: "Remember people Shields Up checks your router first. So if your behind a router with NAT it is NOT testing your software firewall.

Anyone using this figure out how to add "avast.setup" to the out going rules when the exe is not even in the program folder?" }-

tnx for the heads-up Aventador.

i don't have a router.

hopefully someone can help you with your Avast issues.
still, might be worth it to hit the Avast support or forums for some help.

i've seen your reply in the other thread.
i still think it's worth a try m8.

other people surely have come across this problem?!

[moontan]

one issue:

on my Windows 7 machine i lose my network connection after a reboot or resuming from Sleep.

i disabled TinyWall from auto-starting at boot but i'd like a better solution if anyone has one.

[moontan]

-{ Quote: "one issue:

on my Windows 7 machine i lose my network connection after a reboot or resuming from Sleep.

i disabled TinyWall from auto-starting at boot but i'd like a better solution if anyone has one." }-

the situation is not reproducible 100%

sometimes i reboot and it works fine.
it seems to unblock automatically if i launch Firefox.
strange...

[AMIGA500]

hmm seems to be a bit erratic in its behaviour.I actually tried tinywall and it seemed ok.Im not an expert on configuring these things.
:lurking:

[jdd58]

-{ Quote: "one issue:

on my Windows 7 machine i lose my network connection after a reboot or resuming from Sleep.

i disabled TinyWall from auto-starting at boot but i'd like a better solution if anyone has one." }-

This was a problem previously. Looks like it's back.

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=2020183&postcount=303

[moontan]

-{ Quote: "This was a problem previously. Looks like it's back.

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=2020183&postcount=303" }-

tnx m8! :thumb:

hopefully ultim will have a look at this.

[seedy]

Hi,
I have TinyWall installed and I'm having issues trying to use wireless printing (Canon MG5200) which worked without issue when I had a different firewall installed (AVG, subscription now expired).

I've tried using the Auto Learn feature first > printing > returning to normal mode, which has not helped and I've also tried disabling the firewall completely, again, without success. The issue appears to be the way TinyWall adjusts the settings of the Windows firewall (Win 7).

I've disabled both firewalls (Windows & Tiny) and the printer does start working again after a minute or so. I've also manually Enabled the Windows Firewall File & Printer sharing settings to allow all traffic but as soon as I re-enable TinyWall, those settings are reset and become Disabled once again, thus blocking the printer communication.

How can I remedy this please?

Any help greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

[Yanick]

-{ Quote: "Remember people Shields Up checks your router first. So if your behind a router with NAT it is NOT testing your software firewall.

Anyone using this figure out how to add "avast.setup" to the out going rules when the exe is not even in the program folder?" }-

For the Avast issue your having with TinyWall, i had the same thing :) Il try to explain. First keep tinywall's ''manage'' tab open, now open avast and order it to download newest AV signatures, then quickly press detect in tinywall's manage tab, it found the avast.setup for the duration when your trying to update avast AV signatures. Took me 2 times to get it right :D Btw, you can only make detailed changes to avast.setup rule in tinywall when avast is updating, if your trying to make changes to it when your not updating it, it wont work atleast it didnt when i tried it. Had to start the avast update again and then changed from ''unrestricted UDP and TCP Traffic'' to ''allow outgoing UDP and TCP Traffic''. Add's more protection ;D

Hope this help :) sry for the grammar errors :D

[Aventador]

Thanks Yanick................I will give that a try.

[Aventador]

It worked. Took a bit. I had to select Manage/Additional Exceptions/Add Application/Select a process. I kept that open while manually updating Avast and "avast.setup" appeared so I selected it and presto. Thanks a million. ;D

[moontan]

tnx Yanick!

i would never have found this myself.
the documentation is lacking.

i'm enjoying this little TinyWall so far.
i'll donate a few $ to the developer when i'm out of the red.

[Yanick]

Np, glad i could help :)

[Kaupp]

Is development of this program still active?

[moontan]

-{ Quote: "Is development of this program still active?" }-


the last time the developer posted in this thread was July 16.

[Flexigav]

-{ Quote: "the last time the developer posted in this thread was July 16." }-

I guess new employment and further post-grad educational commitment takes its' toll on ones spare time and from what I have read in this large thread Tinywall is a spare time hobby project! Eventually ultim should catch up and get back to us...fingers crossed!

[Seven64]

-{ Quote: "I guess new employment and further post-grad educational commitment takes its' toll on ones spare time and from what I have read in this large thread Tinywall is a spare time hobby project! Eventually ultim should catch up and get back to us...fingers crossed!" }-

I guess I help put him through post-grad educational, since I donated $. ;D
Sad, no peep out of him. :'(

[Flexigav]

I downloaded and installed TinyWall onto my Windows 7 64 machine yesterday. I saw the rule changes it put in place, but could not get the UI console to open from the Start Menu. It did open through right clicking on the task bar icon though. My user profile in Windows 7 is customized and not in the default position and I have a feeling that TinyWall is not flexible enough to learn and accommodate that. With so many applications using the user profile directory to store their data, my OS drive was getting bloated, so I set up another partition to hold my profile directory. I now have a few teething problems!

[Fuzzfas]

I can't believe i had missed this. I installed it yesterday and it's such a relief! I uninstalled my (paid) Sphinx Win7 Firewall control, which had a small bug and a nasty activation scheme that wouldn't show you if it activated correctly or not and installed this.

It's sooooo good! Default deny! So simple, i love it! It's like being back to Kerio 2 or Ghostwall days, where everything was light and bloatless.

Thanks a lot to the dev! :argh: :thumb:

[Seven64]

This is a gem of a firewall, after using "pay for firewalls" I come back to this. Lighting fast. :thumb:
I also like the block everything until I give permission. ;D

[tyee]

Just finished building a new win7 computer and installed this. Very nice and light. I have a question. I allowed firefox to access the internet obviously but how do I prevent another application from using firefox to access it's homepage via a typical link in the "help" menu of the program?? I've tried 2 different programs and they both can access their home pages. I also set up under Manage/Add Application/Always block all traffic, they both can still access their home page. What am I doing wrong?

[Fuzzfas]

-{ Quote: "Just finished building a new win7 computer and installed this. Very nice and light. I have a question. I allowed firefox to access the internet obviously but how do I prevent another application from using firefox to access it's homepage via a typical link in the "help" menu of the program?? I've tried 2 different programs and they both can access their home pages. I also set up under Manage/Add Application/Always block all traffic, they both can still access their home page. What am I doing wrong?" }-

You mean there is a help menu containing a weblink, that if you click it, they launch Firefox and Firefox goes to a specific website? There's nothing you can do... It's not the firewall's job to do anything about that. You 'd need something to stop interaction between the 2 processes, something a HIPS could do (like Comodo).

[zongamin]

I really like this Firewall, although I'm concerned that it has been abandoned by the developer. No updates to the site or app since July, and no posts on here either. I emailed him last week just to see if its still being developed, but not reply.

:'(

Its working great at the moment, but when it comes to security software it feels bad to be using something that appears to have been abandoned...

[Fuzzfas]

-{ Quote: "I really like this Firewall, although I'm concerned that it has been abandoned by the developer. No updates to the site or app since July, and no posts on here either. I emailed him last week just to see if its still being developed, but not reply.

:'(

Its working great at the moment, but when it comes to security software it feels bad to be using something that appears to have been abandoned..." }-

Who cares as long as it works? The firewall engine used is Win7 Firewall, the program itself is just an addon-rule management. So you should be concerned only if MS stops updating your Windows.

[Seven64]

-{ Quote: "Who cares as long as it works? The firewall engine used is Win7 Firewall, the program itself is just an addon-rule management. So you should be concerned only if MS stops updating your Windows." }-
I care, as it doesn't update mvps.org list.

[Fuzzfas]

-{ Quote: "I care, as it doesn't update mvps.org list." }-

I am not familiar with how that list updates, but could be that you are missing something in the rules. I mean, i made Utorrent and EMule work with specific port rules, chances are, anything else can work after that.

[bigrevkev]

I also love TinyWall, except for one recurring issue. Documenting my experience here in the hope to developer gets back to this sometime & it is of some use.

My PC (Windows 7) is set up with limited accounts for all of the users. Only the admin account has full access permissions. When logging into a limited account, sometimes (but not all) TinyWall will popup requesting login as Admin (I believe it is trying to Elevate permissions)
If I cancel, TinyWall doesn't work, and the exception at the end of this post gets logged.
If I enter Admin password, TinyWall works, but I think it loses any previous learning.

It just did this to me, so I cancelled then restarted and TinyWall decided to work correctly. As the exception below includes Threading & ThreadPoolWaitOrTimerCallback and I have TinyWall set to automatically start on login, I'd be looking at timing-related issues - perhaps attempting to start too early or not waiting long enough.

System.OperationCanceledException: The operation was canceled.
at System.Diagnostics.Eventing.Reader.EventLogException.Throw(Int32 errorCode)
at System.Diagnostics.Eventing.Reader.NativeWrapper.EvtNext(EventLogHandle queryHandle, Int32 eventSize, IntPtr[] events, Int32 timeout, Int32 flags, Int32& returned)
at System.Diagnostics.Eventing.Reader.EventLogWatcher.RequestEvents()
at System.Diagnostics.Eventing.Reader.EventLogWatcher.SubscribedEventsAvailableCallback(Object state, Boolean timedOut)
at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state, Boolean ignoreSyncCtx)
at System.Threading._ThreadPoolWaitOrTimerCallback.PerformWaitOrTimerCallback(Object state, Boolean timedOut)

[Fuzzfas]

I also found out that you can't update automatically Avast... Seems that Avast needs a process called avast.setup.exe, which is probably temporarily spawned when needed. There is no way to find it in Avast's folder so to allow it manually.
Tinywall does detect Avast and tries to make "autorules", but misses this exe that is needed for the updates.

The only workaround is to manually change Tinywall to "allow all outbound", manuall then update avast and set Tinywall back to "normal mode". But it's too much hassle to this several times a day.

[Yanick]

-{ Quote: "I also found out that you can't update automatically Avast... Seems that Avast needs a process called avast.setup.exe, which is probably temporarily spawned when needed. There is no way to find it in Avast's folder so to allow it manually.
Tinywall does detect Avast and tries to make "autorules", but misses this exe that is needed for the updates.

The only workaround is to manually change Tinywall to "allow all outbound", manuall then update avast and set Tinywall back to "normal mode". But it's too much hassle to this several times a day." }-


Hey, check this link: http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?p=2118985#post2118985
Hope it helps :) Btw turn your tinywall mode to learning mode and press detect in tinywall settings where u add individual programs to allow net access. So only press detect when you start the avast av update check, then the tinywall will find it ''avast.setup'' fast accept it and the auto-update works :) Im not much of a explainer ;D

[Fuzzfas]

-{ Quote: "Hey, check this link: http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?p=2118985#post2118985
Hope it helps :) Btw turn your tinywall mode to learning mode and press detect in tinywall settings where u add individual programs to allow net access. So only press detect when you start the avast av update check, then the tinywall will find it ''avast.setup'' fast accept it and the auto-update works :) Im not much of a explainer ;D" }-

Wow thanks! I tried that once, but didn't work. It must be a timing issue. Now i will install Avast and try again and keep trying until i catch it at the right moment. Great info!

[Fuzzfas]

Ok, the detect method, doesn't work for me. I only got it once to work, but it was pure luck. My computer, i think connects too fast and closes the connection before the detection is over.

BUT, here's what i did. Avast.setup, appears for 1 second on my PC in

C:\Program Files\AVAST Software\Avast\Setup\avast.setup

In Normal mode, open Manage, Add Application, Browse for a File and go to the "Setup" folder inside Avast's main directory.Keep that open. Open Avast and click for updates. Avast.setup, will appear for 1 second and disappear again. It's doable, to click on it while it appears, hit quickly "open" and apply and you 're done.


Anyway, now i am exporting the rules, cause i don't want to have to do that again. ;D


Thanks for the idea.:thumb:

[Yanick]

-{ Quote: "Ok, the detect method, doesn't work for me. I only got it once to work, but it was pure luck. My computer, i think connects too fast and closes the connection before the detection is over.

BUT, here's what i did. Avast.setup, appears for 1 second on my PC in

C:\Program Files\AVAST Software\Avast\Setup\avast.setup

In Normal mode, open Manage, Add Application, Browse for a File and go to the "Setup" folder inside Avast's main directory.Keep that open. Open Avast and click for updates. Avast.setup, will appear for 1 second and disappear again. It's doable, to click on it while it appears, hit quickly "open" and apply and you 're done.


Anyway, now i am exporting the rules, cause i don't want to have to do that again. ;D


Thanks for the idea.:thumb:" }-


Yea, that's probably it. Your computer connects much faster to avast update servers than myne does ;D Il have to keep your solution in mind if il install avast again and would have the same problem :) Thanks. Luckily my computer is slow xD and im happy with Roboscan + Tinywall combo ;D

You mean exporting tinywall rules? :)

[Fuzzfas]

-{ Quote: "Yea, that's probably it. Your computer connects much faster to avast update servers than myne does ;D Il have to keep your solution in mind if il install avast again and would have the same problem :) Thanks. Luckily my computer is slow xD and im happy with Roboscan + Tinywall combo ;D

You mean exporting tinywall rules? :)" }-

Yes, i have already exported and imported successfuly tinywall rules in the past, so i just re-exported them, with avast.setup already there and allowed, so hopefully, if i restore a Macrium image, i can import them and Avast rule will be there without having to do the same procedure again.

Anyway, if it wasn't you, i would have abbandoned hope to make Avast work with Tinywall, so thanks again! ;D

[Yanick]

-{ Quote: "Yes, i have already exported and imported successfuly tinywall rules in the past, so i just re-exported them, with avast.setup already there and allowed, so hopefully, if i restore a Macrium image, i can import them and Avast rule will be there without having to do the same procedure again.

Anyway, if it wasn't you, i would have abbandoned hope to make Avast work with Tinywall, so thanks again! ;D" }-



Aa okay :) Haven't tried the export/inport option, glad it's working :) and yes wise choice.


No problem at all ;D glad i was able to :)

[tyee]

Just noticed that if I uninstall AnyDVD, the tinywall exception rules (programs that are allowed) goes blank and I have to tell tinywall what they are again. I forgot to export first!

[rob0t]

Hi,

Does anyone know what are the entries in connections list with process (id) = Idle (0)?
How can I allow if these are getting blocked?

[bigrevkev]

-{ Quote: "My PC (Windows 7) is set up with limited accounts for all of the users. Only the admin account has full access permissions. When logging into a limited account, sometimes (but not all) TinyWall will popup requesting login as Admin" }-

Also just noticed that it appears to be related to how fast you login to the computer. If on startup immediately login to a limited account, I get the TinyWall login as Admin behaviour. If I let the PC sit at the login screen (duration unknown) then TInyWall works correctly. Which further supports my timing-related issue theory, and that it is attempting to do something before the system is ready. Shame the source code isn't available, otherwise I'd go on a bug hunt!

[Tony]

I have been away from Windows for quite sometime now and i was looking for a firewall that was light and not full of bells and whistles and bloat that so many vendors seem to add these days.
What a little gem Tinywall is, i really hope ultim is both ok and that he has not abandoned his project.

[ultim]

Hello Everybody, this is me, ultim.

It is way overdue that I give some sign of being alive. After so many months of lack of updates, it is no wonder if some of you started wondering whether TinyWall was abandoned.

First, I absolutely owe translators an apology, for I have received multiple new translations yet I have still not integrated them. Rest assured, I *will* include them in the next update. There is nothing wrong with the translations, I just simply didn't bring out any updates since the summer of 2012. But this will change soon(ish).

There are a couple of reasons why updates have been lacking. I've been working on my master's thesis a lot, and when not, I was occupied by countless other projects. For about three months I even paused my master's thesis to get a prototype of a to-be commercial product for photographers done, on which I worked almost day and night. I also used to take a major role in a large organization for student exchange programs that lasted 'till mid-december, and I have been asked to take another one on an international level (and I'm taking it). I also have several hobby projects running in security, multimedia and electronics, though most of these are halted/progressing slowly because of all the other higher priority items. Due to my studies, sometimes I also need to travel abroad, which does not happen as often as it used to half a year ago, but when it does, it usually occupies multiple days at once. And as a last item, I'm also participating in the online anime-community.

I'm not saying that all these fill out every single wake-hour of each day since last summer, but when working on so many things, sometimes it does feel nice not do programming when I get a few hours of free time. And TinyWall is nothing but programming.

Add to that, that TinyWall has already developed past the point that I originally envisaged (remember, I was originally making it for myself and I shared it with you). Of course it is way beyond that now. This means that now I am developing TinyWall for others instead of for me, which, truth to be told, is a bit less of a driving force.

On the other hand, it does motivate me a lot that in general people like TinyWall. The number of translations I've received is enough proof that many people value TinyWall. I've read countless positive reviews from all over the world, some official ones on news sites, some personal. I've got very nice e-mails too. Even if I just read back here on Wilders, I see many thankful posts. I've been contacted by various persons, from professional artists to security analysts, even adnetwork providers and toolbar maintainers. But do not worry, I will not bundle TinyWall with such software. I have always rejected bundling TinyWall with adware and will continue to do so.

So, I am well and kicking (thanks for asking :) ) and after I get some higher priority things done I will hurry to pick up on my hobbies, TinyWall amongst others. One of the most requested features is the ability to turn off the keyboard shortcuts. Also, it seems people often get confused by the automatic network zone switching and now I have a feeling it does more damage than it helps mobile users, so I'd like to remove that feature. There is also a (single!) crash report. To be honest, I've never found the root cause of it, but at least I can stop it from crashing the service coz I know where it happens. And of course, all the new translations (5!) are to be integrated and two databases (hosts list + recognized programs list) are to be updated significantly. I will also do some in-depth testing on Windows 8. I've already got several reports that TinyWall works perfectly with Win8, but I somehow doubt that users tried all the edge cases and looked at all the technicalities, so I'm gonna go for those personally. My goal to put a “Windows 8 compatible” mark on TinyWall, with a bit of luck I won't have to change anything, but I still need to verify everything. Anyway, these are what you should expect for the first update early-mid summer and as you can see, it should address most (if not all) remaining issues.

After that, I'm thinking about developing two entirely new features, though I am not sure yet how to technically go about them. One is to automatically generate updated databases on the server, so that I don't have to do it manually every single time. The program already tries to update them regularly, but it isn't worth much if I don't actually release new database versions. So I want to automate that. There is also a second feature that I'd love to see and use myself (that means even more motivation, remember?), but I'd rather leave it as a surprise because I'm not sure yet if it is possible at all, so I don't want to get your hopes up. Though if I manage to pull it off, you will absolutely love it! It has to do with blocklists, but I'm not saying anything else. Anyway, I will only look at these new features after the first update is out.

Wow, that's a... long post. To sum it up:
1) I'm not dead
2) TinyWall's not dead
3) Update will come, please be patient
4) Thank you!

Cheers,
ultim

[kupo]

Woah, welcome back ultim! ;D. Good luck with your master's thesis.

[siketa]

Nice to hear from you!
:D :thumb:

[CGuard]

Now that's luck!

I started using TW just a week ago. Impressed by its simplicity, intuitiveness and self/rules-protection, i thought that i was late to the party. Little did i know... ;D

Best of luck with your thesis + projects, ultim!

[Seven64]

-{ Quote: "Wow, that's a... long post. To sum it up:
1) I'm not dead
2) TinyWall's not dead
3) Update will come, please be patient
4) Thank you!
Cheers,
ultim" }-

So glad you are back and in good health. I love TinyWall, and can hardly wait for an update!!!

[KelvinW4]

Welcome back ultim, it's great to see you back!

[ehy]

ultim why does sometimes TinyWall get grey and stops working so I have to reinstall it and I lose all my settings?

looks like lsass.exe keeps killing it, I hope this will get fixed, since TinyWall is the best firewall control I have found.

[ultim]

-{ Quote: "ultim why does sometimes TinyWall get grey and stops working so I have to reinstall it and I lose all my settings?

looks like lsass.exe keeps killing it, I hope this will get fixed, since TinyWall is the best firewall control I have found." }-

Hi,
A grey icon means that TinyWall's service is not running or could not fully initialize. The cause is very often that some HIPS software on the system is preventing it from functioning correctly.

Why do you think that lsass.exe in specific is killing it?

[ehy]

Hi, thanks for answer. It has happened to me when I didn't have HIPS and figured it was lsass.exe because in task manager I can see CPU activity spike always on lsass.exe when the TinyWall process gets killed (just one of them, TinyWall UI doesnt get killed). TinyWall keeps restarting, it keeps getting shut down and lsass.exe keeps having the CPU activity exactly when TinyWall gets killed. Other processes didnt have this activity so I can only think that it was lsass.exe.

Also sometime ago Avast! warned about rootkit in TinyWall, but I don't know if it has anything to do with TinyWall getting killed, because it has also happened without Avast!

[ultim]

-{ Quote: "Hi, thanks for answer. It has happened to me when I didn't have HIPS and figured it was lsass.exe because in task manager I can see CPU activity spike always on lsass.exe when the TinyWall process gets killed (just one of them, TinyWall UI doesnt get killed). TinyWall keeps restarting, it keeps getting shut down and lsass.exe keeps having the CPU activity exactly when TinyWall gets killed. Other processes didnt have this activity so I can only think that it was lsass.exe.

Also sometime ago Avast! warned about rootkit in TinyWall, but I don't know if it has anything to do with TinyWall getting killed, because it has also happened without Avast!" }-

Please see if there is a file called "errorlog" in C:\ProgramData\TinyWall, if it exists, please send it to me. You'll find my e-mail on the bottom of http://tinywall.pados.hu . Thx.

[DeerDance]

Love this software and I am spreading the word about it.
I must say my first reaction to inability to enable any kind of popups was that the author is insane... then I realized the genius of it

First few encounters when I needed something and it didnt work left me wondering wtf, but soon I got accustomed to the fact that everything is blocked by default unless white-listed.

I am really happy that the project continues and being updated.

[shadek]

Does anyone have experience on running TinyWall with Windows 8 x64? I noticed the developer mentioned reports of it working fine... but it'd be interesting to hear a few statements about it from users who've actually tested it!

[ad67]

I have been using TinyWall with Windows 8/64 since early last December, and don't recall a single problem with it.

[Saraceno]

What an awesome little program. Put it on 'autolearn' training mode for five minutes, open and close all the programs you use to access the internet, click on 'update' for each program where possible, and then switch TinyWall back to normal mode.

Same applies when installing new software.

Couldn't be any more simple. :thumb: :)

[JoeBlack40]

-{ Quote: "What an awesome little program. Put it on 'autolearn' training mode for five minutes, open and close all the programs you use to access the internet, click on 'update' for each program where possible, and then switch TinyWall back to normal mode.

Same applies when installing new software.

Couldn't be any more simple. :thumb: :)" }-
So,does it have an "autolearn" mode now?

[kupo]

-{ Quote: "So,does it have an "autolearn" mode now?" }-
Yup, it have that since 2.0.1? or 2

[JoeBlack40]

-{ Quote: "Yup, it have that since 2.0.1? or 2" }-
Finally,it was implemented.I was asking about this feature right from beginning.
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=1955609&postcount=10

[Fox Mulder]

Is there a way to whitelist an IP address without associating it with a program?

[claymont]

I installed TW a few days ago; got it running fairly easily using using Autolearn. Ran with no problems. I had to go away for a couple of days, so I put my laptop in sleep mode. But before I did that, I put TW in "Block all" mode. When I went to start back up, couldn't get computer to come out of sleep mode, so I powered back up.
After login during boot, TW alerted it couldn't start and had a message to check if it was installed. Well that didn't make sense; I know it's installed because it tried to start. I then tried a couple of Apps and none could access the Internet.
I figured TW isn't blocking with it's ruleset so something in WFW must be blocking. Looking at the rules in WFW, there was an inbound and outbound rule to "block all" that came from TW. I modified them to allow all and Internet access was established. I restarted TW while keeping WFW open and reset the mode in TW to normal as it was still in the "Block all" mode. All the rules I had established previously were installed in WFW. Everything seems to be working as expected.
The "Block all" on start is what I expected, but TW not being able to start due to the in and outbound rules doesn't seem to be a correct procedure. I would've thought TW should start so you could modify WFW using TW's control panel instead of using WFW's interface.
Today TW Taskbar disappeared I had to restart from the Start Menu; easy enough to do, but a little quirky.
In closing, I have to say I haven't run a software FW for years, but after seeing how messed up my friends laptop is, I'm adding this layer of security.
A feature I'd like is to make the Control Panel Icon blink/change color for a few seconds when a blocking event occurs to get my attention to check the connection list to see what triggered the event.
I'm using Win7 Ultimate 64bit, 4g memory on a core 2 duo T6400 Dell Studio 17 laptop

[anniew]

Wow...found this on Wilders...seems everything security is covered here!

I caveat the following with the fact that I am new to TW, so maybe there is something wrong I'm doing...here goes...

Really like TW. One thing though, it forces IPV6 which according to some hardening sites suggest gets turned off (at least until it is much more widely adopted).

Preferably ought to be a special exception option for IPV6.

I tried going into WFW and disable directly. It would take the first disable (e.g. in Outbound), but the second rule would error out. If I disabled only one IPV6 rule in Inbound and tried one in Outbound, I'd also get an error message, but it too would leave disabled the first rule I set that way.

This is all how it appears in WFW, as when rebooting the IPV6 rules are back. This seems happen regardless if "prevent modifications to hosts file" option is "on".

If this is all "working as designed", I do like the "locked down" aspect of TW. Would like it to allow some tweaking of the provided rules, including selective enable/disable. If this were available, probably don't need special exception for IPV6.

Also, I presume the only reason for a TinyWall special exception option is to allow TW updates, correct?

I'd appreciate any insight, thanks! ;D

[ultim]

claymont:
You are right, "TW should start so you could modify WFW using TW's control panel instead of using WFW's interface". So if you experienced the opposite of that, and if TW had troubles starting with "Block all" enabled, those are not how TW is intended to function. Sorry to hear that, but the next version in the making has some stability fixes, when you try that hopefully your problems will go away.

anniew:
You can disable IPv6 while running TinyWall. In fact, I have turned off IPv6 on this very machine where I'm running TinyWall right now. Go into the Preferences of your network interface card and remove the checkmark from the TCP/IPv6 checkbox.

The special excpetion for TinyWall is only needed to check for and download updates for itself. You can disable it safely, but then you will not be notified when an update comes out, and you will also be unable to use the built-in updater. TinyWall checks for updates very rarely (only once over a period of multiple days).

[m00nbl00d]

When this project was first announced here, I asked when it would be possible to restrict communications by IP, and it was mentioned in a future release.

I'm just wondering if this has been forgotten? ;D

I gave a quick reading to thread, and to be honest most was already forgotten ;D, but I don't think that it has been implemented yet? (I haven't used Tinywall, so no idea.)

I also recall reading someone mentioned IP Blocking, such as the functionality that PeerBlock offers, and that there were issues with WFAS... well, the problem is WFAS stores info in the Registry, which is why it takes a lot of time to load it, so the option would have to be something similar to how PeerBlock actually works, and use lists instead. Parse the content, remove duplicates. This would require extra work, though. But, it would be great... :D

On top of that, this IP Blocking feature could allow the user to bind exclusions to specific process(es).

[ultim]

-{ Quote: "When this project was first announced here, I asked when it would be possible to restrict communications by IP, and it was mentioned in a future release.

I'm just wondering if this has been forgotten? ;D

I gave a quick reading to thread, and to be honest most was already forgotten ;D, but I don't think that it has been implemented yet? (I haven't used Tinywall, so no idea.)

I also recall reading someone mentioned IP Blocking, such as the functionality that PeerBlock offers, and that there were issues with WFAS... well, the problem is WFAS stores info in the Registry, which is why it takes a lot of time to load it, so the option would have to be something similar to how PeerBlock actually works, and use lists instead. Parse the content, remove duplicates. This would require extra work, though. But, it would be great... :D

On top of that, this IP Blocking feature could allow the user to bind exclusions to specific process(es)." }-

Those statements about WFAS and IP blocklists were from me. I investigated the possibility in detail and made a working prototype implementation. Parsing the IP lists and removing duplicates was already done too and it was fast enough. The problem came down to WFAS being slow when adding rules. You don't notice it when adding only a few dozens/hundreds of rules, but when dealing with the length of an IP list (after removing duplicates), it took multiple minutes to get them all into the firewall. As things currently stand now, to support IP blocklists TW would need to install its own kernel-driver like PeerBlock does.

I could still implement a simple kernel driver and make it optional to install for those who don't want it. But PeerBlock and TinyWall are fully compatible, so they will happily install and work perfectly together on the same computer. In the end, if you'd like to have IP blocklists in addition to TinyWall's protection, I strongly recommend to install both TinyWall and PeerBlock.

[m00nbl00d]

-{ Quote: "Those statements about WFAS and IP blocklists were from me. I investigated the possibility in detail and made a working prototype implementation. Parsing the IP lists and removing duplicates was already done too and it was fast enough. The problem came down to WFAS being slow when adding rules. You don't notice it when adding only a few dozens/hundreds of rules, but when dealing with the length of an IP list (after removing duplicates), it took multiple minutes to get them all into the firewall. As things currently stand now, to support IP blocklists TW would need to install its own kernel-driver like PeerBlock does.

I could still implement a simple kernel driver and make it optional to install for those who don't want it. But PeerBlock and TinyWall are fully compatible, so they will happily install and work perfectly together on the same computer. In the end, if you'd like to have IP blocklists in addition to TinyWall's protection, I strongly recommend to install both TinyWall and PeerBlock." }-

The problem wouldn't be so much (it would be, but not only) the amount of time it would take for WFAS to add the rules, but rather that it would make it load slower as well.
I remember creating a thread about a PowerShell script that would allow the same, but after testing it (and another user experienced the same), it turned out that it would take a lot of time to open WFAS as well.

So, I agree that using this approach is far from ideal.

Regarding PeerBlock, yes that's the best alternative at the moment. Unfortunately, devolepment has been quiet for a long time, even though the developers promised some development, but still nothing... Who knows.

The problem with PeerBlock is the one of FPs. Meaning that if an IP address is shared by many other domain names (pretty high chance), then the user will have to whitelist it, and that means allowing the good with the bad.

The solution would be to have an alternative that would let the user bind an IP whitelist with a specific domain and/or process.

I'm pretty sure this would make pretty much any of the PeerBlock users quite happy. ;D :D

I do use PeerBlock, but as mentioned, it has limitations.

Anyway, what about IP restrictions? (Not related with the above.) By this I mean, when will it be possible to restrict a process to connect to specific IP addresses, along side specific ports, etc?

[Seven64]

-{ Quote: "I could still implement a simple kernel driver and make it optional to install for those who don't want it. But PeerBlock and TinyWall are fully compatible, so they will happily install and work perfectly together on the same computer. In the end, if you'd like to have IP blocklists in addition to TinyWall's protection, I strongly recommend to install both TinyWall and PeerBlock." }-

Sorry for butting in, I would like to see that idea implemented with the option to install. One less program to run. :)

[anniew]

-{ Quote: "anniew:
You can disable IPv6 while running TinyWall. In fact, I have turned off IPv6 on this very machine where I'm running TinyWall right now. Go into the Preferences of your network interface card and remove the checkmark from the TCP/IPv6 checkbox.

The special excpetion for TinyWall is only needed to check for and download updates for itself. You can disable it safely, but then you will not be notified when an update comes out, and you will also be unable to use the built-in updater. TinyWall checks for updates very rarely (only once over a period of multiple days)." }-
Thanks for the info!

[Seven64]

If you use windows7 some interesting information on Disable IPv6 and Teredo in Windows 7. Not as simple as unchecking in the "adapter settings".
http://practicalrambler.blogspot.com/2011/05/how-to-disable-ipv6-and-teredo-in.html

[Antarctica]

I have been using TinyWall for a couple of days now and I am really impressed by it's simplicity and ease of use. That's exactly what I have been looking for. It works like a charm so far. Congratulations ultim.:) By the way is there a link somewhere for a donation?

[Antarctica]

-{ Quote: "By the way is there a link somewhere for a donation?" }-

Must have been blind or I maybe I need new glasses, I just found it.;D

[mattdocs12345]

Just downloaded TinyWall. Im using Lenovo Thinkpad X230, Windows 8 and the Lenovo System Update would fail to update my software.
I have tried the following:
- auto rule creationg --> Failed
- whitelist by executable --> Failed
- whilelist by process --> Failed
- whitelist by windows --> Can't find executable
- disabling TW --> Normal update
I ended up creating my rule by looking through the recently blocked items. Lenovo System Update works now but there is obviously some kind of incompatibility.

[Konata Izumi]

hi, I dropped by to ask if TinyWall have incorporated an IP blocklist feature already. ;D

[Antarctica]

Had a little problem this morning with TinyWall. The Application Exceptions page is blank. I had about 8-10 applications listed and they are all gone.??? Anyone else had similar problem?
Thanks

[Seven64]

-{ Quote: "Had a little problem this morning with TinyWall. The Application Exceptions page is blank. I had about 8-10 applications listed and they are all gone.??? Anyone else had similar problem?
Thanks" }-

Yes, Tinywall is somewhat temperamental, always had problems with the Whitelist program by window, or adding to many at a time to the " Application Exception" list. If I go slow and add one program at a time , and never use that Whitelist program by window" option, it works fine.
I still keep using Tinywall for it's security and simplicity.
Hope the new version is on it's way.

[Antarctica]

-{ Quote: "Yes, Tinywall is somewhat temperamental, always had problems with the Whitelist program by window, or adding to many at a time to the " Application Exception" list. If I go slow and add one program at a time , and never use that Whitelist program by window" option it works fine.
Hope the new version is on it's way." }-

Thanks for the feed back Seven64. If that happend again, I will try to go slow and add only one at a time.

[Seven64]

-{ Quote: "Thanks for the feed back Seven64. If that happend again, I will try to go slow and add only one at a time." }-
You are very welcome, also as a side note I stopped cleaning my computer with the "clean and Re-boot" option that some cleaners have. I have run into problems with this scenario also, Tinywall service is not available (grey icon).

[ultim]

Hi Boys (and Girls?)! I'm here to assure you that TinyWall is being worked on, and the changelog is growing quite nicely. By the number of changelog items, we're definetely looking forward to the largest non-major version in TW's history, so you can expect some improvement. This is still a maintenance release though, so don't expect new features. Just ironing out some issues, making things nicer, and bringing stuff up-to-date.

Right now I'm hacking together a nifty little tool to optimize the localized resource files (coz trust me, you don't wanna do it by hand). I realized they contain quite a lot of redundant information, so by finding and removing those bits, I'm hoping for some relatively significant size reduction. The savings will probably be offset by the large number of new localizations, so I wouldn't count on the overall size decreasing in the end, but at least the growth should be a lot smaller ;)

As far as TW itself is concerned, I should be done with most of the code changes, unless something unexpected comes to my mind. What's left (aside from writing the above resource-optimizer) is adding the new localizations, testing on Win8, updating the installer, and updating the profile database. The latter is actually a great PITA, coz it has a lot software and each has to be checked by hand, each time downloading, installing, testing and if necessary updating an XML file. Also, the fact that I'm gonna be installing all those apps in a virtual machine doesn't really help to do it any faster, but, oh well.

I'm still not giving you any ETA, I'd just miss it anyway, trust me :)

[Antarctica]

-{ Quote: "Hi Boys (and Girls?)! I'm here to assure you that TinyWall is being worked on, and the changelog is growing quite nicely." }-

Hi ultim,
This is good to hear, thanks for the good news. I'm looking forward to test this new improved version.:)

[ultim]

Duh... this release might not turn out so insignifcant after all.

After all the changes I made, I see some serious clean-up/refactoring/improvement possibilities in the settings code. As for me, I'd really like to do these, but it would break your old settings files. With some extra effort I guess I could keep the ability to import from exported .tws files of older versions, but even that I'd prefer not to (that would mean keeping old and deprecated code+conversion logic around).

So what do you think? Would it be very bad if you had to reconfigure TW after this upcoming update?