Vista firewall adding its own rules

Discussion in 'other firewalls' started by rottenbanana, Jul 25, 2008.

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  1. rottenbanana

    rottenbanana Registered Member

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    Whenever installing new software, especially games it seems, i see new rules allowed in Vista's firewall. I've used the extended interface to customize a fairly tight ruleset with outbound control enabled and set the firewall to block anything that isn't on the list.

    I'm annoyed to see certain software adding rules on their own and i'm blind enough not to find a setting anywhere for this, if one exists. o_O Why does it do this by default? Only a few game installations allowed me to say No to adding exceptions, most just do it anyway.


    By the way, hi, i'm new here and it probably shows.
     
  2. ronjor

    ronjor Global Moderator

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    Hello rottenbanana,
    Of course, that shouldn't happen. Maybe some more info on what in particular is adding rules would be helpful.

    There is a troubleshooting link at the bottom of this article.
     
  3. FirePost

    FirePost Registered Member

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    Microsoft helpfully supplies an API to let one open the firewall outbound.
     
  4. rottenbanana

    rottenbanana Registered Member

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    The PC game Mass Effect for one, Assassin's Creed for another. Both made themselves a hole in the firewall, only for their specific executables though but i still find it uncomfortable. TCP and UDP both, the other opened ports only for incoming connections but the other for both. Don't remember which one. There were more games.

    As for the link, i didn't find anything from the troubleshooter specifically regarding programs opening ports themselves. Thanks for the link though, i need to learn more about the firewall anyway if it's even sufficient for my purposes.
     
  5. doktornotor

    doktornotor Registered Member

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    Use a real firewall w/ HIPS, the Vista one is not fit for the job...
     
  6. ronjor

    ronjor Global Moderator

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  7. JRViejo

    JRViejo Super Moderator

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    rottenbanana, if you meant Vista Firewall Control as the interface you used, nevermind. If you did not, you should look here http://www.sphinx-soft.com/Vista/index.html and try out the free version first, to see if it might fit your situation, before deciding to buy.
     
  8. rottenbanana

    rottenbanana Registered Member

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    Looks like it. Although i much appreciated how quiet the Vista firewall is, without any popups. I'm not very advanced, but advanced enough to know which rules to create manually when i've installed a new app that needs updating, for example. I've tried Comodo several times on both XP and now Vista and can't bring myself to say anything good about it. Saying why would probably be better in a Comodo-specific thread. Same goes for Zonealarm (ugh) and PC Tools firewall which looked nice at first but... well.

    Thanks for the link, I tested the free version of that, and it does alert me whenever something wants to connect out. But the inbound rules are still occasionally created without me. Programs making themselves holes in my wall, can't have that :cautious:

    Need to switch, i see. Wish Kerio 2 was for Vista.
     
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