another Windows Firewall Control?

Great job, thank you so much, Alex.
I was off for some weeks so I could not take part in beta testing this time.
I just wonder where the filter "show rules created by wfc only" has disappeared?
Now all the system-side rules are shown too, which makes it a little confusing.

Everything working well and running smooth so far.
Excellent work!

 

Another question:

From the changelog:
- New: Learning Mode has a new item: "Enable notifications for system applications".
If this one is checked you will receive notifications including for "System" and "svchost.exe".
If this remains unchecked you will receive notifications only for other programs.

So if I uncheck this - does that mean that all events follow the ruleset?
I wonder because - befor unchecking - I recieved notifications for svchost.exe to destinations that were already blocked by default.

If I check this - do I get notifications for events, for that there are already rules for?

 

Hi, alexandrud

I think I found a small bug in WFC:
When I double click on the line that separates column headers, so as to make columns wide enough to fit the longest item of each column, and there is a rule selected, the column expands to fit the longest item, but also the rule properties popup shows up, which I don't think it should.
I hope I was able to explain it clearly enough.
I'm running WFC on Windows 7 Pro 64 bit, in case it matters.

 

If it is checked you will receive notifications for all programs, including svchost.exe and System. If it is unchecked, notifications about svchost.exe and System will be ignored. Note that, even with the default recommended rules, svchost will still try to connect to other IP addresses or to the same addresses but to different ports. I assure you that the notifications that you were received were different than the ones specified in the recommended rules, which are also active.

I have fixed it. Thank you for reporting this.

 

Version 3.3.0.1 available

What's new:
- New: Learning Mode can create temporary rules which will be deleted automatically at program restart. On the notification window click on the new arrow that appears on the Allow button to set the this flag. (city_zen)
- New: Manage Rules supports Groups, like in WFwAS. All the new rules created by WFC will be created in "Windows Firewall Control" group. All temporary rules will be created in "Temporary Rules" group. (Broadway)
- New: Template for ComboBox.
- Fix: Learning Mode is now working on operating systems that are in Finnish. (Yanick)
- Fix: Home, End, PageUp, PageDown keys are now working fine in Manage Rules. (majoMo)
- Fix: Double click on column header in Manage Rules opens the editing dialog if a rule is selected. (city_zen)

Things that are not done yet, but that will be in the future:
- Log View which will display last blocked connections with the possibility to create appropriate rules.
- Showing the host name next to the remote IP address.
- Reworking some templates to get rid of the default blue color on various items.
....................................
- And other things that you will suggest and can be done. I will implement them. Just write them here and I will find a solution.

Download link: http://binisoft.org/download/wfc.exe

Just check for updates and install the new version.
Thank you all for your help,
Alexandru

 

I must admit Alex, your support is great. I hope this FW becomes a true gem for you I respect your dedication and hard work.

 

Thank you, Alex. You're doing a great job. I'm glad I found your program and was able to contribute to your work with a donation.

 

Just to say to the developper that's you do a great job and support, i hope (i'm pretty sure , Wfc continue improvement. So i decide to be a registered user and make donation.


Regards,

Rules.

 

It's seems not working yet. Can you check/confirm it?

 

It works on my laptop, but is not working on my desktop computer that I have at workplace. I will investigate this. Pretty strange.

Anyone else ? Does the PageUp and PageDown keys work in Manage Rules ?

 

It works on my notebook (Win7 HP x64) with the "numbers-keys" when NumLock is disabled. It works with the regular PageUp and PageDown keys, too.
But one has to choose a rule for this issue to work. If no rule is chosen, pressing PgUp or PgDn has no effect.

Some issues:
1. When I updated from 3.3.0.0 to 3.3.0.1 the gui told me that wfc.exe was downloaded to my desktop, but it was not. I did a system-wide search, but it was not downloaded anywhere. So I manually downloaded the new version again and did the update.

2. Is there a way to assign the group name via the interface or do I have to use WFwAS for this? Because the rules created with 3.3.0.0 don't have a group name.

3. Even after a clean install the system rules created by WFC 3.3.0.1 do not have a group name.

Thanks for the quick and great update

 

It is normal to be so because the datagrid has no focus yet.

It should have been downloaded to All Users\Desktop. I will check this.

Changing the group name is not possible from WFC. Not even from WFwAS. Changing the group name can be a new feature that I will implement.

It's true, I will fix this too.

 

Another small issue:
When browsing for a program to create a rule, the rule has not the group name "Windows Firewall Control" either.

 

Thank you for reporting this. I will update it.

 

Could you add support for Programms that running from network shares?

The current behavior is:


Path is missing here


It still adds a Path but it converts:
\device\mup\srv\archiv\download\_programme\vlcportable\app\vlc\vlc.exe
to
ownload\_programme\vlcportable\app\vlc\vlc.exe

should be:
\\srv\archiv\download\_programme\vlcportable\app\vlc\vlc.exe


Security Log

Thanks

 

Yes. I have added support for this. This feature and many other improvements will be included in the next release. Thank you for reporting this error.

 

Is there any way to allow local network traffic while in medium or high filter mode?

An option in WFC to allow this would be very nice...

 

Does anyone know how to set up WFC to allow Outlook and Opera to access internet?

I use Medium Filter but my Outlook and Opera cannot connect to internet. They can only connect to internet using Low Filtering.

Using "Click to allow" only make an outbound rule. How do I set an inbound rule for those two programs using WFC? Is this even possible?

I made an inbound rule for Opera using standard Windows firewall to allow every protocol but Opera still cannot access internet.

I am very confused by this.

Can anyone shed some light on this?

 

The role of the High Filtering profile is to block all traffic. Allowing the all traffic in the local network is a bad practice because malware from the network can spread and infect all computers. You can create a general rule for all programs which applies to LocalSubnet, but I wouldn't recommend it.

You don't need to create inbound rules for the programs you have mentioned. You only need to create outbound rules for opera.exe and outlook.exe. Browse for these two executable files and create a new rule. That should be enough. Please verify in Manage Rules if you don't have any rules that prohibit the access for these programs. If this is not working, anytime a Reset to default policy can be made and you can start again from scratch with defining of your own rules.

 

A small issue: In 'Manage Rules', window 'Properties' can't be moved over screen. I' can't control my screen...

 

Ok, I will fix this in the next version.

 

Version 3.3.0.2 available

What's new:
- New: Changed the filtering checkboxes from Manage Rules window to combo boxes. Also, there was added a new criteria for filtering the rules, named "Created by the user". This will show rules only from "Windows Firewall Control" group.
- Update: The tooltip for the application name in Notification Window shows now the path to the executable file instead of "Open file location".
- Fix: "Check for updates" could not save the new file on standard user accounts.
- Fix: PageUp and PageDown not working in Manage Rules on some systems. They are now handled manually. PageUp and PageDown events are sent forcibly. (majoMo)
- Fix: The path for an executable file from a network folder is not recognized properly. Added support for creating rules for executable files from network paths. (ibydos)
- Fix: The window where a rule can be modified can't be moved from the center of the parent window. (majoMo)
- Fix: On double clicking on a rule in Manage Rules, the window where a rule can be modified, is not showing. Now, it shows properly.
- Fix: Recommended rules by WFC at installation are created without a group. (Broadway)

Things that are not done yet, but that will be in the future:
- Log View it's still in beta phase right now. Unfortunately it consumes very much memory and the processing time is awful. I don't know yet if this will be ever included in a new release.
....................................
- And other things that you will suggest and can be done. I will implement them. Just write them here and I will find a solution.

Download link: http://binisoft.org/download/wfc.exe

Just check for updates and install the new version.
Thank you for your help,
Alexandru

 

Thank you for the update, Alex, but this issue still does not work.
Although I get the notification that the update file was dowloaded to my desktop it still is not.

 

Why is it that WFC wants to connect to "Level 13" when opening the first time after the update?

Outgoing Connection
Source:...
Remote: 8.27.5.254:80
Protocol: TCP
Signed: No

 

This only works after a clean install, I suppose?
Because after the update the WFC-recommended rules still don't have a group name.