WormGuard Warnings hidden underneath...

Hi,

I have been running WormGuard on Windows 2000 for about two years.

The WormGuard Warning Dialog always "shows-up" when appropriate, however it always "shows-up" entirely hidden from view -- underneath the initiating program window -- and sometimes "apparently" hidden beneath additional windows, as well.

As such, there is no easy way to know "if" the WormGuard Warning Dialog has "popped-up" -- or where it is hiding (if it is hiding). (No WormGuard Icon appears in the Desktop Taskbar, even when the Warning Dialog is present).

Why doesn't the WormGuard Warning Dialog just appear -- in plain view -- on top of the initiating program window, so the user could see it immediately and take appropriate action ?

Is there a way to configure WormGuard to avoid this problem ?

Thank you,

Bill


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Just tried it here XP SP2 created a text file in notepad called wg.txt.exe and then clicked it and I got this pop up ontop of this post

Ensure that you have "Display message box regarding this block" enabled in the main WG GUI and that the Hide allow box from user is not ticked.

HTH Pilli

 

> Just tried it here XP SP2 created a text file in notepad called wg.txt.exe and then clicked it and I got this pop up ontop of this post

> Ensure that you have "Display message box regarding this block" enabled in the main WG GUI and that the Hide allow box from user is not ticked.

> HTH Pilli


Yes, I already have those two items configured as you describe.

I just discovered the hidden Warning problem is related to the file manager I always use: ZTree --
(http://www.ztree.com/html/ztreewin.htm).

Repeating your "wg.txt.exe" experiment -- from Windows Explorer -- achieved the expected results (the same as you describe). However, using ZTree, the WormGuard Warning Dialog occurs *hidden* below the ZTree window, with absolutely no indication that it is sitting there --- other than the intended ZTree "file open" action hangs. No error message, or other feedback is visible, anywhere.

I think the problem is related to the ZTree "dual user interface" -- a Win32 process running within (or behind) a DOS-like, text-mode display box.

I guess I should report this problem to the ZTree Forum (http://www.ztw3.com/forum/forum.cgi) -- to see if they have a work-around --- unless you have any other ideas to try ?

Thank you,

Bill


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You might like to check if your program has an option to be "Always on top" that you can then disable.
For instance Task Manager's default setting is set to be always on top.

Pilli

 

Yes, I wish it were that easy.

I always have ZTree running, but it is "on top" only when I place it there. (ZTree never acts as if it were set for "always on top".)

I'll see what the ZTree Forum has to say...

Thanks,

Bill


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Well, I reported this "hidden WormGuard Warning Dialog" problem to the ZTree Forum (http://www.ztw3.com/forum/forum.cgi), hoping they might have an easy work-around.

This is the advice I received:

I'm hoping someone at DiamondCS will have a chance to look at this.

A fully-functional, 30-day trial version of ZTree can be downloaded from the following page, for testing purposes: (http://www.ztree.com/html/ztreewin.htm).


The "hidden WormGuard Warning Dialog problem" can occur:

1) when executing a program:

Highlight the program name in ZTree, and type "X" (eXecute) -- as an easy example, try this on "c:\winnt\notepad.exe".​

However, this problem most frequently occurs:

2) when opening a document, which launches the "Windows associated" program:

Highlight the document name in ZTree, and type "O" (Open) -- for example, try this with an .HTM or .MHT hypertext file that contains the word "virus" or "infection".​

Please let me know if I can be of help.

Thank you,

Bill


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WormGuard v3.0 "bug" discovered

Hi,

There was an additional suggestion offered at the ZTree Forum, in order to avoid the "hidden WormGuard Warning Dialog" problem. I didn't have a chance to try this yesterday:

ZTree can launch programs, and concurrently open associated files, in many different ways. It was suggested that I try using the "START" command (Windows NT/2K/XP) -- which forces a program to always be launched in the asynchronous mode as a separate task. (Type START /? at a command prompt for more help with the START command.)

ZTree will START a "highlighted file" (or its associated program) when supplied with a ZTree "Alt-Batch" command, using a command line such as:

START "" "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE" %1

- or:

START "" "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" %1


This solves my original problem of the hidden WormGuard dialog "freezing the action" without any visible feedback. (This would not work for ZTree under Windows 9x.)


However: Using the Windows START command entirely bypasses WormGuard !

When using the Windows START command, WormGuard appears, and acts oblivious to the opening of specific "problem files" (and the launching of specific programs) that are otherwise intercepted by the WormGuard Warning Dialog. START defeats WormGuard.

As such, this appears to be a bug in WormGuard v3.0.


Nevertheless, what I really would like to see in WormGuard v4.0 -- in order to solve the (previously described) hidden WormGuard dialog problem with ZTree --, is an "optional" (default = off) Icon that would (optionally) appear in the Windows Taskbar, concurrent with the WormGuard Warning Dialog. This might require a small 1024 byte executable file used (only) to display the (optional) icon.

This would (or should) then allow the standard Alt-Tab keyboard operation to 1) check for a possibly hidden dialog (when WormGuard freezes the action) -- and also 2) bring any hidden WormGuard dialog "to the top" where the user could deal with it in the normal fashion.

Thank you,

Bill


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Thanks for your report Kingsbury, WG4 is still in development and is being re-built from the ground up, I am sure that DCS will take notice of your report.

Thanks again. Pilli