Simple Firewall for Metered VPN on Windows 10 64-bit

Discussion in 'other firewalls' started by J_L, Mar 12, 2016.

  1. J_L

    J_L Registered Member

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    Been inactive these days cause of life as usual... Anyhow, I'm looking for something based on Windows Firewall (don't all of them use that driver now though)?

    All I need is to whitellist some processes, and block the rest temporarily while I'm using the VPN. The simpler the better. Running on-demand would be nice. Thanks.

    *Maybe simply won't do, because I ideally don't want any possible bandwidth usage other than the whitelisted processes.

    *Lastly, is "metered connection" setting the only way to prevent Windows Store apps from connecting in the background? Uninstalling that entirely is not a (reasonable) option.
     
    Last edited: Mar 13, 2016
  2. J_L

    J_L Registered Member

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    Nothing? The second bullet is optional...
     
  3. J_L

    J_L Registered Member

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    Installed TinyWall (yet again cause my memory is foggy), and it took over my Windows Firewall rules. It does not have the mode I'm looking for, and I'm too lazy to set it up twice and Import/Export settings.

    Quitting the client application obviously doesn't work, and uninstalling wiped clean my previous Windows Firewall rules (nothing important, but really they should be backed up on installation).

    Maybe a Windows Firewall based program isn't what I'm looking for...

    *I could try its Disabled mode normally, but unsure how secure that is (and unnecessary processes running in the background).
     
    Last edited: Mar 13, 2016
  4. Amanda

    Amanda Registered Member

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    You could try COMODO. I think you can achieve what you want bt setting the HIPS rules to Paranoid and the Firewall alert to Very High. It will nag you for every little thing the PC will do, so it's very annoying.
     
  5. J_L

    J_L Registered Member

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    LOL. But really, what I want is pretty much the opposite (unless you can disable Comodo normally without disabling Windows Firewall altogether).

    Note the words "temporarily" and "VPN". which I've just bolded and underlined.
     
  6. Amanda

    Amanda Registered Member

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    IIRC COMODO uses the Windows API for firewall handling.
     
  7. J_L

    J_L Registered Member

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    I don't think I want to take the risk of borking my Windows 10 system... Sigh, a mobile firewall would work better LOL.
     
  8. Amanda

    Amanda Registered Member

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    Why would it bork your OS? o_O
     
  9. J_L

    J_L Registered Member

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    You know Comodo and their buggy history... And something that hooks so deep into the system is too risky for what I'm looking for.

    I have a feeling a LiveCD would be closer to what I'm looking for. But a LiveCD with good VPN is hard to find... Maybe I'll just fork over some money.
     
  10. safeguy

    safeguy Registered Member

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    Why not use Windows Firewall with Advanced Security? You can set outgoing to deny and then whitelist the apps you want. You can easily revert back to allowing all outgoing once done.
     
  11. J_L

    J_L Registered Member

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    True, but I remember there being a bunch of custom rules there before. But not anymore after TinyWall wiped the settings.

    On Allow (default) it lets signed programs through automatically without creating rules right? And prompts for unsigned programs or something like that?

    I guess I can just not open any data hogging programs (which are whitelisted) if that's the case.

    *Took me a while finding/remembering that setting myself TBH.
     
  12. safeguy

    safeguy Registered Member

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  13. newbino

    newbino Registered Member

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  14. J_L

    J_L Registered Member

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    Actually, that's what I believe TinyWall did. I've also noticed that universal "Block" doesn't seem to work for programs with valid digital signatures or something.

    That's actually pretty close to what I'm looking for if I read the description right. Hmm, I may try it later the next time I use a VPN...
     
  15. marzametal

    marzametal Registered Member

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    Are there any viable options out there, that can do what WFC does pon W7-W10... but without the dependence on .NET?
     
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