Windows Firewall Control (WFC) by BiniSoft.org

Discussion in 'other firewalls' started by alexandrud, May 20, 2013.

  1. Krusty

    Krusty Registered Member

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    WFC is pretty awesome, but I'm happier with Norton's Smart Firewall. I couldn't be bothered having to decide on each new prompt whether I should or shouldn't allow each item. I get more than enough prompts from other software I have installed [cough VS, cough].

    I lost interest in micro-managing my machines years ago.
     
  2. EASTER

    EASTER Registered Member

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    Yeah I like it and especially those alerts which I have absolutely no issue with. In fact I thrive on those to make custom rules.

    In fact as I was experimenting setting up a local network yesterday evening the prompts came in pretty handy since this was a solo project where Nirsoft's netstat viewer came in pretty handy too on getting the numbers and ports set up to sync as expected.

    Networking is NOT my cup of tea and never had been but for once in my life those connections strung together a lot easier than I ever expected.

    Still doesn't answer my question though. I suppose the both of them together on a same PC is compatible as long as you switch from one to the other or vice versa.
     
  3. ZeroDay

    ZeroDay Registered Member

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    Do NOT use WFC and Comodo Firewall together, 2 firewalls is a bad idea. You also won't need additional Ransomware protection if you configure Comodo firewall correctly.
     
  4. EASTER

    EASTER Registered Member

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    Got that.

    No problem one to one and the next on another.

    And as far as CFW 10 I appreciate that concern but already have CS's setup applied on it and working magnificiently!

    In fact WFC is also looking pretty good. Well thought out firewall control panel. Makes Windows life a bit simpler don't you agree?
     
  5. askmark

    askmark Registered Member

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    I use WFC and CFW 10 together and have no problems. Just make sure you disable Comodo's firewall.
    Personally I find Comodo's firewall rules interface confusing and much prefer the simplicity and execution of WFC.
     
  6. EASTER

    EASTER Registered Member

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    WFC "Is" refreshingly simple and accurate in what it's designed to do. Comodo FW just takes more study, at least that's what I found.
     
  7. Alpengreis

    Alpengreis Registered Member

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    And do not forget that WFC is NOT a firewall, it's just a GUI for the Windows Firewall Advanced Security ...
     
  8. EASTER

    EASTER Registered Member

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    Uh, kinda already knew that but thanks for sharing that concern too.
     
  9. ZeroDay

    ZeroDay Registered Member

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    I agree I just don't think you should be running 2 firewalls at once on one machine if that is indeed what you're doing? Yeah, with CS settings on CF you don't need any further anti ransomware the setup will take care of that.

    I hope you enjoy your setup and it serves you well which it will.
     
  10. ZeroDay

    ZeroDay Registered Member

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    You still shouldn't use Windows firewall if you're already using a 3rd party firewall.
     
  11. Alpengreis

    Alpengreis Registered Member

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    Absolutely correct! My posting was just to make clear (for other people too) that WFC is not a firewall itself. Regardless if it's Windows firewall or 3rd party firewalls ... the use of 2 active firewalls at the same time (for the same destination) is not a good idea.

    Thank you for clarification. Otherwise, my above posting could provide more for confusion rather than for enlightenment.
     
    Last edited: Jun 5, 2017
  12. Access Denied

    Access Denied Registered Member

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    Thanks for Windows Firewall Control. I have been wanting only a firewall that asked yes or no when something wanted to use the internet. I was not looking for all the other stuff from a 3rd party firewall's bells whistles filtering mess.

    Thank you very much. Registered it already.
     
  13. clubhouse1

    clubhouse1 Registered Member

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    :thumb:


    Exactly the reason I donated for the full version
     
  14. Access Denied

    Access Denied Registered Member

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    I HAD a question in regards to LAN connections only.

    Also I keep seeing things blocked in the Connections Log with the addresses of 224.0.0.1 and 224.0.0.251 both. They just keep showing up every few minutes.


    EDIT: fixed the LAN by enabling all file and printer sharing + adding a rule for outbound port 137 from my PC to LAN only. Fixed the 224 by allowing it to LAN only. Hope all this allowed to LAN only will make it chirp at me to allow for internet for other things only showing in my logs.

    EDIT 2: Had a brain fart. I should have stated I was behind NAT and was on Windows 10 :p
     
    Last edited: Jun 12, 2017
  15. Access Denied

    Access Denied Registered Member

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    FYI---- WFC latest version is not saving my custom sound for notifications. I had to set it again this morning and after a reboot as well. Closing the program and re opening it does this as well.
     
  16. alexandrud

    alexandrud Developer

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    The path to the sound file is saved in Windows Registry under this key:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{WD2827D4-F8E0-B379-I229-D89D12E4642A}\NotificationSoundFile
    1. Make sure that your antivirus does not prevent WFC from writing in this Windows Registry key. Check the value of this key after a restart.
    2. Make sure the path to the sound file is accessible and is not located on a removable location or a remote location. Also, make sure it is a *.wav file.
     
  17. Access Denied

    Access Denied Registered Member

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    Did as you say and it shows in the registry but as you can see the program did not pull the info from the registry after a reboot. X:\ is a local drive inside my PC.

    I moved the wav file into the WFC folder to see if that helps.

    EDIT: It was able to pull the file location after reboot once I moved it into the WFC folder. I think this is related to my data drive being assigned the letter X.
     

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    Last edited: Jun 12, 2017
  18. Access Denied

    Access Denied Registered Member

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    I have added rules for all programs on the multicast addresses of 224.0.0.1-224.0.0.53 and my entire local address range. Some programs are still logging blocked using the same addresses I have allowed in rules.

    Not a major problem it is just really annoying. I prefer the log to be only errors that I need to fix. It would be ok if it were just a few a day. I can leave the PC for hour or two and come back to pages of them if I do not make a rule for them.

    EDIT: Some of these in the blocked logs are not even directed at my PC. They show it blocked going to another PC in the LAN. :confused:
     
    Last edited: Jun 12, 2017
  19. Access Denied

    Access Denied Registered Member

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    alexandrud I looked over this entire thread and found the rules you had setup for outbound and decided to do the same. I also put the filenames for stuff I block in the do not notify box in the notifications section. Everything seems to be running fine but it will take a little while to add them all to the do not notify box. All in all, I am loving this. Thank you!


    EDIT: I tried removing the inbound rules I did not add myself. It blocked my shared folder. I will tinker more with this later and see what I removed that it needs.
     
    Last edited: Jun 16, 2017
  20. Access Denied

    Access Denied Registered Member

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    I was able to have a shared folder work and the few apps I need to work with only these inbound rules:
     

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  21. alexandrud

    alexandrud Developer

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    Thank you for posting those two inbound rules required for shared folders.
     
  22. Access Denied

    Access Denied Registered Member

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    Very welcome. It took a while but digging around on the inet helped a bit. I watched the blocked stuff in the logs and then figured it out. :D
     
  23. guest

    guest Guest

    @alexandrud
    Could you please add an option to auto-delete invalid rules (exe's that no longer exist) on every reboot or every time the rule panel loads?
     
  24. Access Denied

    Access Denied Registered Member

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    I think I found one of the best options in WFC. Disable logging of blocked connections. No need for notifications unless I run across something that does not work.

    Also did as you did on the Windows Update. Disabled until I am ready for a reboot, then enable and check. (FYI-Made a duplicate of the windows update rule, deleted the old one. This way it is at the top of my outbound list always.)
     
    Last edited: Jun 17, 2017
  25. alexandrud

    alexandrud Developer

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    No, I would like to keep this transparent so that the user can see which programs created their own rules, if any. It is very easy to find the invalid rules in Rules Panel and delete them every few days or weeks.
    Already a feature :)
     
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