PeerBlock

"PeerBlock is a new version (aka a "fork") of the popular Peer Guardian 2 software. It blocks "known bad" computers from accessing yours, for example governments, corporate entities, and those flagged for anti-p2p activities. Peer Block maintains the functionality of the original Peer Guardian 2 program, but includes fixes for various issues that remain unaddressed in the latest (~2 year old) version of PG2.

PeerBlock supports Windows 2000, XP, Vista, and Win7 in both 32- and 64-bit flavors."

Source: http://www.peerblock.com/

A more stable than PeerGuardian app with the same features & interface.
Changing (editing)the Url's lists from "peerguardian" to "iblocklist" provides faster downloads also.

 

I've been using it for a couple of weeks now and it seems to have ironed out all of the problems with starting and updating that PeerGuardian had with Vista and Windows 7.

 

its about time, peerguardian wuld always crash or not launch for me on Vista, ill try this one out and hopefully it works.

 

PG2 there is a 2009 version that's very stable I use it without any issues and it does update all 5 blocks. I don't know about this program, but it sounds like the one that was mentioned a few months ago on the Asian web sites. If you want the stable PG2 send me PM as we're not allowed to post direct links here.

 

well peerguardian website says its on rc1 for over a year now and for over a year it just crashes for me on vista... developement seems to be slow as hell... how long can a program be in release candidate stage, and at only the 1st RC at that.

 

I've not seen any mention of a 2009 version either. I have been using the program for a number of years now, and the only thing that seems to be alive is the block-lists themselves. Two things that bother me is the apparent abandoning of the project and a very disturbing change in the lists. iBlock, which is maintained I BELIEVE by someone at Phoenix Labs, now has blocklists available only to donors. It's merely my opinion, but that's a bit worrying to me. It makes me wonder if the lists available for no charge are still being maintained with as much care.

 

i feel the same

 

I host the file on my site it's this one: pg2-070309.exe and it hasn't crashed nor has it missed an update yet..

 

I've downloaded peerblock but it looks like it's beta.. I need stable program but PG2 above hasn't given me any issues prior PG2 have in the past. What client are you using though? Might be why you all might be having issues still?

 

I could be wrong, but pg2-070309.exe is from March 09, 2007, not from 2009. It is version 6c.

 

Go here and read.. I don't know what's up with the file numbers but I got it off PG2 forum this year.. http://cleansofts.org/peer-guardian.html Here a link that explains this version more in detail this is not PG2 forum site though.

 

pg2-070309.exe is the 6c version, for XP/2003.
This version runs with the pgfix for recovery it from driver issues.

cleansofts.org/peer-guardian.html shows some incorrect data, pe: the file size (17,19MB, the correct is 1,59MB) and "last updated 15 feb 2009" can be the data of last updated post, not the last published build. No changelog showed also.

pg2-rc1-test2-2.exe is the rc1 version, for Vista/Windows7, it's the last developed build and:

"PeerGuardian 2 RC1 Test

This is not the final version of RC1. This is an initial testing release only. Things are broken. Please do not release any new build to download or news sites!"

Source: phrosty.phoenixlabs.org/pg2-rc1/

This version runs without the pgfix.

PeerGuardian is Open Source licensed and its source code it's available.

Peer Block "About" window shows:

"PeerBlock 0.9.2 (r86)

Base PeerGuardian code copyright (C) 2004-2007 Cory Nelson
PeerBlock modifications copyright (c) 2009 Mark Bulas
Based on the original work by Tim Leonard

This software is provided 'as-is', without any express or implied warranty. In no event will the authors be held liable for any damages arising from the use of this software.

Permission is granted to anyone to use this software for any purpose, including commercial applications, and to alter it and redistribute it freely, subject to the following restrictions:

1. The origin of this software must not be misrepresented; you must not claim that you wrote the original software. If you use this software in a product, an acknowledgment in the product documentation would be appreciated but is not required.
2. Altered source versions must be plainly marked as such, and must not be misrepresented as being the original software.
3. This notice may not be removed or altered from any source distribution.

PeerBlock Credits:
Mark Bulas - Lead Programmer
Night_stalker_z - Programming
DisCoStu - Installer
Lots o' People - Testing

PeerGuardian 2 Credits:
Cory Nelson - Programming (http://int64.org)
Cyril Van Der Haegen - UI Design (http://www.tegehel.org)
DVDeviant - Graphic Design
Eric Mayuk - Tech Support
Fox - Documentation
James Shanelec - Documentation
Joseph Farthing - Documentation
Ken McClelland - Documentation
Sergio Lo Presti - Testing
Steffen Tuzar - Tech Support

Special Thanks:
Erwin Bovendeur for initial Vista code and debugging help."

I'm updating lists with I-Blocklist directions, but only the Bluetack ones (free for all) of my interest: Ads, Edu, Level 1 (P2P+Gov) and Spy.

 

Interesting info above, I say stay with what works as I did mention. I don't use the Pgfix as I don't see any need for it. Peerblock as-is a statement like that means might not work as claimed so I would take a past on such a program.

 

I'm using PeerBlock and it works with no problems.

 

vista and above is really the only time peerguardian has an issue, on XP it worked fine for me which is why i use peerblock since im on vista now and it actually works on vista.

 

No your not wrong they are one in the same, they both have the same MD5, CRC32 & SHA-1 hash values.

 

Okay vista then with peerblock, xp with pg2 for now.. Client I use is quick but the DWL system is only use for these tools and max protection.

 

I've seen (suffered) some frequent application crashes and explorer freezes with PeerGuardian 2 6c in my XP. Frequently when I've attempted to update lists or just when it started.
After a crash, I've used the pgfix for unload the driver and stop its processes. After newelly available to start PeerGuardian.
pgfix is a part of the PeerGuardian installer for the XP version.

I'm thinking PeerBlock is more bug corrected, stable and faster. But, if in your case, PeerGuardian runs well, why change it?

For me, good news this PeerBlock. I've started to use it with a total of zero problems.

 

Well I see PB looks just like PG2 but, if PG2 is working and updating then I keep on using it before ditching it for PB.

 

Hi guys,

This is the lead developer of PeerBlock. I saw a fair amount of traffic coming to our site from here, figured I'd drop by for a bit, maybe clear up a few things. Hope I'm not intruding...

To the best of my knowledge, PeerGuardian has not had an official release for many years now, and the most recent PG2 RC1 Test2/3 version is about a couple years old now - nothing's been committed to their source repository for PG2 for "2 years" according to sourceforge, though the PG "Lite" project has received a bit of attention since we started PeerBlock it seems.

I started up PeerBlock after I upgraded my machine and installed Win7 RC1 64-bit on it . . . and ran into a bunch of problems with PeerGuardian. Was sorta/kinda able to get it to work with hacks piled on top of workarounds, but it was still extremely unstable. So I decided to mess around with the code on a lark, and as it turned out I was able to fix a couple of the more obnoxious problems pretty quickly, and then a couple other people became involved.

At this point we're actually pretty stable, except for a few odd corner cases here and there in code that we "inherited" from PG2. We've even received enough in donations that we're in the process of officially signing our driver, thanks to our user community, thereby resolving one of the last serious hacks needed to get it working on Vista/Win7! (Especially x64...) Hopefully we'll have a v1.0 out within a couple of weeks, as soon as we get our hands on that code-signing certificate.

So yes, while we are still technically in Beta it's definitely much more stable than PeerGuardian 2 is, on Vista/Win7 at least. And we have a lot of additional debug-information in there, so that if you encounter any problems we'll actually have a shot at troubleshooting them. And since we're actively developing it, we'll even fix 'em if at all possible!

Right now we're primarily focused on fixing old PG2 bugs and complaints people have with it, but hope to start working on some new features and/or re-architecting some of the old code in the post-1.0 timeframe. So even those of you running XP and happy with PG may want to look into us at some point. And if there's anything that annoys you with PG, please make sure to let us know so we can look into addressing it!

Thanks, and if you have any questions/concerns please let me know...

--- Mark ---

 

Good for you Mark that users are using PeerBlock now.. PG2 I am old time user of that software but I find it working without issues. I guess when it stop working I'll jump on your PB program. Everyone going to stick to what works. But if yours works as most say here then I might try it. Just can't afford to use AS-IS that might fail and not protect from bad IPs. That's all I am saying..

 

Not at all

It's always refreshing to see developer taking time to address concerns/issues wider community might have.


What comes to me, I find this interesting. In my own cases with Vista, I actually moved to use internal IP blocking features of my P2P clients because I found PG2 to be a total pain.

 

So you manually add the list or you use third-party. That way is better those to do it internal then use PG2 or PB to do it. But not always can you get the internal IP blocker to work. Yes in the past PG2 was pain. I had an issue they had the latest build for Vista so that's what I use on XP box for P2P stuff only. I always launch PG2 first before the client P2P program to start on the certain media I want.

 

Okay everyone I had gave this a try on my traveling laptop since I am still offsite. Loaded PeerBlock run the updates then I had notice that P2P won't connect. Tried it a few more times still it won't update. Shutdown the PeerBlock and loaded up the PG2 instead and that updated all 5 without no glitches. So I'll stick with PG2 for now and had removed PeerBlock.

 

Hmm, sorry you ran into some problems, tipstir. Out of curiosity, do you remember if you were running the "Public Release" (0.9.2, r86) available from our main www.peerblock.com website, or the latest "Interim Release" (r93) from our Development Blog at devblog.peerblock.com?

If you were running r86, that release still makes use of peerguardian.sourceforge.net hosted list files by default - those servers are notoriously unreliable, and are the source of most peoples' list-updating problems. Starting with r93 PeerBlock will instead use lists hosted at iblocklist.com on new installs; these list-servers are much faster and more reliable, and are hosted by "fakhir", one of the site admins / founders over at the PeerGuardian website so can be trusted as much as you'd trust the PG2 list-servers.

Don't know why PG2 would be able to update lists from those peerguardian.sourceforge.net serverswhile PeerBlock would not, probably just luck of the draw. But if you'd update your list-servers as per the instructions linked-to on our main download page (http://www.peerblock.com/latest-release) I'd be willing to bet things would work much better for you.

Unless it's a different problem entirely, in which case I'd love to get a copy of your peerblock.log file if you still have it lying around by some chance so I can see what went wrong and fix it... Otherwise, sorry it didn't work out for you for whatever reason, and hopefully a future version will.

--- Mark ---