another Windows Firewall Control?

Alex, there seems to be an installation problem.
WFC is in C:\Windows\System32
I finished WFC.
At first I installed 3.002 over 3.000.
After the installation process was finished successfully there was as well 3.000 as 3.002 running. I terminated 3.000. I activated WFC and found out that there was 3.000 running. In the system32-folder there still was the old WFC.exe (3.000).
I then uninstalled WFC via the control panel. I installe 3.002, activated it again and everything seemed to work correctly.

But: After a reboot, I had again the old wfc.exe 3.000 in my System32-folder and 3.000 running, although Version 3.002 is now noted in Control-Panel - Programs/Software.

What is wrong?

 

Alex I emailed support and am waiting for activation code. I don't have it installed. I'm waiting until I install Win7.

 

There is something more: After reinstalling 3.002 as described above, wfc did no longer start automatically, although it was installed with admin privileges.
And surprise: wfc.exe was no longer in c:\windows\system32

I completely removed wfc now hoping to get some help soon.

Another addition:
I did a systemwide filescan wor wfc.* and found the following files that I personally did never install there but that were obviously not removed by the uninstall procedures:
==================================================
Filename : wfc.exe
Folder : C:\Windows\SysWOW64
Size : 473.232
Modified Time : 27.09.2011 17:21:22
Created Time : 27.09.2011 15:36:30
Last Accessed Time: 27.09.2011 17:25:38
Attributes : A
Extension : exe
Duplicate Number :
Duplicate Group :
File Position :
File Content :
==================================================

==================================================
Filename : wfc.wfw
Folder : C:\Windows\System32\drivers
Size : 159.744
Modified Time : 15.08.2011 19:19:18
Created Time : 15.08.2011 19:19:18
Last Accessed Time: 15.08.2011 19:19:18
Attributes : A
Extension : wfw
Duplicate Number :
Duplicate Group :
File Position :
File Content :
==================================================

==================================================
Filename : wfc.wfw
Folder : C:\Windows\SysWOW64\drivers
Size : 155.648
Modified Time : 27.09.2011 17:25:51
Created Time : 27.09.2011 15:36:39
Last Accessed Time: 27.09.2011 17:25:51
Attributes : A
Extension : wfw
Duplicate Number :
Duplicate Group :

By the way: Where does WFC store the ruleset and the activation information? I cannot find anything in the registry and want to delete those information to be sure to do a real fresh installation.

 

Thank you, that was what I was missing. Now it does make sense to me.

 

C:\Windows\System32\drivers\wfc.wfw is created on installation to save the current Windows Firewall rules, and it is used to restore previous firewall rules in case of uninstallation of the program.

The program settings are stored in registry, but at the uninstallation, they are all erased.

C:\Windows\SysWOW64\wfc.exe - This file should never got here

The other problems are related to the x64 operating system. I will investigate more I will post the cause and the fix. On 32bit systems there were no problems.

 

Thank you. Up to and with 3.0.0.0 I had no problems with WFC on my W7 x64.
So what shall I do? Leave the wfc.wfw in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\ and delete those two in C:\Windows\SysWOW64\ and C:\Windows\SysWOW64\drivers?
And then do a fresh installation of a new wfc-update?

 

Updated to version 3.0.0.3

√ Fixed: default installation folder on 64bit versions of Windows, changed to SysWOW64 instead of System32.
√ New: End Process option when you are viewing current network connections in the program.

Now the explanation. Version 3.0.0.2 is compiled to use x86 native code, and because of that, on 64bit operating systems, the default installation must be in SysWOW64 instead of System32. This update fixes the problems regarding 64bit operating systems. Also, this version can update an old installation, without requesting closing the older version that is running. Just run the new wfc.exe from any location on your HDD, and follow instructions.

If you use version 3.0.0.2 you can use the new feature "Check for Updates". If not, you can download the new version from the website.

Please do not hesitate to report any other problems regarding WFC, and I will fix them in a short time.
Thank you for your support.

 

Thank you, Alex.

First 3.003 was installed without problems. And it is running fine.
But: After the second or third reboot, the icon does no longer show up in the system tray. Although wfc is running and it still keeps notifying about outgoing connections. I can set up rules then.

But the tray icon is still missing.

Addition (after some restarts of the computer):
The tray icon remains away. So there is no user-interface! But WFC is still running.

 

This is a NET Framework issue. Please end process "wfc.exe" using Task Manager, and then restart manually WFC from the shortcut. Now you should have the icon back. Meanwhile I will investigate more.

Thank you for your feedback.

 

Thanks, that helped out for the moment.

 

Updated to version 3.0.0.4

√ Fixed: system tray icon sometimes is not appearing at Windows startup, but the program is running in Task Manager.
√ Improved: uninstall procedure complains about language pack not found when Learning Mode is enabled, until an option is selected for uninstall.
√ New: added support for the following languages for Learning Mode: portuguese (pt-PT and pt-BR) and dutch (nl-BE).
√ Improved: the update function is not working if the file name was named differently than "wfc.exe". From now on the program won't run if it has a different name.

Please do not hesitate to report any other problems regarding WFC, and I will fix them in a short time.
Thank you for your support. Hope this version

 

Update-procedure worked perfectly. Program runs fine up to now.
Thank you

 

Thanks for update

 

Alex: Any info on how the services based version is coming along? Not asking for any specifics, just a little update??

 

I'm still a few versions behind but do admire your hard work. Will update soon.

 

Hey Alex. How about adding a search filter box to the "show allowed" window. The list can become pretty long, and finding the right program can be a bit tricky.
But if there would be a filter-box where you could write for example "utorrent" and it would show only it in the list instantly, would be faster to edit it.

 

The development of WFC as a Windows service is unfortunately stagnating in a beta version with a lot of problems. It is a lot harder than I expected when I was started this project, but I will continue it in the future from the current state.

I will try to find a way to add such a feature in a future version.

Thank you for your feedback and your support, have a nice week-end.

 

Alex can you please send me the activation code? I have sent two emails.

 

UPDATED TO VERSION 3.0.0.5

√ New: search box in the window with rules to easily find a firewall rule. The searching is made by program path and program name.
√ Fixed: wrong program name detected when using Shell Integration to create rules.
√ Fixed: "Learning Mode" and "Start with Windows" not working on Windows in portuguese (pt-PT).

Thank you for your support !

 

Thank you. Works fine

 

Battery Mode

Noticed that WFC is set (by default) to not be activate if PC is working over Battery Mode.

Why such behavior? With that laptop's working with battery are without WFC protection!

 

Thanks, this works ok. Although it would in my opinion be even better if the results were filtered to only show matching, so you wouldn´t need to keep pressing search-button many times. But this is already definitely better than nothing. Thanks!

 

Thanks for update

 

I have used my laptop several times on battery and WFC worked well. It has nothing to do with your laptop being on the battery. Maybe it was a coincidence, something related to other stuff you have did on your laptop in the same time. Did you disabled Windows Firewall service while WFC was running, or other related services ?

I wanted an increased speed of the search. It was more simpler to just navigate to the next item found on the list, than using another temporary list without relevant items. To achieve this I should have cleared and populated again the listview, which I tried to avoid. Anyway, the next result is always displayed on top, on first line. Sorry, but I think this way is better and easier.

Thank you for your support !

 

WFC'Task Scheduler has by default (at least with me) in Tab Options:

1. Start The Task Only If The Computer Is On AC Power - item checked;
2. Stop If The Computer Switches To Battery Power - item checked.

I needed to change settings to: unchecked both items, and working well in battery mode.