another Windows Firewall Control?

Hmm, I also just ran into a bug whereby Learning Mode prompts multiple times for the same rules and several duplicate rules end up being created, but no errors are logged in Event Viewer.

 

Do you have custom rules defined and the rules are not recognized ? Please export your policy and send it to support@binisoft.org. Also, please specify with which rules you had this problem. In this way I can find the problem in debug mode and fix it. Thank you for your support.

 

Hi Alexander,

I've downloaded your software. Windows Firewall Control, binosoft 3.5.02. Is this most recent release. Also Im wondering are you still maintaining this software? I couldn't connect to your website and I download WFC from download.com.


I have also several problems:
1) I own malwarebytes antimalware. I have set my firewall to Medium Filter. I have created a rule for MBAM by browsing for the applications. Then I attempted to update MBAM and the update process failed! How do I create a rule to enable update in wfc?
2) Why is wfc 112mb in size?
3) The UI is sluggish. Is it CPU rendered? Every time I scroll, I get 100% CPU usage...
4) How do you configure WFC to recive updates for other programs such as flash, java, windows updates?

I have tried several firewalls (OA, OP, PF, etc) and this one seems to be by far the easiest to configure. But I still would like to read a guide or simple readme file.

Matt

 

The website is fine and running. You can check on this website http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/binisoft.org if a website is up or if is a problem with your internet connection. The last version was published 5 days ago, this means I'm still maintaining this software.

To update properly MBAM, you must create rule for: "C:\program files\malwarebytes' anti-malware\mbam.exe" to allow TCP connections on port 80. A general rule, for ANY protocols on ANY port is also fine. If this does not work, check your internet connection. What antivirus do you use ? Do you use Avast and do you have Avast Web Shield enabled ?

Even with all windows opened, the last version of wfc.exe should not take more than 70-80MB of memory in the worst case. What is your PC configuration ? What version of Windows do you use ?

The UI is rendered by DirectX. The program uses Windows Presentation Foundation to render it's graphics. Please check your graphic card drivers.

There is a rule for Window Update that is created at installation of the program if the user chooses to install recommended rules. To allow Windows Update you must define a custom rule for svchost.exe. For Java, you must allow java.exe and javaw.exe. Because it is impossible to know what rules must be created to allow every piece of software, I have created Learning Mode. This provides notifications for updaters, programs, etc. This is why I have implemented it.

The user interface of WFC is easy to use and self explanatory. You can see a video on YouTube that shows how to operate the program, from the installation, the activation procedure, the usage, the uninstall process, etc. You can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xyx8r47KLMg

 

- yes you were right, there was a problem with my connection, I was using a school internet.

I use MSE. This problem went away after I uninstalled and reinstalled WFC.

I use Windows 7SP1. Again, after I re-installed WFC, the memory usage is 72mb

I checked with device manager and my graphic card is up to date. I am using AMD integrated graphics with 400mb, I got 5.6GB ram, 1.5Ghz single core AMD with 64GB SSD.

I also run my task manager at start up and it shows WFC using between 80-97% of the CPU at start up for about 20s. No other start up application uses so much CPU, including Windows Live Mail 2011 (which I also load).

Granted, I don't have the fastest CPU but other programs including Office 2010, don't give me slow performance. Also this is the newest AMD Fusion which is quite good and not an older machine with 1.5Ghz Pentium.

For comparison lets look at this example. I open MS word 2010 and it uses between 25%-45% of CPU. However opening WFC, my CPU uses between 86-95% CPU and takes about 20s to open.

Now, assuming that I keep WFC always on here is another problem. Even thou that WFC was loaded into taskbar in start up, right clicking on the icon for the first time still results in another 20s before I see the main screen opens. Again CPU usage is about 95%. I look at the memory usage and while WFC is opening the program slowly loads from 20mg to 70mb then opens main screen.

So it looks like opening the program loads 20mb of memory, then when you right click it loads 50mb more. When you left click it also loads few megabytes and takes 1-2 seconds. All subsequent right and left click use about 10% CPU.

 

I think it is related to the speed of the CPU. Single core 1.5GHz is pretty low these days. On my development computer, I have AMD Turion 64 X2 Dual-Core at 2.2GHz. On my test system I have Intel i5-2400 Quad Core at 3.1GHz. On both of them, loading time of wfc.exe at start-up is almost instantly and the CPU usage is 0. If I left click on the WFC icon, the main window appears instantly and the CPU load is 2-3%. The memory used is increasing to about 20MB because the graphics are loaded for the first time. Even an empty window which does nothing in WPF takes 10MB. When I open the Manage Rules window, this appear in max 1-2 seconds, depending on the usage of the CPU with other tasks. The CPU load is maximum 10% on both systems. Opening the Manage Rules window increase the memory with 30MB to because all the rules are read and loaded from the Windows Service. Remember that there are hundreds of objects (rules) which need memory to load. The memory consumption with all windows open, when the memory used is maximum varies between 40MB and 60MB. Regarding the CPU usage, on the development machine, when I scroll the rules in Manage Rules window, the CPU goes up to 70-80%. On my test machine, it uses 20-30% of CPU.

When you have time, try WFC on a different PC to see if you have the same results. 20 seconds is too much.

 

I am a User since a couple of days, and I love it.

Thanks alexandrud one more time and please keep up the good work

 

Version 3.5.0.4 available

What's new:
- New: All windows of the progrm can be closed by pressing the middle mouse button, anywhere, on any window. This can be also achieved with Esc key.
- New: All textboxes where the user can input data has now a clear field button.
- Fixed: Notifications are displayed if Learning Mode is enabled and the program is in locked state. When the program is in locked state, the notifications should not be displayed.
- Fixed: "Click to allow" and "Click to block" don't work when they are launched from Manage Rules window.
- Fixed: "Delete" key does not work to remove selected rules from Manage Rules window.
- Fixed: The program crashes when a different user from another user account tries to start the program while it is already running on another user account. This happens when multiple users are logged in at the same time, when fast user switching feature is used. Instead of crashing, the second instance will display a message to the user.
- Fixed: Standard user accounts which don't have access permissions to the folder where the program is installed can't start the program until they manually set their rights. This is done now automatically by the installer.
- Fixed: Manage Rules window can't be opened on a second retry if it was closed with ALT+F4 first time. The same applies to the main window interface.
- Fixed: Editing Rule window does not close on some systems after Apply button is pressed, even if the changes are saved.
- Fixed: Starting the uninstall while the program is in locked state shows the uninstaller window. If the program is in locked state, this call should be ignored.

Download link: http://binisoft.org/download/wfc.exe

Installation notes:
Check for updates from the main interface and install the new version.

Please let me know if this version solves the previous problems that you have reported. Here, on this topic or at: support@binisoft.org

Thank you for your support,
Alexandru

 

Esc key doesn't close main window. I'll like that behaviour.

 

Main window can be closed from the X button, with ALT+F4, with middle mouse click. ESC key, in the next release.

 

When you select 'Create System Rules' during re-installation of WFC, it will recreate duplicates if you previously chose to 'Keep Current Settings' when uninstalling WFC.

The latest update is very nice, thanks.

 

This is normal. The version that you uninstall leaves the firewall rules as they are. The new version that you install does not verify what firewall rules you have. The check would be per rule name, it would take time, and if the user renamed those rules, they will be duplicated anyway. It is the user's job to know what rules he have and what rules creates. These duplicates can be easily deleted. If you want to avoid duplicates use the update function. Don't uninstall the previous version and run the new version. It will detect the old version and it will update the exe files, without creating new rules.

 

Been playing around with this program and like it so far. One thing though is that how come I don't get a notification tray icon after startup if installed under C:\Program Files..? I do see that the service is running but to get to manage rules via tray icon, I still need to manually start wfc.exe and allow the UAC prompt... Should this be installed under C:\ProgramData instead as mentioned in one of the previous posts?


Using win7 with default UAC settings.

 

From version 3.5.0.4 the installer sets full access to the installation folder to allow Everyone to that folder. This means that you can install it without problems even in Program Files folder. ProgramData was just an idea, but I did not like it.

The Windows Service (wfcs.exe) does it's job, but he GUI (wfc.exe) must first connect to it. If you get prompted by UAC after the system starts and WFC wants to start, it means that you have to unblock the file. This is a protection from Windows and this applies to downloaded files from the internet which are not digitally signed. WFC is signed but with a self generated certificate. To unblock it, see the screenshot below. Go to the Properties of the file wfc.exe and choose to unblock the file. After you restart your computer you will see that the program will start properly, without UAC prompt. Off course, make sure that you have checked Start with Windows from the main interface.

Please let me know if this solves your problem.

 

I don't seem to have that unblock button for wfc.exe and wfcs.exe. Windows Firewall Control icon shows that UAC shield logo that indicates it needs to run as admin.

 

You have to unblock the downloaded file not the installed file

 

Ooohhh alright then. Will reinstall and see. Thanks.

 

The downloaded file before installation or the installed file after installation. It is the same file, but during installation it moves itself to the installation folder.

 

Then you have an issue. He's already shown in his picture that the moved file does not have the unblock button.

 

1. Open the Start Menu.
2. In the white line (Start Search) area, type secpol.msc and press Enter.
3. In the left pane, click on Local Policies.
4. Click on Security Options.
5. In the right pane, scroll down to User Account Control.

It must look the same as in the picture below. These are the default settings of UAC enabled. See all the related UAC settings from the list.

I did not see the UAC overlay icon over wfc.exe never until now. The folder "C:\Program Files\Windows Firewall Control" has full access rights and the file should not have that UAC lock icon over it.

Did you modify recently the UAC settings, maybe with some external tweaking application ? Try to disable UAC, restart your computer and then activate back the UAC.

1. Do you use a standard account or admin account ?
2. This problem appear on all types of user accounts ?
3. What operating system do you use ?

Please let me know if this helps you with this problem.

 

Disabled UAC on admin account and after a reboot, WFC tray icon appeared. Once UAC is enabled to default, no icon shows up at startup. This is under windows 7 32bit with a standard account and an admin account.

 

Loving the latest version so far. Only downside is lack of compatibility with third party Malicious IP Blockers (like Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware's Website Blocker and Peerblock). When such programs block access to malicious IP addresses through a certain process (usually a browser), WFC keeps prompting to create a rule for the same process even though there's already a "Allow All" rule, this in turn results in duplicates.

I know it's clearly stated in it's description that it's not compatible with such programs (yet), so in the mean time, mind just implementing an On-demand duplicate rule finder in the rules Window?

Thanks for this awesome software Alexander keep up the great work

 

Well I just made a scheduled task to run wfc.exe at user logon. Tray icon appears after a reboot so all is well I guess.

Cheers.

 

Good news. Today I had new inspiration. I have modified some logic of the program and these problems are now resolved. From the next version, PeerBlock and Malwarebyte Anti-Malware will be fully supported. No more incompatibilities.

The Task Scheduler approach was abandoned since version 3.3.0.0 because it can't start WFC on standard user accounts. Standard user account don't have enough privileges to access Task Scheduler tasks. I am glad that this worked for you, until I will find the problem and provide a solution.

 

Version 3.5.0.5 beta 1
First of all, thank you for your feedback and your help.

What's new:
- I have found the problem with the duplicate notifications when Learning Mode is enabled and PeerBlock or Malwarebytes Anti-Malware are used. I have build a new beta version which resolves the duplicate notifications when these programs are used with WFC.
- Main window can be closed with ESC key. (majoMo)

This version was tested on Windows 8 RTM x86.

This beta version 3.5.0.5 can be downloaded from here:
http://binisoft.org/download/beta/wfc.exe

Please when you have time, update to this version and let me know if this fix works also on your PCs. No restart is needed.

Thank you very much for your support,
Alexandru