another Windows Firewall Control?

What is putting me off using this is the excessive high resource usage which is totally unacceptable considering its only a windows firewall front end app.
When i installed it the resource usage was nearly 90mb!!! .That is awful for such a small program.Its even heavier than a full security suite.
Until it is confirmed that this software error has been corrected then i may consider using it again.

 

Did you try the new version and the memory (Private Working Set) is 90MB ? When idle, the memory stays around 20MB and when all windows are openend, it can go up to 50MB. But after you close all the windows, the memory will drop back to 20MB. I think this is pretty ok for a WPF application.

 

Thank you alexandrud,
Im not trying to put a downer on your app by any means i think its great what your doing and is very much needed.When i used it about a month ago the resource usage rocketed and im not sure why.The windows7 firewall is quite powerful and i would need an app like this to fully control it.I may try it again at some point and thanks for developing this.

 

Version 3.7.0.1 released

What's new:
- Fixed: Profile slider is set to "No Filtering" on some situations even if the profile is set properly. This occurs on the reopen of the Main Window.
- Fixed: In some situations the same notification may be displayed for multiple times for the same blocked connection.
- Fixed: User can right click on the columns headers in Manage Rules and the rule context menu appears. The context menu should not be displayed for the columm header.
- Fixed: Manage Rules does not close on middle mouse button click like other windows do. Now every window can be closed by pressing on the scroll wheel.
- Fixed: Notifications not showing in some scenarios on Windows Vista.
- New: Added support to create new rules for *.bin and *.setup files. In the past the only accepted extension was *.exe. Some programs use *.bin file or *.setup file extensions for their updaters.
- New: Main Window can save and restore the placement on the desktop.
- New: Removed dependency to "TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper" service for the notification system. From this version, Learning Mode will work properly even if this service is disabled.

Download location: http://binisoft.org/download/wfc.exe
MD5: A96A4109E08344F041288F85206B536C

Your feedback is welcome. Please let me know if the reported problems were fixed.

Thank you for your support and your patience. I'm giving my best to improve this piece of software.
The developer.

 

Thank you alexandrud.i think its great that you apply fixes so swiftly.
When you are informed of problems you are straight on to it.Not many software developers are so involved with their users like you are.
Great stuff and the very best of luck with the new release.

 

I can confirm the slider issue is fixed. Thanks for the speedy update, great work.

 

Good, we are improving. Learning Mode will work properly even if DNS service is disabled, sit down to work.
Prudently, and not stubbornly we come to the right place.

 

Version 3.7.0.2 quick fix

What was fixed:
- Fixed: Start with Windows does not work because of the wrong path in the shortcut.
- Fixed: Main Window fails to display properly if the DPI is changed. This happens because the window saves the size. When reloading on a different DPI setting this size setting is obsolete and should be reset.
- Improved: The CPU usage on the Windows service was reduced by disabling the read of system events when profile is not set to Medium Filtering.

Download location: http://binisoft.org/download/wfc.exe
MD5: D5C4F85DC6F24E99623B0C347760968B

Thank you for your support.
Alexandru

 

When I delete invalid rules, the main window options are all grayed out after reopening. I have to restart the application for the options to return back to normal.

 

Unfortunately I could not reproduce this kind of problem. Deleting the rules does not affect the other options of the program. If the sliders and other options are greyed out it means that the GUI (wfc.exe) can not connect to the Windows service (wfcs.exe). It works again if you restart the program, because in this case the connection is made again. This happens all the time or this is random ? When this will happen again, plese go to Windows services and see if the Windows service named "Windows Firewall Control Service" is running. Also, go in Event Viewer. Under "Applications and Services Logs" category you will see a subcategory named "WFC". Please check if there are any logged errors.

 

The software just keeps getting better and better! You are doing an awesome job! You are one of the fastest developers that I have seen to respond to issues or problems!

Unfortunately I do have a bit of bad news for you... The problem I have been having on my Vista HP x 64 concerning learning mode (post 1101 above) is not fixed on my machine. It is doing the same as it was before...

 

Thank you for your good thoughts. I think I have what you want and it makes sense. A have compiled a beta version 3.7.0.3 which practically is the same version as the current one but I have removed a line of code. Please download and try this version. I think this is finally what you wanted. If this is THE FIX I will include it in the next official version.

Download URL: http://binisoft.org/download/beta/wfc.exe

Looking forward to hear from you.

 

My friend, a few good words go far it seems as that fixed my problem... It is a good feeling to have my WFC doing its job once again. Great job and you could not have been any faster than that!

 

Hi Alexander...
Ive found a reproducable bug on my laptop (win 7 64 bit).Im not sure if you or anyone else can reproduce it or whether its a known bug?.If the manage rules screen is opened and you right click on an area of the manage rules screen that is not populated ,then click properties ,WFC crashes and shuts down.It doesnt shut down if you actually click on an entry and then properties.Im using 3.7.0.2 version

 

Yes, it is a small bug. It is already fixed and it will be included in the next version. Thank you for reporting this.

 

Version 3.7.0.3 available

What's new:
- Fixed: A second notification can not be displayed for the a program for the same port if a rule that allow this port already exists. (puff-m-d)
- Fixed: Context menu can be opened in Manage Rules window even if a rule is not selected. (ellison64)
- Fixed: The height of the description text box for a rule in the Rule Properties window, does not occupy all the available space.
- Updated: The error validation template has been changed for the text boxes.

Download location: http://binisoft.org/download/wfc.exe
MD5: 521B052936DF0F6595D5A58231773979

Your feedback is welcome. Please let me know if the reported problems were fixed.

Thank you for your support.
Alexandru

 

Why this is happening? Why so many same rules?

 

My first recommendation is to change your settings to create only outbound rules. Inbound rules are required for server applications. Especially you don't want inbound rules to svchost.exe.

Those rules did not appear from nowhere. Did you received notifications for outgoing connections for svchost.exe and you choosed to "Allow" them ?

The same notification for svchost.exe appeared for multiple times for the same connection or multiple notifications appeared at different times for different connections, but all regarding svchost.exe ? What version of WFC do you use ?

 

I'm using Clover. When I choose "Clover About" in their settings it does an update checking. WFC didn´t alert that, unlike e.g. W7FC.

Medium in Profiles and Notifications.

Some ideas? Thanks.

 

1. I just installed Clover. I opened the About dialog for the first time and a new notification appeared stating that clover.exe tries to connect to the internet. I closed the notification without creating a rule.

2. The second time when I opened the About dialog the notification did not appear, and the result message was: "Update server not available (Error: 6)".

3. I have disabled Windows Firewall and tried again. The same result: "Update server not available (Error: 6)".

4. Third time I opened the About dialog, the notification appeared again, I have created a new rule to allow it. The same result again: "Update server not available (Error: 6)".

So, even with a rule or not, allowed or blocked, Clover displays the same message. The notification works and it is displayed. Try again. This happens all the time or just the time when you have tried ?

 

Thanks for your feedback! I haven't exactly the same behaviour than you; WFC notification appeared never. Update is checked even when "clover.exe" is in a blocked list.

With "CurrPorts", Nir Sofer tool, I saw that when I update "Adfender.exe" comes out also in CurrPorts log. Since I' using AdFender, it seems that for some reason it has some interference in this issue.

Never mind, it is not a big deal to me really.

 

This is just on the GUI side. Just visually seems to check for updates, but it won't connect through a block rule.

I will check this scenario too. Thank you for your feedback. For other programs, notifications work as expected ?

 

Nice to know that "it won't connect through a block rule", even if it appear...

For other programs notifications are working as expected indeed.

Thanks.

 

Just now as I tried to download the latest version I had a warning pop up from EmsiSoft EAM saying that the site www.binisoft.org was unsafe.
I allowed the connection and continued with the download.

 

I've latest version. I had inbound&outbound...