Windows Firewall Control (WFC) by BiniSoft.org

Ok, you could make an decision-window for this "Run WFC AS ADMINISTRATOR or finish the installation process now?" ...

Yes, exactly. But here it's definitive reproducable. I select "Display Inbound rules" in Rule window, then "Browse to allow" - the rule will created as outbound rule - ALWAYS.

Definitive reproducable here, each time - with the following easy NEW test scenario:

Step 1: I make a duplicate of a (Outbound) rule ...



Step 2: I change the Protocol ONLY ...



Step 3: It looks good FOR NOW ...



Step 4: I make a rule refresh ...



Step 5: This is the result ...



Important note: the same behaviour is with change to ICMPv4, ICMPv6, IPv6 and GRE - but NOT with UDP!

Alpengreis

 

Pardon my ignorance in advance, but is this firewall better (in terms of speed and overall protection) compared to Windows 7 built-in firewall?

I recently dumped my AV/Internet Suite in favor of going "light." Currently only using WinPatrol Plus and Win 7 Firewall.

Is it recommended that I replace the default Win 7 Firewall with Windows Firewall Control 4?

 

Windows Firewall Control is not a replacement for the default Win7 firewall but a great tool that makes the handling of the Win7 firewall very easy.
Understand WFC as a user interface for the built-in Win7 firewall.
IMHO you do not need another third party firewall software.

 

Got it. Thanks. Encountered one issue upon install. It's telling me that a 3rd part firewall (Norton) is installed. However I removed Norton Internet Security; ran the Norton Removal tool (multiple times); deleted all folders + files linked to Norton and Symantec; and did the same with the registry.....but I'm still seeing that message pop-up.

Any suggestions.

 

Norton may not have unregistered itself in WIM. Their cleanup tool should have deleted the entry but if it didn't, the firewall is registered as installed even though it isn't installed.

 

Here too now with the new detailed steps. I will fix this in the next release.

If you see this message even if you uninstalled Norton, it means that Norton is still registered as the current firewall in Windows Control Center. This is the place from where WFC reads the status. You can continue and install WFC without problems. That message is just a tip for the user, not something that will stop the installation process.

 

Windows Firewall Control v.4.0.8.2 - New Version

What's new:
- New: From the Connections Log window, the user can now change which connections should be logged by Windows Firewall: all, allowed, blocked, none.
- Fixed: The path of programs are not correct recognized in the notification dialog for files located on drives A:\ and B:\.
- Fixed: Modifying a rule from TCP or UDP protocols to another protocol fails if the original rule has local ports or remote ports defined.
- Fixed: The Rules Panel windows is closed when the Lock dialog is closed. This should happen only if the user locks the program. If the user clicks on the Cancel button then the Rules Panel should stay open.
- Improved: Removed the topmost flag for the Main Panel window. Now it will not be displayed anymore on top of other windows and will have the normal behavior.
- Improved: Starting the program at end of the installation/update is now optional.
- Improved: The user can now choose if the notification dialog should be displayed on top of other windows or to behave normally. There is a new checkbox in the Notifications tab for this purpose.

Installation notes: Because a lot of changes have occurred, a clean install is recommended. The following translation strings were added in this version:

Download location: http://binisoft.org/download/wfc4setup.exe
SHA1: a8f044496515b691fa03f727e8e0294a187d00fa

Thank you for your support and your feedback,
Alexandru

 

Very nice as always.
Many thanks Alexandru

 

I missed that and updated right over 4.0.8.0. I do not realize any problems.
The only issue I noticed that after restart I had to switch Notifications from "high" back to "medium".

Alex, do you recommend a clean install nevertheless?

Thank you

 

Hi alexandrud,

thank you for the update, it's almost perfect now, except the "rule always created as outbound" thing.

Have a good week!

Alpengreis

 

If you do not encounter any problems, a new install is not required.

I missed that. Thank you for reminding me. I will fix this in the next release. To avoid this, when you create a rule from the "Connections Log" or "New Rules Wizard" choose to "Customize and allow..." instead of "Allow this program". In this way you will have the chance to set properly the direction of the rule.

When you are in Manage Rules view, if you browse for a file to create a new rule, the flag set in Main Panel is used correctly. If Inbound is selected in the Rules tab, then the new rule will be created for inbound connections. It does not happen this way in your case ?

 

I got the issue w/ Norton Firewall resolved and I downloaded/installed/purchased an activation code - but I have a question about WFC 4.

If I change the filtering from "low" to "medium (recommended)" I can NOT get Chrome Browser to connect to the net. Can someone tell me what settings modification I need to make to allow Chrome through on the Medium profile setting.

Thanks.

 

Check under Manage Rules if there is a Rule for Chrome !



And if the rule is RED, right click it and click Allow.

Else if there is no rule, click on browse to allow, browse to chrome and select it.

Ps: As you can see I don't have Chrome, so a rule for Chrome doesn't show.

 

Set the notification level also to Medium and the next time you will use Chrome, if it will be blocked you will see a notification dialog from which you can allow it. Similar to any other firewall.

 

Notification was set on "low" - hence why I wasn't seeing the Chrome pop-up. Moved it to "medium" and all is good now.

Thanks.

 

I guess I have to apologize.

I had completely overlooked the following setting:



This refers not only to the creation in notifications, but also within the Rule Manager, right?

This means that I have selected inbound and make a new rule with "Browse to allow" or "Click to allow" ...



... then the rule ALWAYS as outbound is created because of this setting.

Am I correct?

An other little issue - just for information:

Sometimes (rarely) the Rule Manager Windows has the on top focus. I do not (yet) why - it'll keep in mind.

 

That setting applies globally to all rules created by WFC. There is indeed a small problem when you create a new rule from "Connections Log" or "New Rules Wizard" because these rules are always set to Outbound even if that setting is set to Inbound only.

Regarding the top focus of Manage Rules window I can't reproduce it. If you will reproduce it again and if you will provide the steps you did, I will find the problem.

 

And, indeed, in "Manage Rules" ...

Yes, I can do it "unfortunately" not reproduce. And it is also the case that (after?) the window does not retain the size (much smaller then) and appears on my other monitor. Well, is not an big deal. When will I know the context, I tell you, of course.

Ah yes, because of the size of the notification window - so you would not have to scroll down - you have there already news?

Thank you!
Alpengreis

 

I tried to make the notification dialog resizable but it looks awful. If I make it resizable there is also the possibility to maximize and minimize that window which is really a bad idea. You will have to use the scroll function when you customize a rule. I think we can live with that.

 

Ah, ok - then it's probably really better to leave it that way.

Hmm ... I can live with that? Hmm ... Joking aside, of course - absolutely no problem

 

Thanks for the awesome update alexandrud!!

I don't think this is a bug; it creates the rules based on the default direction you have specified at "Main Panel > Rules > Specify the direction for which a new rule is applied when creating a new rule:". If you change that option to "outbound", new rules will default to "Outbound" - ALWAYS.

-EDIT-

Oops, didn't see this post before I replied

 

Windows Firewall Control v.4.0.8.4 - New Version

What's new:
- Fixed: Disabling the logging from the uninstall dialog applies only for the blocked connections. The allowed connections are still logged after WFC uninstallation.
- Fixed: The icon does not appear in the system tray area if the connection to the service can not be established.
- Fixed: When creating a rule without customizing it from "Connections Log" or "New Rules Wizard" the direction of a rule that is set in the Main Panel is not applied correctly. Only outbound rules are created.
- Fixed: The icon does not appear in the system tray area at program startup if the user has defined a custom notification sound.
- Improved: The logging was updated to identify more easily the problems that may appear during the program execution.

Installation notes: Just use the installer to update to the latest version. There are no new translation strings.

Download location: http://binisoft.org/download/wfc4setup.exe
SHA1: da99d1f3659115b8548ed53ad19de345466a377a

Thank you for your support and your feedback,
Alexandru

 

And what about from "Magage rules": there ALWAYS a rule is created as outbound, inbound although selected - with "Browse to allow" and "Click to allow" (for ex.)?

- Regarding the top focus of Manage Rules window I can reproduce now:
It happens (for example) always after "Browse to allow" or "Click to allow"!

- Regarding the installation within restricted user account:

I tried again to install, without prior Exit. No success, setup was hanging. I then finished WFC. The setup was still hanging. I also had to finish the WFC.exe (started from the setup as admin) - only then the setup ran on.

Conclusion: if WFC is running as a limited user, the installation without prior termination fails.

Possible solution:

1) Check if the account is limited/restricted.
2a) Install dialog: Owing to limited user (account) it is necessary to terminate WFC now!
2b) If possible, with subsequent automatic termination.

- After install, the notification-sound is unchecked (I had selected the default sound before).

Greeting,
Alpengreis

PS: Thank you very much for the update!

 

I have also encountered this issue. Setup hangs if WFC.EXE is already running under LUA. So, before I run setup to update WFC under LUA, I close WFC.EXE, then run setup which invokes UAC prompt and installs without any problems.

 

I will fix all of these in the next release.