Windows Firewall Control (WFC) by BiniSoft.org

Discussion in 'other firewalls' started by alexandrud, May 20, 2013.

  1. alexandrud

    alexandrud Developer

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    If you go to this post you can find a download link for version 5.3.1.0. which does exactly what you expect. The current implementation of Secure Rules does not prevent other programs from deleting or modifying existing firewall rules.
     
  2. focus

    focus Registered Member

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    Does it still require a license check from binisoft?
     
  3. Rainwalker

    Rainwalker Registered Member

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    Hoping this has not been asked. I went back to V. 5.3.1.0 to discover I had to "Activate" . Is activation only about updates? Will everything else work fine if I don't?
     
  4. alexandrud

    alexandrud Developer

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    Yes. Version 5.3.1.0 still requires activation. Registered users can still activate it by login in into their registered user accounts from binisoft.org website.

    WFC is freeware since version 5.4.0.0.. From this version everything is unlocked and the software does not require any activation.

    But my recommendation is to use the latest version which is better, has some more bugs fixed, is digitally signed and is still updated. Also, new features will be added only to version 6.x.x.x.
     
  5. Rainwalker

    Rainwalker Registered Member

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    OK, thanks alexandrud........for everything.
     
  6. alexandrud

    alexandrud Developer

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    Windows Firewall Control v.6.0.2.0

    Change log:

    - New: The notifications for svchost.exe include now the service name which generated the blocked connection under the Name. Creating a rule for svchost.exe from the notification dialog will always include the service in the newly created rule.
    - New: Connections Log has now a new column for the Service name which is used by svchost.exe. The lookup is made based on the ProcessID, therefore for older entries, the exact service name can't be detected.
    - Fixed: The width of some strings from Dashboard was extended to display properly when a different language is used.
    - Fixed: Rules properties are not updated in Rules Panel if they are open while changing the user interface language.
    - Fixed: Some group names are not displayed correctly in Rules Panel.

    Download location: https://www.binisoft.org/download/wfc6setup.exe
    SHA1: b1888f619b30f0ea160f413b5b7ce45e141665a3
    SHA256: 535c7f214e16ef525f546e5dadf4124ffdc7eab0b6089cdc0da56888ec24bd2d

    Looking forward to read your feedback,
    Alexandru

    P.S.: A small comment for the service name from Connections Log. WFC will try to find the service name based on the Process ID of the application which generated the entry. This will return the correct service for the current Windows session. If you are looking at older entries, before the computer was restarted, the services had another Process IDs then. In this case, WFC will display like before "Host Process for Windows Services". If the process is still running and has the same Process ID, WFC will display the name of it, for example "DNS Client", "SSDP Discovery", etc.

    upload_2019-3-4_17-11-32.png upload_2019-3-4_17-13-3.png

    Please do not request a new feature to change the service name from the notification dialog. If you are notified by a certain service name, it is safer to create the new rule for that service only.
     
    Last edited: Mar 4, 2019
  7. Victek

    Victek Registered Member

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    Available via the internal updater in 6.0.1.0 :thumb:

    Updated smoothly with no reboot required :thumb:
     
  8. alexandrud

    alexandrud Developer

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    A reboot was never required when installing, updating, uninstalling WFC :)
     
  9. Rainwalker

    Rainwalker Registered Member

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    Nice...Thank you Sir.
     
  10. Nadeel

    Nadeel Registered Member

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    Hi!
    I'm not sure why the Secure Rules option needs to be re-enabled manually every reboot to work properly.
    Without re-enabling, auto-created (for instance by Steam) rules are removed only after opening the Manage Rules panel. Is this a bug?
     
  11. aldist

    aldist Registered Member

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    Most recently, you wrote (I then gave the example of Private WinTen) that creating the individual rules for a services that works through the svchost.exe is useless, since it does not work in Windows 10 (but it works in Windows 7). New circumstances have opened up, and now it works in Windows 10?
     
  12. alexandrud

    alexandrud Developer

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    If you use a registry cleaner, make sure that it won't "cleanup" the location where WFC service stores its settings: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{WD2827D4-F8E0-B379-I229-D89D12E4642A}
    I was referring to Windows Update service (wuauserv) from Windows 10. In Windows 10, it is not sufficient to have a rule for wuauserv to be able to use Windows Update.
     
  13. EASTER

    EASTER Registered Member

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    Thanks for this extra note. Great app-Great developer. Much appreciated of course.
     
  14. Rainwalker

    Rainwalker Registered Member

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    Hate to interrupt here, but I have a general question. Has tasklist.exe been added to V.6.0.2.0 to help with determining services used by svchost?
     
  15. alexandrud

    alexandrud Developer

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    Yes, WFC service will execute once tasklist /svc /fi "imagename eq svchost.exe" /fo csv /nh so that it can match the process id with the running svhost.exe instances.
     
  16. aldist

    aldist Registered Member

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    Rules for the same application, created at different times, are scattered across the field.
    Is it possible to create a function for displaying application rules in the form of a drop-down menu so that the user can independently move the rules and collect all the rules for the application under one button, as in "big" firewalls (copy\paste, drag-n-drop)?
    It seems that this is possible in Private WinTen.
    ScreenShot_176.png
     
  17. alexandrud

    alexandrud Developer

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    Private WinTen is indeed a "big" firewall :confused:
    No, it is not possible because you can't reorder the rules in Windows Firewall. However, you can sort the rules by Program. When you spot multiple similar rules, select them and use the right click context menu to merge them.
    Your request means a lot of work which is not a priority.
     
  18. aldist

    aldist Registered Member

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    This is an example that in an add-in you can group application rules in one place. You implemented the function of determining the name of the services svchost.exe after I gave an example of how this works in this “big” firewall, maybe you can implement the grouping of rules.
    It seems to me that it is better to have 5 rules for one application, than one rule - is easier to manage.
    Yes, of course, this is a lot of work. And the “big” firewalls are Outpost, Comodo, you know that.
     
  19. alexandrud

    alexandrud Developer

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    I was joking, off course I know which are the remaining "big" firewalls on the market. Yes, I could add a grouping feature that can group the rules based on the Program. This is already done when searching for duplicate rules. This is the easiest way. However, this will not allow reordering the rules, it will be just a different way of seeing the rules. Another way would be to use a 3rd party data grid with different modes of displaying the items. I can't promise anything regarding this.
     
  20. Victek

    Victek Registered Member

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    Regarding duplicate rules I notice that I have quite a few. Is there any benefit to merging them?
     
  21. alexandrud

    alexandrud Developer

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    If you really have duplicates, it is better to keep only one of each duplicate items. In general, the notifications system will be faster with less rules because it will compare a blocked connection against less firewall rules. Less rules, better performance. If you have just a few of them the improvement can not be seen.

    I got once a policy from a user complaining that everything is slow, the navigation, the browsing. He had the default 400 rules, he then exported all of them and somehow imported them back twice. Now he had over 1200 rules, each rule duplicated twice. In that case, the notifications system was certainly slower, but it still worked, with one second delay. My point is: unless you have hundreds of duplicates, you can leave them alone.
     
  22. Rainwalker

    Rainwalker Registered Member

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    OK..Thank you.
     
  23. aldist

    aldist Registered Member

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    I also joked, of course, you know much more about firewalls than I do.
    This would be a very demanded feature. After its implementation, reordering the rules would be secondary and would cease to be relevant.
    I know that you, as a professional, liked this idea, despite the difficulties in its implementation.

    ScreenShot_177.png
    It seems that there is something wrong with this option, if it is disabled, wfc.exe still tries to connect to the network.
     
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2019
  24. alexandrud

    alexandrud Developer

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    Nothing wrong. If you have that check box checked, wfc.exe will connect to binisoft.org website to check if a new update is indeed available. It just reads the content of https://www.binisoft.org/update.xml

    Regarding other connections of WFC, please read this. If they are not allowed, nothing happens.
     
  25. aldist

    aldist Registered Member

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    Ah, now I realized that even with missing libraries, wfc.exe is trying to send data that could be collected.
    I do not see anything dangerous in this, because when checking for updates, I just want to know.
     
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