another Windows Firewall Control?

Hi alexandrud, it seems to me that he is asking if it is forecasted to add a sound (like a beep) when user is notified.

 

Now I get it . This should be easy. I will think about it, but the notification is always opened on top of other windows. I don't see the point of a sound. If many of you would like to see such a feature, I will implement it.

 

I think no. In Windows7FirewallControl the sound is annoying.

Please don´t bloat your WindowsFirewallControl. I like it very much.

Werderforever (Thomas)

 

+1 Sound notification is not necessary

 

+2 to no sounds.

 

+10 for switchable

 

I second on no sounds.

 

Important notice

Some users, very few indeed, have reported that the installer hangs on their systems. If you had this kind of problem, I have updated the installer of Windows Firewall Control and I tracked all possible exceptions. I have compiled a beta version 3.5.0.1 which will not hang anymore. In case of an error, the "Exit" button will be enabled back and it will be named "Abort". If this happens, please close the installer by pressing on "Abort" and then please go to Event Viewer (run "eventvwr.msc"). Under "Application and Services Logs" you will see a subcategory named "WFC". Here you can see all the errors that were generated during the installation process. On the right, there is a button named "Save All Events As...". Please use this button to export an *.evtx file to your disk. Please send this file to support@binisoft.org to help us to find the problem that you had with the installer.

The beta version 3.5.0.1 can be downloaded from here:

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

Please save your current policy, uninstall the current version that you use from Control Panel and then try a clean installation of this beta version. No restart is needed.

If you didn't have this kind of problem, this beta version is not needed. The new logging feature will be included in the final version.

Thank you very much for your support and your patience,
Alexandru

 

Version 3.5.0.1 beta 2

After getting the feedback from you, it seems that the problems with the installer are resolved by the beta 1 of version 3.5.0.1. Thank you for your feedback and your help.

I have found a problem with the "Manage Rules" window which is not being recycled properly. Now, the "Manage Rules" window is singleton. This means that this window will not be created anymore every time when it is displayed. The same instance will be used instead. This means that the memory consumption should not increase anymore at subsequent openings of the "Manage Rules" window.

The new beta 2 version was tested on Windows 8 RP x64 and Windows 7 Ultimate x86. Now, when the program starts, it should consume about 10-15 MB. If you open it's main interface, the memory should raise to 20-30 MB because the graphic elements are loaded into memory for the first time. If you open "Manage Rules" the memory should raise to 60-70MB because hundreds of rule objects are loaded into memory. If you close "Manage Rules" window and reopen again, the memory should not increase anymore, because the same instance is used. Also, the memory consumption will not decrease, because the rules are maintained real time in memory. On the second opening, the "Manage Rules" window will appear instantly because the rules are already loaded and ready for use.

The beta 2 of version 3.5.0.1 can be downloaded from here:

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

Please when you have time, uninstall the current version that you use from Control Panel and then try a clean installation of this beta version. No restart is needed.

Please share your feedback about the memory consumption for the new beta.

Thank you very much for your support,
Alexandru

 

After system boot: 30 MB
After first start of "Manage rules": 79 MB
Rest of Session: 68 MB

HTH

 

Is it really necessary to uninstall the previous version? And if so, will I lose all of the rules that have been created?

 

The final version will be able to update this beta version. The easiest way to install this beta version is:

1. Uninstall your current version and choose to keep the current Windows Firewall configuration.
2. Install this new beta and choose not to install the recommended rules.

In this way, your rules will not be altered in any way, but the new version of Windows service and the GUI will be updated properly.

 

Oops - I installed the new Beta 2 over the version 3.5.0.0 without uninstalling before - as I had no time yesterday.
Do I have to face any disadvantages?
Thanks.

 

No, this beta is very stable and all the fixes that it contains, will be part of the final version. No worries for this.

 

The method that I used to install the new beta was this:
I exported my policies via Policies>>>Export Policy in WFC's GUI.
I then did the uninstall of the old version and installed the new beta.
I then imported the policy I had just previously exported via WFC's GUI (Policies>>>Import Policy).
I assume this method accomplishes the same end results as the method posted above and allows WFC to update properly. Please verify that this method is also acceptable as I would like to be sure that my update was successfully done.

 

This is also a valid method.

 

Version 3.5.0.2 available

What's new:
- New: "Create new rules from..." where the user can search in a specific folder for executable files. From the list of executable files that were found, the user can select one or multiple items and then he can create new rules for the selected executable files. The searching is made through all subfolders of the root folder that is specified by the user. This feature is available only for registered users. (see the screenshot below)
- New: Left click on the program's icon in the system tray will show the main interface like until now. Right click will show "Manage Rules".
- Updated: The installer was updated to log all possible errors that may occur at installation, leaving the program in an undeterminate state.
- Improved: Memory consumption was improved by reutilizing of the same window for "Manage Rules" instead of creating a new one every time when it is displayed.
- Updated: "Manage Rules" window has now the same look and feel like the other windows of the program. (see the screenshot below)

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

New presentation video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xyx8r47KLMg

Check for updates from the main interface and install the new version. This version can update any other previous versions including the beta. This version is 3.5.0.2 because version 3.5.0.1 was used internally for the beta. 3.5.0.2 is used as a final version, to preserve the updating feature.

Other things that you should know
- Double clicking on the custom title bar will maximize/restore the window.
- Only "Manage Rules" and "Create new rules from..." can be maximized and resized. Any other windows of the program are fixed size.
- When the window is maximized, it can be restored by double clicking on it's title bar or by pressing the restore button of the window. It does not work with drag&drop like in Windows Explorer.
- The windows that can be resized have a grip on their bottom-right corner. This is the only way that a window can be resized.
- Right click on the notify icon from the system tray will display the "Manage Rules" window.
- On any window, by pressing on "Esc", it will close that window.
- In "Manage Rules", by pressing "F5", the list of the rules will be refreshed.

Please share your opinions about this new version in this forum.

Thank you for your support,
Alexandru

 

Works fine, no problems so far
Thank you!

 

When I restart my computer after installing the software, I get a warning box from windows asking me if I want to run the file:

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/157/clipboard01tf.png

And then when I do, none of the settings applied seem to work, and the rules list is empty.

http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/8669/clipboard02ec.png

Also, the firewall is set to No Filtering automatically, and all connections are allowed, even if I move the slider to High Filtering.

http://img542.imageshack.us/img542/7972/clipboard03j.png

However, BEFORE restarting my computer right after installing WFC, everything appears to be fine:

http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/1927/clipboard04w.png

 

This is from Windows. You must go to the Properties of the file, right click on wfc.exe and choose Properties menu item from the context menu and then press on Unblock. See the screenshot below. Next time when you restart the computer, WFC will start properly.

These have the same cause. The Windows Firewall Control Service is not running. Also, see the screenshot below. Run "services.msc" and check if "Windows Firewall Control Service" is set to Automatic and is running. If it is running, restart wfc.exe and it should connect to the Windows service. If it connects properly, the profile slider should work and the rules list should be populated with your rules. If the list is still empty, WFC can't connect to WFCS. In this case, please go to Event Viewer (run "eventvwr.msc"). Under "Application and Services Logs" you will see a subcategory named "WFC". Here you can see all the errors that were logged by WFC. On the right, there is a button named "Save All Events As...". Please use this button to export an *.evtx file to your disk. Please send this file to support@binisoft.org to help us to find the problem that you have.

 

Thank you very much for your response and support. The reason the firewall did not work correctly for me after restarting was because the Windows Firewall Service was set to manual and didn't start automatically, so I set the Windows Firewall Service to Automatic and WFC started perfectly after restarting my computer. Also, unblocking wfc.exe (the setup file itself) suppressed the warning box from Windows appearing after a reset.

One thing I feel the need to point out is that a lot of other firewalls do not require the unblocking of their setup files and fiddling with system services to work correctly first time.

Now WFC is working properly, I can clearly see that the interface surpasses many others in terms of simplicity, functionality and design. May I also say that your support appears to be exemplary judging by my experience so far. Therefore I decided to donate to your cause and activate the software. I find the Learning Mode functionality to be useful, although it does require the availability of several services which I normally have no need for, which is troublesome.

The only other criticisms I would make are:

1) The wfc.exe setup file is deleted upon installation of the software without consent.

2) Learning Mode does not prompt for inbound traffic separately to outbound traffic and so inbound rules need to be set manually unless inbound and outbound rules are set to automatically be created for every application by default.

 

I am glad that this worked for you and solved the problem that you had. By default, Windows Firewall Control Service is installed and set to Automatic start-up. I don't know what caused it to be set to Manual in your case. The need of "Windows Firewall" service is obviously. "TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper", "Workstation" and "DNS Client" need to be enabled if you use Learning Mode. If you don't use/need such a feature, you can disable them, but I would not recommend to disable Windows services, because we are not anymore in Windows XP era, and there is no memory improvement, more security, etc. Disabling Windows services will not do anything good, will not improve nothing, in my opinion.

The unblocking of the file is needed only if the user has SmartScreen filtering enabled. This is a security component of the operating system. The only way this can be avoided is to use an original digital certificate to sign wfc.exe. This is a bit expensive and the donations received can't support this. Right now, the file is digitally signed but with a self generated certificate.

The file wfc.exe is not deleted at installation. It is moved to the installation folder. This is the same approach that uTorrent and other programs use.

There are no inbound notifications because if you look in the Security Event logs you will find out that your computer denies hundreds of inbound connections in just an hour (99% to svchost.exe). I don't think anyone would like to see hundreds of notifications about external IPs that are trying to connect to his computer. By default, all inbound connections are denied by Windows Firewall and the things should remain this way. Only server applications should have inbound rules created. For 99% of the users and 99% of the programs you will need only outbound rules. Do not create inbound rules for every piece of software that you have because this is not needed or recommended. Outbound rules are enough.

 

I concede most of the points you have debated, although if notifications were sent requesting inbound traffic from svchost.exe, surely it would only ask you once if you would like to deny / allow the inbound traffic? Other firewalls that have inbound notifications do not seem to bother me.

I discovered something else about standard (non admin) user accounts. I have to set NTFS permissions in Windows for wfc.exe to allow standard users to even run the program. I'm not sure if that's normal behaviour or not.

edit: also, if I use the Switch User feature of Windows, and wfc tries to load on the other account at the same time, then it throws up an application error and refuses to run.

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/2803/clipboard05.png

Code:

Problem signature:
  Problem Event Name:	CLR20r3
  Problem Signature 01:	wfc.exe
  Problem Signature 02:	3.5.0.2
  Problem Signature 03:	5027d57d
  Problem Signature 04:	System.Runtime.Remoting
  Problem Signature 05:	4.0.30319.17929
  Problem Signature 06:	4ffa5af9
  Problem Signature 07:	e4
  Problem Signature 08:	eb
  Problem Signature 09:	System.Runtime.Remoting.Remoting
  OS Version:	6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1
  Locale ID:	2057
  Additional Information 1:	5cf1
  Additional Information 2:	5cf1358770ad84dc00247b640698b7dc
  Additional Information 3:	7057
  Additional Information 4:	7057f2cb50868fdb96711f84134b2b2c

 

The developer may have to search MSDN to find out how to ensure that auto-starting applications function correctly in the "Switch user" scenario. I think it involves defining a special mutex and testing for its presence when the application starts ( I don't remember). Maybe some application functions will have to be adjusted for the "switch user" scenario as well.

 

This happens if the program was installed from a different user account and then you switched to another standard user account. I am thinking to move the default installation folder to "ProgramData" instead of "Program Files". In this way, all the users will have unlimited access to the wfc.exe file and it's folder and this behavior can be avoided. On the other hand, if the user has full access to the folder, he can delete the program very easy.

In fact, 99% of WFC users are home users and they use standard user account for security purposes, I think the "ProgramData" folder is acceptable as a default suggested installation folder. This can be switched at installation to any folder anyway. What do you think ? Everybody ?

Thank you for pointing this out. I never tried the fast user switching feature since Windows XP. The problem is that WFC is designed to be singleton, and a second instance of the program is not allowed to run. Imagine if the user clicks 10 times on wfc.exe, he will have 10 WFC icons in the system tray. Actually, the second instance closes itself if it detects an already instance of the same version of wfc.exe. In your scenario, the second instance starts in another user session and can't detect the first instance that runs under another user account. Even if it can detect the first instance, it can't actually bring it to the user, because the first instance runs under another user account in that user session. It appears in Task Manager, but it can be displayed because is already running. There is a possibility to start an application under another user session in the current user's desktop, but if you start it. If it is already started, you can't take the control over it.

Fast user switching is a special case and WFC, by design can't support single instance in multiple user sessions. Not now. Maybe in the future I will find a workaround. Until then, the fix is the one from the screenshot. A message box instead of that ugly exception. It will be part of the next version which will be out in a few days.