another Windows Firewall Control?

Your website says that IE, Chrome and Opera are the only browsers supported. Does this mean that I'll have to stop using Firefox?

 

Thank you for reporting this. I have already sent an email to Emsisoft to report a false positive. They have removed my website from their database, and on their next database update, binisoft.org will appear safe as it should.

The supported web browsers list is reffering to the donation script. These web browsers were tested with the donation script and they work properly. Older versions of Firefox did not allow the donation script to proper connect to the PayPal IPN system. However, newest version of Firefox (v.15) work with the donation script, but I left that message on purpose because I have received a lot of emails from users that use older versions of Firefox and can't donate.

 

Thanks Alexandr,
I now have a problem.
I downloaded 3.7.0.3 and ran the install.
I have the folder in C:\Program Files\Windows Firewall Control with only two files, wfc.exe and wfcs.exe.
I saw that I needed .Net v4.0.30319, I downloaded from MS and installed it.
However, when I now double click the desktop shortcut, nothing happens. (shortcut points to wfc.exe).
If I double click wfcs.exe I get a warning pop up that I have to install a service (it doesn't tell me what service though).
I have nothing in my Programs list re WFC.

I think that possibly I should have installed Net 4 first and only then installed WFC but I can't see any way to uninstall WFC.

Hopefully you can tell me what I should do...

Thanks,

J

 

Hi Alexandr,
I uninstalled and installed and everything is OK. It had to be the sequence requiring .Net to already be installed before installing WFC.

Time to play...

J

 

I think a restart of PC after installing NET 4.0 should have been enough.
- wfc.exe is the GUI that you see in the system tray area, next to your clock.
- wfcs.exe is the Windows service. It can't be run by double clicking on it. This is installed as a service at installation of the program. I am glad that you have worked it out.

 

Hoi, is it possible to set a column with the date when a rule is made?

thks

 

This would be possible but the result does not worth the performance penalty that will be introduced. These extra info are not saved by Windows Firewall and should be stored in a separate file and then map them to their corresponding rules. Every time the Manage Rules window is opened this file should be read again to remap the references and also this file should be maintained extra. Too much hassle and the result does not worth it.

 

I would like an advanced logging feature available in your software interface
And sooner or later you will make it ,to keep up with the competition.

 

If you're desperately in need of an advanced logging feature, your could always follow Microsoft's guide to enable such stuff. It's been available in Windows Firewall since the XP times

This software doesn't need one of it's own (that eliminates it's purpose, simplify the process of controlling WFW); it could instead have a shortcut to enable such stuff.

 

Windows Firewall Control already uses the built in logging feature of Windows Firewall to retrieve data and display notifications. The problem with the logging feature in WFC is that there are many items in the logs and the filtering of them takes too much time. There are thousands of items, especially for inbound blocked connections.

 

How do I uninstall completely the soft, including the registration number?
Thanks

 

Ran into a problem with the high filtering mode. Set high filtering and closed the WFC interaction window. Opened the interaction window again and filtering was on medium. Looked at rules and the block all rule was set and I could not remove it because filtering was set on medium. Ended up, after trying to correct this, with 3 block all rules set and no way to remove them or connect out. So I closed WFC and restarted. Interaction window was set on high filtering and I was able to lower it to medium and remove one of the blocking rules. Had to close/open WFC 3 times to remove all of the blocking rules. If the interaction window is not closed there is no problem. Also noticed that restarting WFC when high filtering is set will stick on high filtering even after having lowered it to medium to remove the rule, a restart of WFC corrected this. Using WFC 3.7.0.3 with W7x64.

 

Yes, I can 100% reproduce this problem on my Windows Vista Ultimate x64-Bit PC.

@alexndrud Just a little suggstion; mind implementing a method of horizontally scrolling in the "Manage Rules" window using the Left/Right arrow keys or the "Horizontal" scroll feature in certain mouse controls?

 

Indeed there is a problem. This also applies if you previously use Low Filtering profile. I have found the problem and it is already fixed. I will release a new version this week.

If you have a rule selected you can use the left/right arrow keys to move to the next column. You can go to the last column with End key and go back to the first column by using Home key. You must have focus on the data grid.

 

Great, thanks. As others have said before, your quick resolution for problems like this makes WFC an outstanding work of software. WFC and yourself are much appreciated here!

 

Version 3.7.0.4 released

What's new:
- New: Shortcut in the application paths. You can call Run and simply execute "wfc".
- Fixed: When setting the profile to High Filtering and reopening the main WFC window, the profile slider does not recognize the new profile.
- Fixed: The uninstaller can't delete wfc.exe from the installation folder. If the program is installed in the default suggested folder, the entire folder will be deleted, otherwise only the executable file will be deleted at uninstallation.
- Fixed: "Check if a new version is available" does not work for unregistered users.
- Updated: From this version, the installer will copy the file wfc.exe in the installation folder instead of moving it. In this way the original file is kept also in the source folder. Also, the file can be freely renamed from this version. The file that will be installed it will still be wfc.exe but the user can have a copy renamed, for example wfc3.7.0.4.exe, in another folder.

Download location: http://binisoft.org/download/wfc.exe
MD5: cb4b5498ac7298ea56170d9d21b2e3ef

Remember:
Due to many requests, from this version you can have a copy of WFC anywhere on your disk with any name you want. Ex: Windows Firewall Control v.3.7.0.4 Setup.exe

Your feedback is welcome. Please let me know if the reported problems were fixed and if you like the new features.

Thank you for your support,
Alexandru

 

Thanks for this feature, it's something I really wanted too. However I have a bug to report. I saved the file as "Windows Firewall Control 3.7.0.4.exe" and tried to run it, but it reported that I couldn't install as I already had 3.7.0.4 installed. This was not true, I had 3.7.0.3 installed. I renamed the file to wfc.exe and ran it again and this time it offered me the chance to upgrade as normal.

 

I could reproduce this. I have found the problem and I have fixed it. This will be included in the next release because this is not a major problem.

 

Feature Request:
If it is doable, maybe you could add a feature so that Windows Firewall only honors created rules through WFC and programs that automatically add themselves in Windows Firewall are removed.

 

I will try to find a solution to enable / disable the possibility of other programs to auto add themselves into Windows Firewall rules. This could improve the security. However, a third party application requires administrative privileges to register a new firewalll rule.

 

OK. This is now implemented. Any new rule added by third party application is deleted instantly by WFC, but rules created by WFC are accepted. I will upload a beta soon to test this feature.

I have a question for all of you. What do you think ? This feature should be always enabled or for this feature should be a checkbox to enable/disable it ?

 

Speaking for myself, I do not think any application should automatically create its own rules in any firewall. One of the great things about your software is how simple it is and part of that is keeping options at a minimum. So in my personal opinion I see no need for an option with check-boxes turning it on or off. I vote to implement that feature with no options for it.

If is possible though, it may be nice if a pop-up box opened notifying the user that a particular app had tried to create rules.

 

I would say it should be added as another option under the "Options" tab in the main window. That way, complicated programs that offer simplicity by automatically creating Windows firewall rules (with custom protocol settings) during installation can still provide that simplicity. Or if doable, add a notification when a third party application automatically creates a rule, giving the user the option to delete these new automatically created rules (although, this could be a security problem for computer illitrates, as-in, if malware creates the rule to allow the connection, it might be too late to delete the rule in some situations).

Also, during the installation process; this could be asked to the user to decide if he/she wants it enabled/disabled by default, making them aware of such feature.

 

Although I do not use the WFC, perhaps the developer could capture the rule created by third party apps, add a short explanation/recommendation if is a safe application and perhaps provide a web link for the user to explore it on the web. I doubt if this is feasible or otherwise. May be costs may make this as an expensive exercise.

 

I've run into two problems.

On install, I made my setup selections, pressed Next (or whatever the button had said), then nothing. Installer just sat there.

Nothing was installed into my instalDir.
If anything was placed elsewhere, I can't say.

Now when I go to try to install again, I'm told that I've already installed, but where or how, I haven't a clue?

Some method to clean this up?

Win7 x64
BTW, "E:" is my System Drive, not C:

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Ah!
I missed the .NET Framework version 4.0 requirement. Not sure what version I have, would think at least 3.5?

In any case, don't really want to deal with installing 4.0 at this time, so some way to clean up what has been done so far?
(And why wouldn't the installer say, "hey, you don't have .NET 4.0 installed" from the get-go?)