another Windows Firewall Control?

What new feature is this? Isn't that already available in the current version?

 

I am not fast, could you explain that in short school bus ways? Thank you.

 

This can be done and it will be included in the next version. Currently, when you open Manage Rules you will see by default the Outbound Rules. If you choose to see All Rules, next time when you open Manage Rules window, the combobox is reset back to Outbound Rules even if you have closed the window while showing All Rules.

 

Thanks for taking it into consideration.

 

While it makes sense to have a full dialog for extended options, what's wrong with having the most frequently-accessed parts also available from the menu? You have already started this process with the links to the different windows and the exit one. Personally the only other thing I would 'need' is the profile switching as previously stated.

Not sure what how the random comment about registered users in the middle of that relates to all this. Are you trying to say that unregistered users shouldn't suggest features (or report bugs etc.)?

 

No. You did understand totally wrong. As you know, unregistered users can't modify the Notifications level, so in their case, the level is always set to Disabled. Only registered users will benefit from an extended context menu for the Notifications level. But 99% of WFC users are unregistered. What I am trying to say is that the context menu will not be populated again with a lot of menu items like it was in version 3.1.0.3. The context menu of WFC has a different purpose now and I don't want to mix the things again. All the settings are grouped in one view, the Control Panel of WFC.

 

Version 3.7.1.0 released

What's new:
- New: Added support for Fast User Switching. This applies to the first login of a user. If the user switches back to another logged user, the program must be started manually. Use the desktop shortcut or use Ctrl+R, type "wfc" and press Enter key.
- New: Added support for creating and editing rules for *.dll files.
- New: Added support for launching the GUI with command line parameters. Useful for systems where the taskbar and system tray are not available. Use "wfc.exe -cp" to start the Control Panel or "wfc.exe -mr" to launch the Manage Rules window.
- New: Added support to modify the timeout of a notification or even to disable the timeout.
- New: Added support to play a custom sound when a new notification is generated. Only PCM wav files are supported.
- New: The Display and Filter combo boxes from Manage Rules don't save the values when the window is closed.
- Fixed: When modifying a rule the service name is not recognized in the Services combo box.
- Fixed: Various GUI fixes and few improvements in the Windows service component.

Download location: http://binisoft.org/download/wfc.exe
MD5: 9cc5e5d7989bd08d1d3ad54c46f235a3

Not so good news:
I have implemented a new type of notifications which are displayed when an external program creates a new rule in Windows Firewall. The notifications are ok and can display all the info from a normal notification. The user can Keep or Delete a rule which is notified in this way. Unfortunately, there are no events that I can use and the algorithm that I have created works only in some scenarios and uses a lot of resources. This remains on the TO DO list, next to the logging feature. The logging feature is also in a beta stage, but the current performance is very poor. These two features remain open for the future improvements, but are not included in this version.

Your feedback is welcome. Any other problems will be fixed in the next release. The list of new features is open. If you will suggest a new good feature, it will be implemented.

I have also updated these two tutorials to include the new features:
How to install, update and uninstall the program
The settings of the program explained

Thank you for your support,
Alexandru

*Note: In this version, if a rule is automatically deleted, it will be logged in the WFC log. Just check the Event Log.

 

(No change in my situation, installation not progressing properly, 3.7.1.0.)

 

The new fast user switching feature is great, but it would be better if the application remained open for all users at the same time, without having to manually load up again when you switch back. This is how I have observed most other firewalls behave.

 

I apologise, I did misunderstand. I mixed up 'notifications' with 'profiles' in Seven64's original requesting post and this led to my later confusion with your statement. It was actually profiles I was requesting context menu access to, not notifications.

 

Yah, that too is a feature I've been waiting to see since I discovered this awesome software. At the moment, it does make use of Windows' built in network profiles (Private and Public). The downside for me is that I use VMware

To clarify that, VMware creates virtual network adapters that are recognized by the local host as Unidentified Networks; Windows by default profiles these unknow networks as Public (which is reasonable), and if I change the virtual network adapters to private, it gets reset back to Public on next system startup. The problem is, if I am connected to a private Wi-Fi network, Windows still profiles the combination of networks as Public; i.e. X private networks + 1 public network = public network to Windows. Thus the profiling becomes useless.

With this type of feature (like AVG's Firewall), the user can switch between lists of Windows Firewall rules based on the network they are connected

 

I apologize for this but I can't reproduce your scenario. Have you tried to install the program on a different machine or in a virtual machine ?

I also wanted this, but it can't be done. In the previous version, when you switch the users, because the program was executing in the first user session, it couldn't start. In this version, when the user is changed, a callback is sent to wfc.exe to shut down automatically. When a second user logs in, the program can start because is not running. The shortcut from the startup folder is responsible to start the program. When you switch back to the first logged user, the shortcut is not called again. This shortcut executes only at login, but when switching between already logged in user accounts, there is no login operation. The only way to start again the program is to launch it from the service, but it will run under the LocalSystem account, which is not desirable. I will try to find a workaround for the next version.

I will think about the Profiles context menu.

The Profiles from WFC don't use the Private, Public, Domain profiles from Windows Firewall. The WFC profiles are reffering only to the filtering level. As you know, by default all the rules created by WFC are set for Any location. This is more simpler to understand and manage for 90% of the users. Only a few users use their laptops in different environments and need the rules enabled/disabled based on location. 90% of the users are home users and it is simpler to have Profiles based on the filtering level than filtering by location.

 

I've just given this a try but the "pausing" of connections mentioned at the very start of the thread doesn't seem to exist any more - or am I missing something?

Whenever a new application needs to access the internet, I receive a notification asking to create a rule but while I'm configuring the rule, the application just gets blocked. For installers which are extracted to a unique location each time they are run and only attempt connection once, this can mean having to just temporarily switch the firewall completely off which I don't like doing.

Is there any way to make programs wait for a connection result while I set up the rule?

 

Elegant solution:
Most of installer programs have a retry mechanism in case their program is blocked during the installation by a firewall. The installer tries to connect, it gets blocked, it waits a few seconds and then tries again, for example 5-10 times until it give a timeout and can't continue. In this case, the user receives a message about this.

Usually, they use the same file name which is extracted to the TEMP folder. On the first run the installer is blocked, meanwhile you create rule and restart the installer. It should work. In this situation, if you restart the installer after you have created a rule to allow it, it will work.

Stupid solution:
There are some installer programs which presume that their installer will not be blocked by any firewall and dont not have a retry mechanism.

If the installer generates a random file in the TEMP folder at runtime, then, you can't use this method.

The last and working solution:
If you install a trusted software, before installing the software choose Low Filtering profile. In this way, the outbound connections are allowed and the installer can connect properly to the Internet. After the installation completes, change back to Medium Filtering profile.

In neither case, do not disable Windows Firewall.

 

Thanks for the response but it sounds like you're saying that there is no longer a 'pause connection' feature. How come it was removed? Could it not be added back as a configurable option?

 

There was no 'pause connection' feature in the past. Where did you read this ? Windows Firewall blocks connections, WFC does not block anything and does not filter the network traffic. Because of this reason, WFC can't pause/resume a connection. WFC operates in a passive way. Windows Firewall blocks a program, then it generates an event and WFC reads the event info and creates a notification for the user.

 

Posts 4 and 5 on the very first page of this thread mentioned the feature, they must have been mistaken. Thanks for explaining and for your work on this app, it's very useful even without the pause connection.

 

That is an old post, from the beginning of 2011 which is totally outdated. The presentation from that post was a little exaggerated for the version that was available at that time.

 

It seems that there was a problem with the last updater. I have changed the installer and the updater. There is now a logging feature and a new listbox where all the steps are described during the installation. The listbox will catch also the exceptions. Please when you have time, download and try this version:

http://binisoft.org/download/3711/wfc.exe

With this version you will be able to see what is not working properly. Please let me know if this version works for you. If you receive an exception please post it here.

Thank you very much for your support.
Alexandru

 

I'll give 3.7.1.1 a shot this evening.
MD5 == d23c3c94dbd187870b112d93df5fc2fd, correct?

I did try 3.7.1.0 on a mule last night.
It was Win7. Had to install .NET4 (circa 3/2010, so no updates for it).
Not sure of system specs, but very minimal, perhaps < 1 GB RAM, & not much disk space.

In any case, that was unsuccessful, with wfc.exe crashing (Windows crash) on an attempted "install". I looked through the crash details, didn't note what they were, but nothing stood out to me.

 

Well that worked (or so I think, at this point).
It detected the 3.7.1.0 "install" (I hadn't removed any registry entries prior) & offered to update.

Code:

Starting
Stopped WFCS
Updating Registry
Expanding
Starting WFCS
Finishing
successful
Press Finish

Pressing Finish & the dialog disappeared.

Tray icon says, "Can't connect to Windows Firewall Control Service".
Opening the UI & the options are not effectual.

WFCS never did load.

wfc.exe & wfcs.exe did both get placed (updated, they had not been there prior) into my specified (not today, but from the 3.7.1.0 attempt) instalDir.


Could there be some interaction between WFC & Process Hacker? Process Hacker (which I normally keep open) disappeared on me somewhere along the line. It was there a moment ago. Perhaps when I manually tried to run wfcs.exe?

(I'll look more later.)

 

Uninstall attempt crashed.

Code:

Problem signature:
  Problem Event Name:	CLR20r3
  Problem Signature 01:	wfc.exe
  Problem Signature 02:	3.7.1.1
  Problem Signature 03:	509ac4ca
  Problem Signature 04:	mscorlib
  Problem Signature 05:	4.0.0.0
  Problem Signature 06:	4ee9d7cd
  Problem Signature 07:	3fdb
  Problem Signature 08:	105
  Problem Signature 09:	System.IO.DirectoryNotFound
  OS Version:	6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1
  Locale ID:	1033
  Additional Information 1:	0b75
  Additional Information 2:	0b753c6646f709d91969e4bb87b0bb21
  Additional Information 3:	4a67
  Additional Information 4:	4a670ce5f2f8da7b5a68a17d704f799d

System.IO.DirectoryNotFoundException

The Add or Remove Programs entry for WFC was removed, but the files wfc/wfcs were left. Haven't looked in the Registry (yet).

 

Hi therube,

A few questions:

• wfcs.exe is a service. Did you check and see if it appeared under Window administrative tools > services?
• If it was there, was it running?
• If it was not running, since it is a service and not a process, did you right click it in services and click start?
• Is the start up type under services set to automatic? And if not set it to that?

Just a few ideas that may help...

 

Registry entries were removed.

---

My mule, revisited...

win7 ult x86
768 MB RAM
AMD Sempron 2400+

3711

install WAS successful
(it was a full install, not an update)
where yesterday it crashed altogether

unistall did look to work correctly, kind of
(wfc/wfcs were removed, as were the .cmd & .cer files)
[not all that certain about the .cmd & .cer files, as they may have only existed until i "Finished" the install]
though i did get a "did this uninstall correctly" kind of (windows) dialog
& the WFC Add or Remove entry remained - at least until i refreshed the entries.

uninstall worked correctly

3710 try again ...

& oddly it worked today where yesterday it did not

 

1. To access the WFC log, you can execute Event Viewer (eventvwr.msc). On the left side, you will see a category named Applications and Services logs. Under this category, there is a subcategory named WFC. Here you can find any errors, warnings or info generated by WFC. You can see here why "Can't connect to Windows Firewall Control Service".
2. If you run services.msc in the list of Windows services do you see Windows Firewall Control ? What is the state of the service ?
3. Try to do a clean install instead of an update. The same result ?

Please let me know if this was helpful.

LATER EDIT: Based on your latest post, does it work ?