Eset Smart Security blocks all connections when starting windows

Hello,
I have a weird problem recently. Eset Personal Firewall blocks all connections to the internet by default when I start it up. Thunderbird, Firefox, IE, Windows Update, Hamachi, Skype, Pidgin etc. all can't get any kind of connection although I'm definitely connected.

The only workaround is to disable the firewall, then re-enable it again immediately. Then it works as it should (presumably).

How do I fix this misbehavior? It's really going on my nerves.

 

Hello,

Which versions of Microsoft Windows and ESET Smart Security are you using?

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

 

I'm using Windows XP x86 SP3. My ESS version is 3.0.650. Before you tell me to update the software to the current version: because ESS fails to let me uninstall it and an update requires the uninstall of the currently installed version, as desribed in this thread, I sadly cannot do so. So this is not an option, unless you find a solution for me in that thread.

 

*bump*

 

ESS 3.0.650 is not the most current version, there's a newer one 3.0.684 which includes fixes to certain issues. However, I'd recommend installing ESS v4 beta and switching the firewall to learning mode so that all necessary rules are created automatically. You can edit these rules later, if necessary.