LnS Application Filtering Issues/Error

I'm having an issue with Look'n'Stop 2.06p3 Application Filtering. I am running Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 x86 and for the most part LnS works great. However, after the app has been running for a little while (15+ minutes), if an application that has not previously been authorized attempts to connect to the Internet, I receive the usual warning asking if it OK to authorize the app (or if it is OK for the app to launch another program which had previously been authorized). This is all fine, except for the fact that the application does not get added to the list of authorized apps (I am not checking "Just this time" etc.) like it should. If the application makes several attempts to access the Internet, LnS will ask me for authorization for each attempt, so the dialog box may come up several times in a row.

Besides the application not being added to the authorized apps list, many times after clicking the "Authorize" button I will end up with this blank error dialog box (I'm assuming this is a LnS dialog because it only occurs after the Authorize dialog has popped up a few times and the app has still not been added to the list of authorized applications):

http://i385.photobucket.com/albums/oo292/lonkny/ApplicationFiltering1.jpg

The application will of course not be in the list of Authorized Applications. If I try at this point to manually add it using the "Add" button on the Application Filtering tab, it still does not show up in the list. However, if I exit LnS and re-open it, then manually "Add" the application using the button, it will work and add the program to the list. LnS App Filtering will then work for another 10-20 minutes before the issue begins again.

Has anyone else had this issue? I saw the below post, but not sure if it pertains to me:

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=220550

This post also references this LnS page, but again, I'm not sure if this pertains to my issue:

http://www.looknstop.com/En/faq_problems.htm#driver_remove

Please let me know if anyone has any ideas - thanks!!

 

I'm not aware of similar report so far.

Do you have this issue with specific applications ? or is it with any application not yet present in the Application Filtering page ?

Maybe you have reached the maximum number of applications in the list, and this maximum is not properly handled in your case. How many applications do you have in the list ?

For one of the other posts you mentioned, the problem was linked to many applications with the full alert attribute (the "!!") selected. Is it your case ? especially for allowed applications (like browsers) it is not recommended to set this "!!" attribute because it will generate a lot of alerts.

Thanks,

Frederic

 

Any application not yet present in the Application Filtering page...

I do have approximately 175+ apps in the list, BUT I am able to add new apps during the first 10-20 minutes that LnS is open. After that, however, apps aren't added using the "Authorize" button (when they attempt to access the Internet) or using the "Add" button via the Application Filtering tab in LnS GUI. When using the "Authorize" button several times for one app, I typically will eventually get the "blank error window" as shown in my post above.

No - I don't have the "!!" attribute set for any of the applications. Attached is a screenshot of my App Filtering tab. Thanks for any additional help you can provide! It has become quite frustrating...

 

So I just updated Firefox to v3.0.6... after the update, LnS was asking me (over and over again) whether I wanted to Authorize the new Firefox EXE. After receiving the blank error window (see above posts), I clicked OK and shortly afterward exited LnS. However, when I re-opened LnS, everything was set back to default settings!!! I have lost all my Authorized Applications, Internet Filtering Rules (it is using the StandardRulesSet.rls file, which is not the ruleset file I was using), all Options, even my licensing/serial number information!!!

How could this have happened? I also tried closing the app, then stopping & starting the LnS service, but have the same issue when re-opening LnS GUI. Where is the list of authorized apps and my settings information stored? I checked both the LnS Program folder as well as the Profile folder and do not see any kind of database/config file. I do have my ruleset file saved so am not worried about that, but would prefer not to have to authorize all my apps again!

Also, what is the purpose of the Look'N'Stop Service? I believe this is new as of 2.06p3 - do I need to have both the service and the tray application running?

Maybe it is a blessing in disguise - since everything reset, perhaps I will try completely uninstalling the program and reinstalling to hopefully get rid of the blank error window / authorizing apps issue.

However, I would like to know why this happened so that it can be prevented in the future!! If anyone has any ideas, they are much appreciated! Thanks again.

 

Hi LonkNY,

First of all, let me start with the the blank error dialog..., it's not part of Look 'n' Stop. Firstly Look 'n' Stop - Application filtering alert screens don't place application paths for dialog titles. But also you should be-able to confirm by visiting Windows Task Manager - 'Applications' tab, find this window under tasks and right-click on the entry and visit 'Go To Process' in the context menu ... does it bring you the the Looknstop.exe process?, if not then it's not of Look 'n' Stop.


With the v2.06, the number of rules/applications is now 200 for application filtering... The easy way to determine the number of applications added is by visiting lns.reg that gets created when you use 'Extra Save' feature in Look 'n' Stop - Options. Opening lns.reg WITH notepad or wordpad and scroll to the very bottom of the file, you should see a line NEAR the very bottom similar to; "Appli70"="C:\\PROGRAM FILE\\blah blah blah\\blah.EXE", the first part of this line, Appli70 is the part we want to really look at closely on this line, the number 70 in this case is the total number of application filtering items added already.


When you have exited Look 'n' Stop, and then re-opening it in a short period 'may sometimes' open Look 'n' Stop with settings and such reverted to the default state, or a state other than the state it was in when you last used Look 'n' Stop. Open the Look 'n' Stop application and see if there's an # + number for it's window title. Do you see it show Look 'n' Stop #1 or Look 'n' Stop #2 or Look 'n' Stop #3 ...? A simple re-boot should address this.


Not sure why you could add stuff for 10-15minutes and then can't, perhaps you reach the maximum number of applications allowed, or maybe application already exists on the list? More information may be necessary.


Regards,
Phant0m``

 

Thanks for the quick response - I did try a reboot to no effect, so I uninstalled LnS, rebooted, reinstalled, and re-imported my ruleset. I will let you know if the "blank error dialog box" keeps appearing but am hoping that the reinstall will somehow resolve this issue.

Thanks for the 200 apps tip - I will definitely keep this in mind... I am already using the "Extra Save" option for the reg info. Sorry I can't answer all your questions - after rebooting/uninstalling/rebooting/reinstalling/rebooting, I won't be able to go back and find all the info you need!

Suffice to say, hopefully this will resolve things and I will be back on track... thanks again for your diligence & patience! I will let you know how things turn out.

 

The problem was related to the number of applications.
The dialog box you got, should have displayed a message saying you have reached the maximum number, but there is an issue to get the text message, and the message box comes with no text...
I will fix that in the next version.

When this happens, you just have to remove some old applications to make some room (assuming you don't use 200 connecting applications every day, this is normally not an issue, and if an old application connects again, you will be alerted again).

Regards,

Frederic

 

Thanks for the update on this... I will keep that in mind.

 

... might have to increase the number yet again... just a tad