PC Tools Firewall

Hi Tony,

When you say it "missed", do you mean it allowed those apps to connect out without popup, if yes, could you please check the application permissions for internet access and post back the settings

 

I noticed that on start up some of my Vista sidebar widgets would connect to the internet before PC Tools firewall loaded. This did not happen everytime as after a few reboots PC Tools alerted me that they were trying to connect out. I guess the firewall loads at random when Windows boots up, as in no particular order with other apps?

 

Hi Stem, it allowed the apps to connect out without popup.

Maybe i have been staring at the monitor for too long today as i cannot see the application permissions for internet access in the settings.

I have just added spywareblaster to the applications list and set it as blocked, but it can still check for updates.

 

Where Local ports are used for internal communication between software, I assume the listen port is fixed. Which the other section connects to. Yes this should be monitored. I was talking about the port that the OS gives to you when the connection is made. If you know way of locking this down, and the app should only use that port, then there is a use. When you do not know what port the OS will give you, I still say it causes more issues then benifits.

 

I'm using the newest Beta. To see these kind of alerts I need to check "Enable enhanced security verification":

 

If there is a rule for the application is followed, so if you allow/block the app this will be followed. If the service can not communicate with the GUI to ask the user then the application is temporary allowed.

 

I installed PC Tools Firewall today, but it never asks me permission to open Thunderbird and MSN Messanger and they just connected to the internet without even asking my permission. Why is that?

I chose expert mode too, so I thought it would ask me.

And what's interesting is.... When I used COMODO and ZA before in the past, they would complain that a program that I use called NVU was trying to access the internet when I opened it. But with PC Tools Firewall, it opens NVU and I see my modem light go on as NVU access the internet, but PC Tools Firewall says nothing about it and doesn't give me any popup window or anything.

I then must conclude that PC Tools Firewall is not as good as COMODO or ZA and it actually lets certain things through.

Oh well, back to ZA I think.

 

Hi all

Turn off Avira WebGuard and try again.

 

Hi LillyTown, yes, after disabling Avira WebGuard Pctools firewall now detects the connections

 

Hi Tony,

Yes, the web guard is a local proxy, so traffic will go through that.

 

Hi Stem, is there a way of solving this then without having to leave Avira`s webguard disabled??

 

On XP, that does vary slightly, but usually starts around 1100, then increments up. For browser use, even torrent use (when I am checking firewalls handling of multi connections, I have yet to see ports used outside of my normal rule of local ports 1024-5000. We are looking at the use of nearly 5000 current outbound connections, so I am not sure why you would think having such a limit (for XP) would cause many problems.
I still think it should be a users choice, and is why I use firewalls which allow me to make that choice.

 

Hi Tony,

You would need to intercept localhost traffic, I do not think this is possible with PC tools firewall, but I will need to install to check.

 

I have the same experience with PC Tools Firewall Plus, Online Armor Free, Comodo Firewall Pro: a few applications are not detected (Port 80). But Comodo Firewall Pro on highest security level detects this applications on Port 53 UDP.

Avira's Premium Security Suite does not have this problem.

Sorry for my bad english.

 

Thank you for providing the information.

Your English is very good.

 

Does anyone else who uses Avira premium have the same problem with certain firewalls??

 

Tony,

Have you considred adding a custom rule in TF? Djames, told me that in the near future the custom rule "When any process creates 1 network connection, Except when the source process is in the system process list or in the trusted process list or in the e-mail/browser list" would be provided as an predefined custom rule. Currently the e-mail/brwoser list is not an option in the Except clause (while it is known/available in the TF application).

Also they are looking how much trouble it is to add an extra trigger rule mechanisme: "When any process starts/spawns a process which is in the e-mail/browser list, Except when the source process is in the system process list or in the trusted process list"

With this implemented 95% of the users behind a hardware router with NAT (or even with SPI header level capabilities) would be fine in combo with TF. In the combo with DW it is very secure and very user firendly security setup.

Regards Kees

 

Thanks Kees1958.

I am not too hot when it comes to custom rules, hence my use of TF and DW as they are very secure out of the box.
That does look like a nice update they have planned for the future of TF though, couple that with the outbound feature plans for DW things are looking really good for these two software's.

 

There is now a new version 4.0.0.35 released.

 

Firstly, I'm behind a router, surf and read emails safely (even sandboxed), use NOD32, ThreatFire and probably overkill with several Anti-Spywares. Having said that, I still figure it's a good bet to also use a firewall other than XP Home's. My firewall history reads like this: many years ago, ZoneAlarm (paid), then Comodo, Upgraded to Comodo v3 and Defense+, and although I really appreciated the work they do, it was just to complicated. For the past three or four months it's been using Online Armor Free. Doesn't seem to have any negative impact on system performance other than every software download seem to generate at least a half-dozen popups. But, being the freeware junkie I am, I'm considering trying this. My question then is, should I give this a spin or go by the code "If it ain't broke don't fix it"? Thank You!

 

This is a serious fault with the leaktest Hoodied. Even when you disconnect from the internet PC Tools Firewall apparently fails I'm quite sure it's blocking it because two other leaktests "tooleaky" and "firehole" are caught beautifully. I'm not too sure I trust Gibsons "leaktests" after this. I notice he seems to constantly plug Zone Alarm Free. Could his "tests" be designed to work with Zone Alarm and give the impression that other firewalls fail ? Anyway I get my tests from other sites like firewall leak tester.

 

@Tony
You beat me, I just wanted to post the update However very nice firewall, my favorite freebie.

 

Hi Truthseeker

That's a bit odd!


I have my PC Tools Firewall Plus set for Easy Mode ... Or whatever it's called!

I still got asked if I wanted to Allow or Block - Windows Live Messenger ... The First Time I Installed / Used it!
I had the Remember box ticked... So I wouldn't keep getting asked.
Or Rather... So that my little lad wouldn't keep getting asked

I'm sure... I also had to Allow IE

In Fact!
Everything that I install or use for the first time... I have to click Allow or Block at least once.
Sometimes up to 3 times!

 

This took so much time that I haven't got the patience to wait till the end. It was working for over half an hour on a fast dual-core.... I just rebooted and restored.

 

Hi Seer

I'm Sure... Something must have gone wrong then

When I installed PC Tools Firewall Plus ...
I don't remember logging on to my computer taking an extra long time.

Maybe it depends on how much stuff you've got installed