Peerblock and administrator privileges

As those of you running PeerBlock know, one needs to give PB administrative privileges. If one's using an administrator account (with UAC enabled), we can create task that will automatically open PB without being necessary for the user to enter credentials.

The problem is that, for those using true standard user accounts, there are only three ways to run PeerBlock with administrative rights:

1) Manually launch it and give it the needed rights. It requires user interaction.
2) Run it as a service. No user interaction, but no tray bar icon either.
3) Create a task that will run it regardless of the administrator being logged in. It runs, but no user interface either.

4) One could create a task to run under the standard user account, with elevated rights. User interface appears, but we need to answer to the UAC prompt.

5) I suppose creating a task to run when administrator is logged in could work and provide the tray bar icon, provided we first log in as an administrator, and then switch to the standard user account. lol

PeerBlock team has intentions of having PB 2 running as a service and provide a GUI for the user.

But, isn't there some way to get the icon to appear in the tray bar? I mean, the program is already running with administrative privileges... and if one could get the icon to appear in tray bar, it would be great.

Does anyone know if this is possible, at all?

 

to be honest i don't trust Ip Blockers at all

just MBAM Pro Url filter and Drweb url Filter i trust
i wonder if there is something similer Free

 

You don't trust IP blockers, still MBAM Pro does block IPs. Anyway, I'm not hunting for alternatives or URL filters, etc.

I'm just wondering if there would be a way to still see the tray bar icon in the situation I mentioned.

 

I think an application that allows to create services would do the trick. I've found a few, such as FireDaemon -http://www.firedaemon.com/ It's a paid product, though.

 

I always had trouble with PeerBlock.
I don't want to FUD. Just my personal experience.
It conflicts with firewall, then suddenly some legit programs can't connect, crashes itself a lot...

 

No problem. Feedback is always welcome.

It's unfortunate that you've experienced issues. The issue with PeerBlock running as a service or schedule a task is not an issue with itself, if we have under consideration it's simply an improved PeerGuardian.

They have intentions to make it run as a service and provide interactivity with the user (user accounts) with version 2.

Regarding legit programs not being able to connect; is it directly associated with PeerBlock or due to black lists?

Did you try the installer or the portable version? I use the latter, and experienced no issues since it came out.

 

i know that's why i mentioned it
i meant that i don't trust third Party Ip Blocker specially PeerBlock

 

You do realize the effectiveness and/or trustworthiness of IP blockers has nothing to do with the software, and everything to do with the lists?

 

I am paranoid to about Ip Blockers too, can you elaborate your reason?

 

You're having the wrong paranoia... Your paranoia should be towards the lists provided. An IP blocker on its own won't block anything. It's only as effective/ineffective as the lists you add to it.

 

Maybe How to run a program elevated at startup in a standard account when UAC is enabled would be useful.

 

I've used PeerGuardian a lot. But the update scheme, the development speed... well, it got not reliable.

For instance, some (not just one) Firefox addon get messed when I used side by side with PeerBlock. I can't find anything blocked in the logs (to release) and the only way was uninstalling it.

As far I remember, I always tested the installed version. I don't remember if I even try the portable. Maybe I come back.

Does PeerBlock really improve the P2P speed downloading? I mean, avoiding fake P2P IPs.

 

Peerblock will not improve speed (unless you're blocking entire countries, all educational facilities and so on). The only thing that can do that is number of sources, proper port forwarding and connection speed. As far as avoiding fakes, it's never going to be 100%. Humans are the ones adding entries to these lists, they can't possibly keep up with automated IP address changing that the "bad guys" use. That being said, lots of people go over these lists and call out false positives and problematic entries, and it's certainly better than doing P2P "naked".

 

Why? What does it help?

 

Well, its goal is to keep the "bad guys" from connecting to you. This means the RIAA/MPAA, hackers and other unwanted networks can't upload or download anything to/from you. Do keep in mind that it doesn't prevent them from seeing you, for instance in a Bittorrent swarm, but since you are not sharing anything with them or downloading from them, it makes it a bit more difficult for you to catch any trouble.

 

Thanks dw426.

 

I truly wouldn't be able to give any feedback, since I don't use PB to block P2P IPs.
I use for other purposes. But, user dw426 gave a good explanation, IMO.

The beauty with PB/similar tools is that they aren't limited to one specific task (in this case blocking only P2P IPs).

 

You're right, it's useful for blocking known ad servers, hacker IPs and known malware servers as well. The big catch is that, on many of the lists, there are quite legitimate companies that, while you won't want them connecting to you whilst downloading the new Justin Beiber (get help if you're doing that, please), you will want them to be able to connect during legit surfing. These same lists that can protect you, can also keep you off of many, many websites.

The people who add entries to these lists tend to be on the paranoid side, for good reason, and they'll add just about any "threat" to a list. I've never found it feasible to use PB while just surfing around, but it completely depends on an individual list and what sites you frequent. It may work out well for you.