Port Explorer Demo v 1.700

Hi, hoping someone can help out. Today i downloaded and installed Port Explorer Demo v 1.700. Everything seemed ok (only port 1025 open) but when i went online, i could not access my email or even load up any web pages. i could not access anything on the internet. So i went offline, uninstalled Port Explorer Demo v 1.700 as per instruction and then went back on the internet and now everything is OK now. Has anyone else had this problem and solved it? I'm running XP Pro and McAfee professional 7.03 (firewall and virusscan)

Thanks in advance cheers Larry

 

Hi Larry SkyKing20
There could be a few circumstances the matter as i found back on the compatibility page at the site; fortunately this happens rather seldom.
Found these possibilities:
http://diamondcs.com.au/portexplorer/index.php?page=compat
You speak of the Mcafee firewall and especially there is written this matter:
You need to give the file DCSWS2.DLL, which is installed with Port Explorer, full access to your networks. You can find this file in your SYSTEM directory which is c:\windows\system on windows 95/98/ me and c:\windows\system32 on Windows NT/2K/XP. Give this DLL full access otherwise some software may have problems using the internet.

Older Firewalls
Problems have been identified with :-
Sygate Personal Firewall v4.xx
Ontrack System Suite 4.x
Port Explorer has some issues with older LSP based firewalls. The best solution is to use the newest version of the firewall software you can get, as they fix problems like this. Another solution is to remove your firewall from your system before installing Port Explorer, then installing your firewall after Port Explorer is installed.

If one of these does not help we have more options to look at.
Can you try and tell the results please?

 

Hi Jooske, i tried what you suggested by allowing DCSWS2.dll full access through my firewall, but it still will not allow me to access my email nor any web sites. Had to uninstall it fully again to get things working again. Any suggestions Cheers Larry

 

Do you also use the XP build in firewall and if so, do you grant it access through that one too?
PE should not block anything, only display what is happening, hmmm

 

Jooske, XP's firewall will not stop PE as it only stops inbound connections.

It may be worth stopping the McCfee firewall to see if PE works.

 

MCAfee users have said that disabling the MCAfee firewall allows Port Explorer to work (so the firewall is definately blocking Port Explorer). As of yet no one has managed to work out why MCAfee is blocking it (most people who are using MCAfee seem unable to configure it), so if you can work out a way to get MCAfee to work with Port Explorer it would be helpful if you could post it here. If you can't find a way to get it to work you may want to email MCAfee and tell them they have a problem.

Another suggestion would be to get another firewall, I recommend Look N Stop... although nearly every other firewall has no problems with Port Explorer.

-Jason-

 

Hi Jason, as of yet still haven't been able to use Port Explorer with McAfee. Changing firewalls is not an option as I run several McAfee products (McAfee VirusScan, Firewall, Parental Control, Spamkiller and Security Service) all tied in with each other and they all give me great service. Cheers Larry

 

Maybe you can write to Mcafee what you experience and they might come with a workable solution?

 

Yep, I gave up!! on PE with McAfee.... Why me to fix this? I blew it...$$$ seems that a solution would be found by either Mcafee ir Diamond...and then let us in on the secret.

 

I would be very surprised if McAfee support dont quickly tell you how to make their firewall work - Port Explorer is acting correctly and is coded to strict standards for a driver of its type. It should be compatible with anything, because of this !

 

I wrestled my way through the mcafee support sites and found a place to drop a webform to tech support, i told them what is going on with this thread in it and asked for a reaction; so let's hope they do react.
The weak point is here that i don't have any of the requested details about your system and all that so i can only ask a general question, while it might need specific settings for different windows versions.
But this is the best i can make of it right now hoping for a general answer, which will probably be "let the customer please contact us directly with the details requested"
Hoping for more technical ideas from there.
If other users got it working together please don't hesitate and drop in with ideas!

 

JFYI,

I have been advised by Norton plus have read it on other forums that it is not advisable to run two firewalls simultaneously. I use Norton Internet Security 2003 as my firewall. Norton specifically recommended to turn off the XP firewall because it can cause false positives and also possibly allow intrusions if running with Norton. I assume this can be a problem with McAfee too (and others).

Having turned off XP firewall, I have had to add many blocks in Norton to numerous attack attempts. I feel sure that XP must have been silently blocking these and now Norton alerts. I block and then add a block rule....or restrict a whole domain such as from China fertilizer companies

 

I read that disabling XP buildin firewall thing too, worth trying in the mcafee fw too of course!
thanks a lot for this suggestion!


Ok, got a reply from Mcafee asking system details:
which other McAfee products have you installed?
And when exactly the problems starts and if you get error messages and if so, which?
If you want to communicate immediately with them i have the error ticket available here.

 

It is impossible for me to get proper general information from McAfee support, only the user him/herself can as they need system information from the user.
Further they don't react on my urgent request to please contact the developer or to have at least a look at this thread.
It just looks like autoresponders only able to answer McAfee specific keywords.

So if you can be so kind as to write them immediately and get a workable answer, the internet community will be very grateful if you would post the results overhere.

We are used so much to the immediate, adequate, personal and very helpful support of DCS, which is in big contrast with this "help".

I'm sorry i could not get any further without first buying products i don't want on my system and the risk of still not getting adequate answers leading to solutions.
The best suggestion until now was above to close the build-in XP firewall and give it another try, conform the Norton experience.

And just got another of those autoresponderlike answers from mcafee. so Mcafee firewall users might like to help us out to be able to give better support by posting their experiences , most of all if positive.
Sorry i seem unable to do anything without having the product myself.
""
Thank you for contacting McAfee Security Online Technical Support. My name is. Tracy. Having reviewed your e-mail regarding your concern about configurations to be done on their firewall for persons using Port Explorer.; I would be glad to support you in resolving your issue.

I would have to inform you that configuration for firewall might differ depending on their product version, the operating system they are using, the error messages they have been receiving. There is a particular solution for each case those cistomers are experiencing. I do hope this information helps.

For further assistance, please feel free to visit our online support at http://.McAfee.com.""

Waiting now for users' experiences and solutions. So it seems not hopeless yet.