Hello there OP, This is a great program, thanks for all the effort so far! I've having one small issue with the latest version 2.1.4 and Dropbox (currently v2.2.13 installed). If I right-click on the Dropbox system tray icon the status screen always says 'Connecting..." and "Dropbox is starting...". This happens even if I have "No restrictions" set on the Dropbox executable (by default at C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Dropbox\bin\Dropbox.exe) I've tried disabling blocklists and enabling LAN traffic but I'm still seeing this behavior in Dropbox. In TinyWall I'm seeing Blocked connections for Dropbox.exe from (local):50497-50500 to 199.47.218.159:443 over TCP. The only thing that "fixes" this problem is switching TinyWall to Learning mode, Allow outgoing, or Disabled. I am using Windows 7 x64, fairly vanilla system, nothing out of the ordinary on my local network (ASUS router behind U-verse RG). I am able to tracert to that Dropbox destination IP with no problems. Any ideas?
Besides the aforementioned issue with Dropbox, I noticed that the Connections windows is frequently empty when first opened, and it often takes several clicks of the Refresh button to finally see something there. In my case I usually only have "Show blocked apps" checked. I don't think this is due to no apps yet being blocked, as Dropbox.exe continues to be Blocked with my current settings "Normal mode" in TinyWall.
I've also enabled "VPN L2TP/IPSec" and "VPN PPTP" in Special Exceptions and still no go with Dropbox...
Regarding the (supposed) delay in showing blocked connections which I mentioned above, after closer inspection of the Timestamps listed there I believe I now understand what is happening. It appears that the connection list is being flushed each time I make a change to TinyWall settings (e.g. to troubleshoot this issue with Dropbox). If that's by design (or limitation of the OS) then I apologize for the false alarm...
Feature request: Maybe you could add a context menu to executable to allow it or block it or remove the rule, similar Windows Firewall Control. I prefer TinyWall right now because it is digitally signed properly.
Ultim, Thank you so much for your continued work on TW. It is obvious that you are a talented developer and that you care about the quality of your work. Great job! I haven't visited here in quite a while, so I just learned about the new v2.1 releases. Surprisingly I checked I my installation of TW, and it says I already have the latest version 2.1.4. I thought the update was a manual process. It is possible that it auto-updated? (I do have the "Automatically check for updates" option enabled.) If auto-update is not possible, then I must have triggered it at some point without realizing. I definitely did not reconfigure my application exceptions, it "just worked". None of this is a problem, I'm just curious how I could have gotten to the latest version without realizing. Comments on some of the recent discussion: I'm in full agreement with CGuard. I have come to appreciate the silent nature of TW, so I don't think it would be worth any significant effort to create real-time notifications. However, because of the silent nature, it also inherently means that users don't know what is being blocked. It would be very handy at times to be able to view some kind of log to see what has been blocked. I do understand the reasons you described for limiting logging, but if you ever find a way around those limitations, I think it would be a major functional enhancement to TW. Something simple that could help in the short term would be to allow the user to manually choose a time period longer than 2 min. It is a valid user need to identify programs that want to access the network during bootup. I think there is currently no way to do that in TW. If the logging mentioned above could be active during bootup, then that would be one way to satisfy the need. Another option would be to allow Autolearn to persist through a single restart. That would allow startup programs to be Autolearned, while protecting the user from accidentally leaving Autolearn mode permanently enabled. But honestly, if a log was available, then I don't think there would be a need to Autolearn during bootup. I think issue this is important enough to merit some thought. Thanks!!
I mentioned in an earlier post that I would like to see an option for autolearn mode to stay enabled after rebooting to learn applications that run during boot. I hope he adds support for this functionality. I have also asked for support to be added for logging. Logging is essential for trouble shooting. Does Tinywall still not support logging? If so then where does it save it's logs to?
I just installed Tinywall again. I will use it for a while, and see what I think. I'm looking for a good firewall right now. There getting hard to find. More, and more firewalls are only being offered as part of a security suite.
TinyWall troubleshooting I actually have a problem with TinyWall 2.1 and my OpenVPN client. I tried white listing by window and process but still encounter problems. With TinyWall on, my VPN connection is not stable. It reconnects constantly. When I looked at the 'show blocked apps' list, I saw normally around two openvpn.exe processes that were blocked. I tried to unblock them via right click but with no success. Any idea what is the problem here? Here are the two programs that I actually think I should have successfully white listed: C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenVPN Technologies\OpenVPN Client\etc\..\core\openvpn.exe C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenVPN Technologies\OpenVPN Client\prism\openvpn-client.exe Any ideas?
Did you try switching Tinywall to autolearn mode for a few minutes while you use your openvpn client? Place Tinywall in autolearn mode, and then connect to your openvpn client for about 5 minutes. What packet filter rule do you have for your openvpn client in Tinywall? Have you tried granting it unrestricted UDP, and TCP traffic?
I just install Tinywall, at first it did not block outgoing connection. How should I configure the windows 7 firewall so Tinywall work correctly ? Thank.
It appears that autolearn seems to have solved the issue. The only problem is that a lot of system and other processes have been learned as well by TinyWall now.
TinyWall is using an outdated (Updated: July-08-2013) MVPS HOSTS file again. The newer version is: Updated August-24-2013. I thought this was going to be fixed awhile ago?
Gentlemen, just about to give tinywall a shot. I want to manually approve/block all o/goings first time round. does tinywall have a setting for this??
Tinywall is triggering an alert from Emsisoft Anti-Malware with the Alert Settings Paranoid mode on. It says Tinywall is trying to simulate mouse or keyboard input. I find this kind of strange, what is Tinywall doing that could trigger this? edit: I figured it out, the alert goes away when I uncheck "Enable global hotkeys"
No, it just automatically blocks everything without any alert. To get your apps working you need to allow them in Tinywall, there are multiple ways to do this either by process, by window, or autolearn mode. It's pretty simple, and unobtrusive.
Avast vs Tiny Wall Hi, I'm trying out Avast and I'm using Tiny Wall 2.1.4 and I noticed that Avast is listed in the 'Special Exceptions' box. Does this mean that Avast isn't blocked so info can travel through Avast security without being filtered by Tiny Wall ? Thanks for helping.
If I am not wrong that is only to let avast update. I think it is that way, because avast temporarily creates a avast.setuo file, which will be erased already when you just entered the folder to add it to tiny wall. And maybe the remote support from avast.
That's what I thought, but before I installed Avast, Tiny Wall would block the 'Leak Test' instantly. Now it fails the GRC 'Leak Test' No big deal, but something did change in outgoing/incoming connections. Confused...
See my post: https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=2266012&postcount=725 Also, Avast Web Shield interferes with TinyWall by routing all network traffic through its proxy. To prevent that, enable "Scan Traffic from well-known browser processes only" if you want to keep Web Shield.
Thanks, I enabled the 'Scan Traffic' and Tiny Wall blocked (passed) the "leak Test " connection ok. Does this mean that Web Shield is still functioning ok ?
That means Web Shield only scans the network traffic of your browsers now, which is more than enough. Plus, the other shields already covers your system.
