Windows Firewall Control (WFC) by BiniSoft.org

Discussion in 'other firewalls' started by alexandrud, May 20, 2013.

  1. Kerrison

    Kerrison Registered Member

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    Not sure if this problem is limited to my specific configuration or not, but it may help people googling in the future-- the intel HD3000 drivers in windows update this week borked a bunch of programs, including WFC, iTunes, and a couple others. They silently crashed on startup. Backing-out the intel GPU drivers fixed it.
     
  2. jwcca

    jwcca Registered Member

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    From past experience I've found that device driver updates through Windows Update are more than likely to cause problems. When you see them offered it's best to then go to the motherboard or PC vendors site and look for corresponding driver updates from them which they know work with their specific equipment. (unless you have an Intel system, i.e. sold by Intel e.g. a mtherboard, etc.). This isn't limited to Intel, it's true for any vendor.
     
  3. Kerrison

    Kerrison Registered Member

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    I'm running a bog-standard dell latitude notebook, companies have tens of thousands of them. Where it gets tricky is the notebook dock, which has a little secondary nvidia GPU to drive additional display ports. But not a crazy config at all, really. Thing is, it took me a long time to track down, as the intel GPU driver update didn't show up in windows updates I backed-out. I had to remember that it had installed an intel GPU update, rolled it back, and voila all my stuff started working again.

    It's disconcerting when a security product silently fails to start, for obvious reasons.

    Anyway, took up enough space here-- just wanted the solution to be google-able, as I wasn't able to find anyone else with this problem in my searches.
     
  4. Alamei

    Alamei Registered Member

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    It turns out switching this had no effect after all, and after the other warnings posted in this thread, I wouldn't recommend anyone else bother trying it. It was just dumb luck that the applications loaded with the non-8.3 paths for a while after I swapped the registry value and rebooted. Since I rebooted again for the latest Path Tuesday, I'm back to seeing the popups for most MS Office applications again.

    So, as it stands, I could still really use a power-user setting to ignore all short-path names when generating notifications (or any other solution that would allow me to avoid receiving endless popups).
     
  5. rm22

    rm22 Registered Member

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    trying to install latest release - fails with an error something like.. 'this file is not intended to be executed directly. it must be launched by original installer'

    AV is disabled, anti-executable is disabled... any ideas? it's on Win8.1 if that matters & AV is Avast
     
    Last edited: Jul 19, 2015
  6. marzametal

    marzametal Registered Member

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    How are you installing it? Simple as double click and run through the prompts? Do you get to the end and click EXIT instead of RUN? Not sure if the following helps or if it will be allowed by Windows... try installing in Safe Mode.

    Just to cover all bases, try a manual uninstall of the previous version/remnants of current failed...
    1.
    a) Right click notification icon for WFC and Exit
    b) Run a CMD window with admin privileges.
    c) Execute the following commands:

    sc.exe stop _wfcs
    sc.exe delete _wfcs
    reg delete "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Windows Firewall Control" /f

    d) Delete manually the installation folder and any other related files: restore.wfw, wfc.exe and wfcs.exe (should just be these 3)

    2.
    Reboot and install new version, clicking on EXIT when complete as opposed to RUN. (Load it up via shortcut provided on desktop and/or start menu)
     
  7. Alpengreis

    Alpengreis Registered Member

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    Has nothing to do direct with your install problem. Nevertheless ...

    ATTENTION with the Avast: the last time I used it, a software proxy was involved (per default IIRC). You should know, that WFC is incompatible with such proxies. Here the text from binisoft.org ...

    ----
    Known Limitations

    √ Windows Firewall is incompatible with software proxies, web filtering modules, NDIS drivers.
    ----

    This means the Windows Firewall itself too - at least, if you will change the out-profile from "allow all outgoing" to a more restricted setting, to control your outgoing traffic - the reason is: you can not handle loopback connections with Windows Firewall.

    I do not use technical details at this point (you can search self for keyword "loopback").

    If this is no more the case with the enabled proxy in your Avast, resp. if you disable(d) this function, this should be not a problem, related to combo with Windows Firewall/WFC ...

    Regards
    Alpengreis
     
  8. rm22

    rm22 Registered Member

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    thanks for the reply...

    double click - first window comes up with install options - click install - UAC prompt - error message comes up immediately after UAC prompt is completed

    so nothing is installed - the wfc4setup.exe is still the only file on the PC & no entry in the registry
     
  9. marzametal

    marzametal Registered Member

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    Damn... any luck with the disabling of proxy approach mentioned by @Alpengreis ?
     
  10. rm22

    rm22 Registered Member

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    i believe the proxy issue with Avast (allowing blocked outbound connections) was fixed with the 2014 release - i've used it with online armor & tinywall and outbound connections are blocked as they should be. edit - so my assumption is it should also work with WFC now as well

    i was going to ask about the limitations with web filtering... its pretty much standard with an AV. and i know nothing about NDIS drivers so don't know if this is an issue
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2015
  11. potmagi

    potmagi Registered Member

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    tried to reinstall the program because it does not run and an error

    Could not subscribe to Windows Firewall Control Service! Exception: Service not available

    pls help

    guys think I solved the problem, I just cleaned the temporary files and turned Event Log to figure out what to prepare for an error and it was gone
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2015
  12. Alpengreis

    Alpengreis Registered Member

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    @rm22

    Good to know, thank you for your response!
     
  13. singe malt

    singe malt Registered Member

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    First post in this forum - donation user of WFC, which I like very much.

    Just tried to read through all posts, but 70 pages are a bit much. Apologies in advance for asking a question that might have been answered.
    Problem: WFC set to start in High filtering profile, and should be manually set to Medium.

    It does so, after about 75 - 80% of system starts - in the rest of cases, it starts in Medium without the usual balloon notification (and connects to anything). Just Avast and the usual bunch of startup entries - these don't seem relevant as it's totally random. Could be restarting after an install or after a week of laptop being unused.
    Any ideas?
    ---
    - Windows 7 home premium 64, DNS server on localhost (never caused problems - blocked remains blocked), no IPv6, just Avast free, no other security SW.
     
  14. Tyrizian

    Tyrizian Registered Member

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    Does anyone know if DNSCrypt-Proxy would work with Windows Firewall Control?
     
  15. marzametal

    marzametal Registered Member

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    Did you mean, turned "on" Event Log? W7F and WFC use the Event Log for connections. Without it, there wouldn't really be a purpose for WFC. Maybe the developer can (if he hasn't already) introduce the Event Log service as a install criteria which would be mentioned on the Binisoft website, or add it to an FAQ of some sorts...
     
  16. alexandrud

    alexandrud Developer

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    The problem is that the content of these columns is string, not numeric. I have tried to implement natural sorting of numbers on these columns but the result is not the expected one because there are also strings which can't be converted to a numeric representation. I will see if I can find a solution. Anyway, the latest version restores the sorting on the displayed data instead of sorting on the underlying data.
    The adopted solution converts the short DOS paths to the full paths. If this still does not work then I have to tweak it a little bit.
    - I will give it a try to find a way to add multiple rules in a group.
    - Color codes can't be implemented because I can't save extra info in the rules. Is the same problem with the reordering of the rules. There is no property that can keep the index, color, etc, new properties that Windows Firewall rules don't have.
    - Reset sorting is already there. Take a better look at the Columns configuration button.
    The problem appeared to be VoodooShield which even in disabled state, it still blocked WFC from installing correctly. After the uninstallation of VoodooShield, WFC installed properly.
    The reason might be the shutdown procedure which sometimes does not allow enough time to WFC to switch the profile. If the system shutdown kills the Windows Firewall Control to quickly, then the profile remains Medium Filtering. Unfortunately, I have no control over the system shutdown and can't delay the shutdown from WFC to ensure the profile switching.
     
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2015
  17. alexandrud

    alexandrud Developer

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    Windows Firewall Control v.4.5.0.6 - New version

    What's new:
    - Improved: The profile icons were updated to identify more easily the active profile.
    - Improved: The expiration time can be set for temporary rules from the Notifications tab. The user can set the expiration time between 1 and 60 minutes. The context menu of the temporary allow button was removed and two new options are available instead.
    - Fixed: Duplicate notifications are displayed for programs that are detected by Windows Firewall with the old 8.3 DOS paths.
    - Fixed: ICMPv6 rules are not duplicated correctly. The ICMP type of the duplicated rule is different than the original rule.
    - Fixed: Reimporting a partial policy file which contains rules for ICMP protocol fails.
    - Fixed: The sorting of some columns is made for the underlying data, not for the displayed data, making the sort more like a grouping instead of a sorting.

    New translation strings
    213 = Temporary allow rules expire in
    825 = Allow temporarily until restart
    826 = Allow for

    Changed translation strings
    207 = Automatically allow digitally signed programs with a valid signature to access the network and display notifications only for unsigned programs. This applies if no rule is defined.
    Removed translation strings

    820, 821, 822, 823

    Download location: http://binisoft.org/download/wfc4setup.exe
    SHA1: d1d3153f61bd5f85bb5b881e9fa46c51152158b3

    Have a great week,
    Alexandru

    Thank you for your feedback.
     
  18. Tyrizian

    Tyrizian Registered Member

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    Wonderful work @alexandrud, you're doing an excellent job.

    So far everything is working great!

    Thanks
     
  19. rm22

    rm22 Registered Member

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    just to add - it looks like it was only a problem with the install - i've reinstalled VoodooShield & it and WFC seem to be functioning properly
    thanks again for your help with this @alexandrud
     
  20. Alpengreis

    Alpengreis Registered Member

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    Cool! Good choice *g*

    I cannot test this. However: if it works ok, this is a good solution!

    Tested: works now! THANKS! The ICMPv6 notification problem should be now historic!

    Good enough now, thanks for the fix!

    Really well done, thank you very much!

    Kind regards!
    Alpengreis

    PS: DE-Translation is in work ...
    PPS: DE-Translation is sent to Developer ...
     
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2015
  21. Mrerex

    Mrerex Registered Member

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    Hi! Is there any way to re-enable Secure rules other than double-clicking on a check box? By a command line argument or something. This may help me with unwanted rules created by Steam.
     
  22. alexandrud

    alexandrud Developer

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    To enable/disable Secure rules feature you can use only the check box provided in the Options tab. There is no other way. On a check box, single click should be used to toggle the state, not double click.
     
  23. Mrerex

    Mrerex Registered Member

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    This feature is enabled all the time, but after every reboot I must re-enable it (first click disables, second click enables) to block unwanted rules. The Secure rules feature is bugged here, so I'm using that clicking method as a workaround. Doing that is a bit annoying and I'm looking for a better workaround or a fix.
     
  24. alexandrud

    alexandrud Developer

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    From your description there is no need to disable/enable Secure rules at each reboot. Secure rules feature works only after WFC service is started. The problem is Steam service which is starting before Windows Firewall Control service and there is a small period of time when Steam adds its own rules. Because of programs like Steam I have implemented Secure Boot. This will disable all network traffic so you have the possibility to review the rules before switching manually back to Medium Filtering profile and allowing network access. I assume that you have this problem only with Steam.
     
  25. Mrerex

    Mrerex Registered Member

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    I don't have the Steam service installed and I start Steam manually. I'm using the Administrator account (I've checked Standard user, same problem). Steam is able to create rules for its games too when they're installed or updated.
     
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