3 posts tagged “firewall”

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Firestarta

Nov 22, 2007
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Vista users rejoice! (Well, lets face it, they haven't had much else to rejoice about). But now, at last, there is a decent third-party firewall available. And it's one of (if not THE) best you can get. So head on over and download the new version 3 of Comodo Firewall Pro. (Works in both the 32 bit and 64 bit Vistas).Then switch off the over-complex yet under performing Windows Firewall.

Works in XP too, if you're still using a lesser firewall.

Yup. Small things make me happy.

Firestartah

Mar 15, 2007
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Its about time. Coming head of Comodo, Zone Alarm et al, PC Tools Firewall Plus is the first free firewall I've seen for Vista. Now, I've no idea what its like, but it can't be any worse than the Windows one. Although apparently its not without issues, but they aren't related to Vista - apparently AVG and NOD see it as a trojan. Well, I'm sure its a false positive that will get updated, so give it a shot.

Vista Firewalls

Feb 14, 2007
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The thing that kind of annoys me about Windows Vista (aside from the UAC... more later) is the new and improved firewall. Sure its new and improved, but the way its set up out of the box, is not much better than the XP one. It will block hackers and such from getting into your computer from outside, but it won't block malware or such that is already on your machine from broadcasting out. So whats the point?

Of course, I'd run off and install Comodo Firewall or Zonealarm instead, but neither of these (or any of the other firewalls) are 100% compatible with Vista yet, and won't be for a few months. Really frustrating. So... how to block outbound traffic unless you actually want it. Well, its not easy with Vistas Firewall. Or rather, it wasn't, until I worked out a way.

Vista Firewall With Advanced Security

If you click start, and type "firewall" into the search box, you will see two entries: Vista Firewall, and Vista Firewall With Advanced Security. Click on this to bring up the meaty new firewall control. Except.... holy crap, how do you work it? Its all rules and zones and stuff it would take a degree in networking to understand. Well, luckily there is a small freeware application that can help you. Vista Firewall Control is what you need. Download and install it, then restart your computer.

Type search and click on Vista Firewall With Advanced Security again. Now if you look at the basic settings, the firewall is blocking all INBOUND traffic that doesn't have a rule allowing it, but allowing ALL outbound traffic, whether it has a rule or not. So you need to change this to BLOCK outbound traffic.

Fw1

Click the link that says "Windows Firewall Properties". Then you will get this window:

Fw2

just select "block" from the dropdown box. I'm unsure whether you have to do this for just the Public Profile (ie the Internet), or for all the profiles - I guess try it and see. Anyhow, now all outbound traffic is blocked UNLESS it has a rule saying otherwise.

This much is obvious, but what isn't obvious is how to set rules. Well, its not just not-obvious, its unnecessarily complex. Luckily, the Vista Firewall Control app will help you. You've installed it, rebooted, and you see a little yellow flame icon in your taskbar. Good. So start an internet application - Firefox. The VFC app will pop up a window asking you if you want Firefox to connect to the internet, and give you some options, such as "outbound only", "inbound only" etc. Choose "both ways", because Firefox won't really work unless you do. Then the VFC program creates a rule in VIsta Firewall allowing Firefox to connect. Try running another application, like Skype. When it asks you if you want it to connect, select "no". And it doesn't. (Don't worry, you can change your mind and allow it, by clicking on the icon in the VFC window).

Fw3

The one thing you will notice, is that most Windows things DO NOT pop up and ask you - thats because they already have a rule allowing them in Vista Firewall. Which is kind of... meh... I'd rather have the choice, but I'm not about to go digging around in the Firewall rules and delete stuff.

Not the most ideal solution, but its free, quick and easy, and will do until Comodo get their asses into gear and fix up their firewall to be Vista compatible.

User Account Control

During the course of doing the above, you will probably have a million "are you sure you want to do that?" boxes popping up. Like... "of course I'm bloody sure, I clicked it didn't I??". Sorry, but the UAC is probably the most annoying piece of computer software I've EVER used.. so I switched it off, and its staying off. Sorry Bill, I've been using computers since 1981, I know what I'm bloody doing. If I want to drag a file from My Documents onto my F: drive, I don't need pop ups asking me to verify it. Stupid. "But its essential Vista Security!!" - well, if Vista is so fundamentally insecure that it needs that crap, then it says a lot. OSX doesn't have it, neither does Linux. I used XP for six years without it, Windows 2000 before that, Windows 95 before that, etc etc... and never once has my PC died, from viruses or malware or me dragging a file. Leave me bloody alone! arghghghghgh

(highlighted screenshots made with Vista's Snipping Tool - which I am immediately a fan of lol)