Windows Firewall Control (BiniSoft)

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Petrovic

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Windows Firewall Control - Managing Windows Firewall was never easier
Program Overview

Windows Firewall Control is a nifty little application which extends the functionality of the Windows Firewall and provides quick access to the most frequent options of Windows Firewall. It runs in the system tray and allows user to control the native firewall easily without having to waste time by navigating to the specific part of the firewall. This is the best tool to manage the native firewall from Windows 8.1, 8, 7, Vista and Server 2008. Windows Firewall Control offers four filtering modes which can be switched with just a mouse click:

High Filtering - All outbound and inbound connections are blocked. This setting blocks all attempts to connect to and from your computer.
Medium Filtering - Outbound connections that do not match a rule are blocked. Only the programs that you allow can initiate outbound connections.
Low Filtering - Outbound connections that do not match a rule are allowed. The user can block the programs he doesn't want to initiate outbound connections.
No Filtering - Windows Firewall is turned off. Avoid using this setting unless you have another firewall running on your computer.

Program Features
√ Intuitive and easy accessible interface in the system tray, next to the system clock.
√ Full support with standard user accounts. Elevated privileges are required only at installation.
√ Create temporary rules which are automatically deleted when they expire or on program restart.
√ Disable the ability of other programs to add Windows Firewall rules.
√ Multiple and easier ways of creating new rules in Windows Firewall.
√ Integrated support of creating, modifying and deleting Window Firewall rules.
√ Lock feature which can disable the access to the settings of the program and Windows Firewall.
√ Shell integration into the right click context menu of the executable files.
√ Search for invalid rules with the possibility to delete them.
√ Search for executable files through folders and create new rules in seconds.
√ View recently blocked connections and create new rules from the logs: inbound and outbound.
√ Choose if you want the program to start at user log on.
√ Import, export and restore the firewall rules.
√ Protection to unauthorized uninstallation.
√ Possibility to restore previous settings at uninstallation.
√ And many, many more. Just try it out.

Registered Users Features
Notifications System which provides notifications for outbound blocked connections. Four modes available:
High - Display notifications for all outgoing connections that were blocked, including System and Svchost.exe.
Medium - Display notifications only for regular programs, without notifications for System and Svchost.exe.
Low - Automatically allow digitally signed programs. Notifications are displayed only for unsigned programs.
Disabled - Notifications are disabled.

System Requirements
√ Microsoft .NET Framework version 4.0
√ Compatible with all x86 and x64 versions of Windows 8.1, 8, 7, Vista and Server 2008.
√ Windows Firewall service is required to be enabled for Windows Firewall Control to run.
√ DNS Client service is required to be enabled for the notifications to work properly.

Known Limitations
√ Windows Firewall is incompatible with software proxies, like Avast! Web Shield and Avira WebGuard. Read why.
√ Notifications System is incompatible with BoxCryptor and TrueCrypt software.
√ Due to multiple system configurations and software installed there may be incompatibility problems. Please report them all and help us to improve Windows Firewall Control. Thank you for your support !

http://www.binisoft.org/wfc.php
 

Petrovic

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What's new in version 4.0.6.2 (18.01.2014)

- New: Added the possibility to set the "Interface types" for a rule, which
specifies for which network interfaces the rule applies. The new field is
available in the Manage Rules columns. If the column does not appear, it is probably
hidden. Just set the visibility for it from the header context menu.
- Fixed: Loopback notifications for svchost.exe and System are displayed when High
notification level is used but there is no network connection.
- Fixed: When all Columns are displayed in the Manage Rules window, the order and
size for the last column is not restored when the user opens again this view.
- Improved: The Manage Rules window is launched also when the user clicks on the
Rules Panel menu item instead of only from the Manage Rules menu item.
http://www.binisoft.org/changelog.txt
 

Petrovic

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What's new in version 4.0.7.0 (05.02.2014)

- New: From the notification dialog the user can now set the Location and the
Direction of the new rule that will be created.
- New: "Customize and allow..." and "Customize and block..." operations are now
available also in the New Rules Wizard view.
- Fixed: When the Low notification level is used, the rules that are automatically
created for digitally signed programs have by default set the Local Addresses property.
This property should be empty.
- Fixed: The dialog for "Customize and allow..." and "Customize and block..." does
not open in the Connections Log view.
- Fixed: The InterfaceTypes property of a rule is not saved in the partial policy
files and this info is missing after an import of a partial policy file.
http://www.binisoft.org/changelog.txt
 

Petrovic

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What's new in version 4.0.7.2 (15.02.2014)

- Fixed: The Location check boxes and Direction radio buttons are set only for the
first notification from the notification dialog. Any other notifications from the
queue don't have these properties set.
- Improved: When exporting a full or a partial policy, the default path is always
the root folder. Now, the last path used is saved and reused on opening the file
browser dialog.
- Improved: Added better exception handling.
http://www.binisoft.org/changelog.txt
 
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Petrovic

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What's new in version 4.0.8.2 (10.03.2014)

- New: From the Connections Log window, the user can now change which connections
should be logged by Windows Firewall: all, allowed, blocked, none.
- Fixed: The path of programs are not correct recognized in the notification dialog
for files located on drives A:\ and B:\.
- Fixed: Modifying a rule from TCP or UDP protocols to another protocol fails if the
original rule has local ports or remote ports defined.
- Fixed: The Rules Panel windows is closed when the Lock dialog is closed. This
should happen only if the user locks the program. If the user clicks on the Cancel
button then the Rules Panel should stay open.
- Improved: Removed the topmost flag for the Main Panel window. Now it will not be
displayed anymore on top of other windows and will have the normal behavior.
- Improved: Starting the program at end of the installation/update is now optional.
- Improved: The user can now choose if the notification dialog should be displayed
on top of other windows or to behave normally. There is a new checkbox in the
Notifications tab for this purpose.
http://www.binisoft.org/changelog.txt
 
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Petrovic

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What's new in version 4.0.8.4 (15.03.2014)

- Fixed: Disabling the logging from the uninstall dialog applies only for the blocked
connections. The allowed connections are still logged after WFC uninstallation.
- Fixed: The icon does not appear in the system tray area if the connection to the
service can not be established.
- Fixed: When creating a rule without customizing it from "Connections Log" or
"New Rules Wizard" the direction of a rule that is set in the Main Panel is not
applied correctly. Only outbound rules are created.
- Fixed: The icon does not appear in the system tray area at program startup if the
user has defined a custom notification sound.
- Improved: The logging was updated to identify more easily the problems that may
appear during the program execution.
http://www.binisoft.org/changelog.txt
 

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Softpedia Editor's Review for Windows Firewall Control
EDITOR'S RATING: 4.5/5

Rapidly access Windows Firewall settings, create rules for each installed program (allow or deny network access) and select the filtering profile
Windows Firewall Control is a tool that provides fast access to the Windows Firewall settings and enhances functionality by letting you manage networking rules for each application. It mainly caters to experienced users, such as network administrators.

Once initialized, the app creates an icon in the system tray area and allows you to select the security profile, ranging from no filtering (turns off Windows Firewall) to high filtering mode (blocks all inbound and outbound connections).

When it comes to rules management, you can allow or deny access to any application, disable, delete it from the list or create a duplicate. The list shows names, groups, programs, locations, statuses, actions, directions, locate and remote ports, remote addresses, protocols, and services.

It is possible to sort items by status or direction (inbound, outbound, all, user-created), use a search function, view recently blocked programs, as well as switch to a simplified viewing mode for enabling and disabling program access, as well as for adding a new app to the list.

Windows Firewall Control features a control panel where you can make additional tweaks. You can integrate the tool into the Explorer context menu, set it to autorun at startup, disable other programs from adding firewall rules, activate global hotkeys for the control panel and rules management area, adjust the frame's hue, import and export rules, as well as access some Windows tools (Firewall with Advanced Security, Command Prompt, Event Viewer, Resource Monitor, Windows Registry).

The application has a fair reaction speed and works smoothly, without causing any problems to the OS. It quickly applies rule changes. All in all, Windows Firewall Control is an excellent utility for a better control over Windows Firewall options, especially when it comes to setting up rules for each program.

sp_editor_very_good_medium.png


Here are some key features of "Windows Firewall Control":
  • Just one small executable file. All features are packed in the same file.
  • Intuitive and easy accessible interface in the system tray.
  • Full support with standard user accounts.
  • Possibility to create temporary rules.
  • Disable the ability of other programs to add Windows Firewall ules.
  • Multiple and easier ways of creating new rules in Windows Firewall.
  • Full support of creating, modifying and deleting Window Firewall rules.
  • Lock feature which can disable the access to the settings of the program.
  • Shell integration into the right click context menu of the executable files.
  • Search for invalid rules with the possibility to delete them.
  • Search for executable files through folders and create new rules in seconds.
  • View recently blocked connections and create new rules from the log.
  • Choose if you want the program to start at user logon.
  • Import and export the settings of the program.
  • Protection to unauthorized uninstallation.
  • Possibility to restore previous settings at uninstallation.
Requirements:
  • NET Framework 4.0
Limitations:
  • Notification system is disabled in the unregistered version
Source

 

Petrovic

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What's new in version 4.0.8.6 (20.03.2014)

- Fixed: The updater hangs if the user executes it from a standard user account and
the program is running in system tray. The workaround was to manually close it first
from the system tray icon and then execute the updater. Now, the update will complete
even if the user does not close first the existing running instance.
- Fixed: The protocol is always set to TCP if the user modifies a rule from the
notification dialog and the protocol is set to ANY.
- Fixed: The Manage Rules window remains always on top after creating a new rule
from the options available on the right panel named "Create new rule". The same
behavior was also identified and fixed for the Main Panel window.
- Fixed: After a clean installation the default notification level is set to Low
level instead of Disabled level.
- New: The log of the installation/update can be now viewed if the user presses
the F12 key when the installation/update is complete (the EXIT button appears).
http://www.binisoft.org/changelog.txt
 

Petrovic

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What's new in version 4.0.9.0 (04.05.2014)

- New: Install Mode. This new mode available in the Profiles tab will automatically
revert a chosen profile after a given period of time if the user changes the profile
and forgets about this.
- Fixed: When using "Disable the ability of other programs to add firewall rules"
some programs that use Windows services can still create firewall rules through
these services before the start-up of WFC.
- Fixed: The scroll position in Main Panel does not automatically scroll to top when
changing between the tabs.
- Fixed: The automatic rules creation for digitally signed programs does not work
with Low notification level if the file description is an empty string. If the file
description is missing the file name will be used instead
http://www.binisoft.org/changelog.txt
 
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Petrovic

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Windows Firewall Control v.4.0.9.2 - New Version

What's new:
- Fixed: AppGuard and Steam can still create firewall rules at boot time when their services start before WFC. Now, the WFC service initializes first and intercepts properly these attempts.
- Fixed: The profile is not reverted by the Install Mode if the system is restarted.
- Fixed: Install Mode can change a higher profile to a lower profile which should not be possible. The description of Install Mode was renamed and the profiles available were reduced only to High Filtering and Medium Filtering profiles.
- Fixed: When switching between multiple connections in notification dialog, the Protocol and Direction become unchecked.
- Improved: When opening a file location from WFC, the file is now selected. In the previous versions the folder was opened but the user had to select the file manually.
- Improved: Consecutive notifications are allowed for the same program only after a period of 30 seconds between two blocked connection attempts for the same program. Consecutive notifications are now allowed. Multiple notifications for the same program will not be displayed because many notifications can be generated, but the info for an already displayed notification for the same program will be updated.

Installation notes: This version can not update a previous version. Please first uninstall any WFC version from Programs and Features available in Control Panel and then execute the new installer.

Download location:http://binisoft.org/download/wfc4setup.exe
SHA1: 31899e77e710620bea96bc765dedc2c881a8e757

http://www.binisoft.org/changelog.txt
 
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Petrovic

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Windows Firewall Control v.4.1.0.0

What's new:

- New: "Merge rules" option was added in the context menu of Manage Rules window. This option is enabled if multiple rules for the same program, direction and action are selected.
- New: Multiple selection was added in Connections Log. If multiple connections for the same program are selected the user can customize a merged rule before creating a new rule.
- Fixed: Temporary rules created through the notification dialog are deleted if "Disable the ability of other programs to add firewall rules" is enabled.
- Fixed: The Main Panel window freezes while checking for a new version is in progress.
- Fixed: The scroll bar position doesn't go to top in Manage Rules when the Display or Filter combo boxes are used to filter the rules and a column is sorted.
- Fixed: Temporary rules are not deleted on WFC restart.
- Improved: Ctrl+F will set focus to the Search box in Manage Rules window.
- Improved: The search function from Manage Rules works now also for Group name.
- Improved: The Rules Panel was redesigned from scratch to improve memory usage and allow further extensions. Obsolete code was removed and a lot of code was improved.

Installation notes: Just use the updater to upgrade to this new version.
Download location:http://binisoft.org/download/wfc4setup.exe
SHA1: 40250ca427f0b350424a22c711155c1b48d59716
http://www.binisoft.org/changelog.txt
 

Petrovic

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Windows Firewall Control v.4.1.0.1

What's new:

- New: Added support to define custom URLs for checking purposes. Check the Options tab from Main Panel for the new options.
- Fixed: Pressing the Enter key in Rules Manager changes the selection to the next row and opens for editing the next rule instead of the current selected one.
- Fixed: The validations for local ports and remote ports that contain IPHTTPS, Teredo, RPC and RPC-EPMap don't work properly in Properties dialog of a rule. This allows invalid input and no change occurs when the Apply button is used.
- Fixed: Can not duplicate or modify an existing rule if the local port or the remote port is set to IPHTTPS. (as a note, this was the hardest validation ever)
- Fixed: The status of toggle buttons (Allow, Block, Enable, Disable) is not updated until the user changes the selection in the Manage Rules data grid.
- Fixed: The Properties dialog opens if the user wants to export a full or a partial policy and then he confirms the action with the Enter key.
- Fixed: IPv4 ranges are not properly recognized in Properties dialog. The override validation check boxes were removed as the new validation rules should cover all scenarios.

Installation notes: Just use the updater to upgrade to this new version.
Download location:http://binisoft.org/download/wfc4setup.exe
SHA1: c4b41d86260648127c32341106ad8e907fa4ab91
http://www.binisoft.org/changelog.txt
 

Oxygen

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I've got a question about this program
  • When I turn it on it blocks Internet Connection, so could anyone help :oops:
 

Petrovic

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Windows Firewall Control v.4.1.0.2

What's new:
- New: Added new columns in Manage Rules for Edge Traversal and ICMP settings. These columns are hidden by default. They can be displayed in the data grid but they can not be modified from the Properties dialog.
- Fixed: Edge Traversal and ICMP setting are not preserved when duplicating a rule from Manage Rules data grid. The same applies to the scenario when a partial policy is imported from a file which contains such firewall rules.
- Fixed: Rules with no Group defined or with a custom Group are deleted when a rule is duplicated and the "Disable the ability of other programs to add firewall rules" is enabled.
- Fixed: The group name is saved with the English name if the user modifies a rule which is located in a default Windows Firewall group.
- Fixed: IP ranges without CIDR notation are not recognized as valid when modifying a rule. For example this was considered invalid: 224.0.0.0/255.255.255.0
- Fixed: The icons for context menu items in Connections Log and New Rules Wizard are highlighted even if the menu items are disabled.
- Fixed: A new notification for svchost.exe is not displayed if a block rule for svchost.exe for 'Any' protocol does exist. This prevents the notification for Windows Update if the recommended rule for Windows Update does not exist.
- Fixed: Search does not return valid results if the Program is set to All programs.
- Improved: The searh function was extended to find results in the following columns: Name, Program, Group, Local Ports, Local Addresses, Remote Ports, Remote Addresses. Example: The user can search for '80' to see the rules defined for this port.
- Improved: Added "Jump to rules" shortcut in the Connections Log toolbox and the other entries were added in the context menu.
- Improved: Moved 'User created rules' from Display combo box to Filter combo box. This allows filtering by inbound/outbound for user created rules. User created rules are considered the rules with the group name 'Windows Firewall Control' or 'Temporary Rules'.

Installation notes: Just use the updater to upgrade to this new version.
Download location:http://binisoft.org/download/wfc4setup.exe
SHA1: 041d613393b810dbaa6578e3d2a2a7681b1ff5ab
http://www.binisoft.org/changelog.txt
 

Petrovic

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What's new in version 4.1.1.0 (25.08.2014)

- Fixed: Rules created for digitally signed programs when using Low notification
level are created as block rules instead of allow rules.
- Fixed: Due to the fix for Edge Traversal included in the previous version, the
program does not work anymore on Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.
- Fixed: Connections Log does not display any allowed or blocked connections in
Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.
- Fixed: Ctrl + Alt + 3 does the same as Ctrl + 3, preventing users with different
keyboard layout to insert special characters in the search field in Manage Rules.
- Updated: The recommended block rules were removed. Too many questions regarding
them.
- Updated: The recommended rule for explorer.exe was modified to allow all
connections on remote ports 80 and 443.
http://www.binisoft.org/changelog.txt
http://www.binisoft.org/download/wfc4setup.exe
 
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Petrovic

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What's new in version 4.1.2.0 (31.08.2014)

- New: Added a new button for creating a blank new rule in Manage Rules window.
- New: The URL text boxes from Options tab in Main Panel were changed with combo boxes.
Where available, multiple providers were included.
- New: Action category with radio buttons was added to the Properties dialog of a rule.
- New: "Customize and allow..." and "Customize and block..." from Connections Log
and New Rules Wizard were merged to a new "Customize and create" function.
- New: Added a new check box in Options tab to automatically set High Filtering
profile on system shut down.
- Fixed: When coming from sleep mode, duplicate notifications are displayed for
System and svchost.exe, even if there are allow rules that allow all connections
for these two programs.
- Fixed: Result dialog after creating a rule from Connections Log is missing if the
Connections Log is launched directly from the system tray context menu.
- Fixed: "Jump to rules" does not work from the toolbox button.
http://www.binisoft.org/changelog.txt
http://www.binisoft.org/download/wfc4setup.exe
 
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Petrovic

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What's new in version 4.1.4.0 (19.09.2014)

- New: The installer requires elevated privileges only when the installation is
actually done. It can be executed with normal user account privileges.
- New: "Secure boot" was added in the Options tab. It saves the current firewall
rules at system shut down, sets High Filtering profile and restores the firewall
rules at WFC start-up. When this feature is enabled, at system start-up the network
connections are blocked until WFC starts too.
- New: Added a new Copy... submenu in the context menu of the Connections Log window.
- Updated: Added new URL providers: ip-adress.com and tcpiputils.com
- Updated: "Disable the ability of other programs to add firewall rules" was renamed
to "Secure rules".
- Updated: Recommended block rules are available again. If they are not needed they
can be easily deleted.
- Fixed: The color sliders don't not reflect the current color after reopening the
Main Panel window. They show always black color in the Options tab even if the color
is different.
http://www.binisoft.org/changelog.txt
http://www.binisoft.org/download/wfc4setup.exe
 
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Petrovic

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What's new in version 4.1.6.0 (21.10.2014)
- New: Added support for defining paths of the rules with system variables.
However, the path of the rule will contain the full path which is converted by
Windows Firewall API. Is this now possible to define a rule like this:
"%windir%\notepad.exe" or "%ProgramFiles(x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe"
- Updated: If the wfcs.exe service is not available at startup of wfc.exe, it
takes 20 seconds to show the tray icon. Now it displays the error icon and retries
to reconnect. If the reconnect is successfully, then the status is updated.
- Updated: The user interface can now detect if the service is stopped by pooling
the service every few seconds.
- Updated: Logging was updated to offer more precise info when a problem is
encountered. Possible solutions are also provided in the log when an error is logged.
- Updated: Some parts of the code were simplified to improve the responsiveness.
- Updated: Some misspelled words were updated.
http://www.binisoft.org/changelog.txt
http://www.binisoft.org/download/wfc4setup.exe
 
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