Frequently Asked Questions

How to Un-install

Windows7FirewallControl un-installer requires Windows7FirewallControl's control panel (for desktop version) is not running. The requirement prevents you from redundant necessity of reboot after the un-installation. As the result, to uninstall the product, please close Windows7FirewallControl first: TrayIcon/RightClick/Close.

Windows 7 Firewall Control and the Built-in Firewall

Windows7FirewallControl is completely based on Windows Filtering Platform (WFP), the security core introduced in Windows Vista and does not install any third party kernel drivers. The Built-in Firewall is based on the same WFP as well. The both products work entirely independently. Windows7FirewallControl uses the Built-in Firewall only once, at the first start to grab the initial settings. Due to complete product independence you can switch the Built-in Firewall ON or OFF at your option.
My Application is Blocked...

Windows7FirewallControl is completely based on Windows Filtering Platform (WFP), as the result some WFP specifics should be taken into consideration. _Any_ initial access attempt of _any_ unlisted application is rejected. Unfortunately, The rejection is the only way to detect new application access by catching the blocking notification. Probably it is not a bad choice, as the firewall should block any malware trying to send everything on the start.
After the rejection the default zone (DisableAll only for free version) is applied immediately and you are shown with "Edit Program" dialog to choose a zone. Pressing Apply (or ApplyOnce), the chosen zone is applied.
Usually applications make several attempts to reestablish the connection so everything goes "smoothly". Unfortunately, some applications make only one attempt, so you have to force "reconnection" manually. Hopefully it occurs only once, while the application is not listed only.
Web Installers

If you have set "EnableAll" to an application and forced the "reconnect" you may still be blocked. The reason is sometimes simple. The application (mostly web installer) downloads/uses the actual installing component every time under a new name (or in a new directory). So the actual installing component is always new (unlisted, always initially rejected) for Windows7FirewallControl and so, the scenario of initial rejection repeats endlessly. To avoid that, you can find real path of the web-installer (find the application in the Application List, chose Edit and see the path) and invoke it manually rather than refreshing the entire web-page, where the installer is originated from.
Permanent Disk activity

Unexpected disk activity is encountered while running Windows7FirewallControl. The activity is mostly related to wfpdiag.etl file and detected by some "monitoring" programs (for instance, AMON/NOD32). The activity is not caused by Windows7FirewallControl directly.
Actually VFC performs some polling actions to underlying network core - Windows Filtering Platform (WFP), but never originates a direct file access for that. The polling is used for real-time application access detection and for blocked event notification. We have no official information regarding WFP internals, but the file name is self descriptive. So Windows7FirewallControl does not "touch" the file, WFP does. We are working for the solution.

I have found a leak

There are some on-line leak tests saying "failed" to Windows7FirewallControl. Strictly speaking, VFC is completely based on Windows Filtering Platform (WFP) - security core introduced in Vista. (Note: The built-in Windows7/Vista firewall is based on the same security core). So any leaks detected in Windows7FirewallControl should be probably addresses to Microsoft directly. Anyway, Windows7FirewallControl is not able to affect quality of the underlying core neither positively nor negatively, Windows7FirewallControl is a user friendly front-end to WFP.
On the other hand, there is not a big problem to write a program, which communicating with a site, says "failed". No detailed information on the performed test is usually provided. The same tests sometimes claim that the world market leaders can not pass the test. Sometimes the only program passed the test is advertised at the same page. Please make your own conclusion regarding the "purpose" of the test.

An application is enabled, but the notifications are coming

The notification balloon shows the entire blocked events regardless of their origin. So the blocking events shown may be originated by another program or even by the network "peer". You can set temporarily "Mode:EnableAll" in the tray menu to verify the blocking origin. The option switches of the firewall entirely.

How to disable blocking notifications in Free versions

User Regedit.exe (an utility from your Windows installation) to set in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\sphinx-soft\Vista-Wall\1.0\GUI\1.0 "BalloonMax" parameter to zero (the desktop versions only). Refer to Regedit manual if required. To disable notification in Portable/U3 versions find YourComputerName.cfg (CFG file with the name equal to your computer name) in the installation directory and using a text editor (Notepad, for instance) find/change the same parameter. The program has to be restarted to reflect the changes. The option is available starting from version 1.2

"System" applications default zone

The Free version can not protect "system" applications, formally located in C:\windows\*. So the Free version blocks any initial network access attempts of the "system" applications (as explained above), forcibly/implicitly sets "EnableAll" zone always and prompts you with "Now Enabled:" in the notification balloon. The behavior provides system/network related services with unlimited network access.

"Blockall" are set to "EnableAll"

Windows7FirewallControl Plus grabs initial settings from native built-in firewall. The native initial settings sometimes include entries with "Blockall" style names. However, the entries do not include blocking rules, so the entries disable nothing and, therefore, are in "EnableAll" state. As the result, Windows7FirewallControl shows "Blockall" names in "EnableAll" state to reflect the built-in firewall state. Probably, the entries of the built-in firewall are actually placeholders to set the blocking later.

"Heavy load" message

Sometimes Windows7FirewallControl shows "The operation can not be completed now because of your computer is under heavy load. Please retry". The message is not sign of a problem. The message is intended to inform you that a current Windows7FirewallControl operation can not be performed instantly and is scheduled for the next period (within next 20-30 seconds mostly). It happens mostly when CPU or disk are heavy loaded (peak values are important, not average ones) by other applications leaving not enough resources behind to perform security related operations. Even the message is shown you are still protected, but temporary "deprived" of an ability to change the security settings.