Despite its undisputable utility, Windows Firewall is not the easiest tool to manage and configure. That is why many Windows users have turned to Windows Firewall Control to customize its different layers of protection. This free utility not only makes it easier to deal with the technicalities of your Windows Firewall, but it also enhances its functionality with a set of useful features.
The interface itself is much more user-friendly than that of the native Windows Firewall. First of all, it displays a useful Dashboard where you can see at a glance the status of your Firewall, the inbound and outbound connections, and the nature (public or private) of your Internet connection. From here, you can move to a set of tabs where you can easily customize your profiles, notifications, rules, security options, etc.
The program offers three levels of filtering, from High – which blocks all your inbound and outbound connections – to no filtering at all, with a recommended Medium Filtering option (based on the rules you have set up for your connections) and a Low Filtering one, with more permissive rules for outbound connections. These rules will let you define a set of outbound and inbound conditions that applications and locations need to meet not to be blocked. The Notifications area will display (or not) those outbound connections that have been blocked as per your conditions, which includes a list of exceptions to specific programs and folders.
The Security tab takes you to a set of enhancements that add value to your Windows Firewall, namely, Secure Boot, Secure Profile, and Secure Rules. Here you can define if you want the program to block all your connections by default at startup and leave them that way until you change that profile manually. You can also protect your Windows Firewall from “external tampering”, so that only you and only through this program firewall rules can be modified or cancelled. Last, you can tell the program here to protect your Firewall against rules that haven’t been created in any of the authorized groups defined by you.
You will also find a Tools tab, which – promising as it sounds – merely contains but a list of direct links to certain system utilities and URLs to certain useful services, such as a site to check the reputation of IP addresses or a site to start a WHOIS query, among others.
This free tool, acquired by Malwarebytes some time ago – hence the branding at the top-left corner of the interface – will take up a chunk of your computer’s memory, but it will let you make the most of your Windows Firewall without the fuss involved in dealing with this system tool directly. Downloading and trying it out for yourself will surely do you more good than harm.
v4.3 [Jan 15, 2015]
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What's new in version 4.3.0.1 (16.01.2015)
- Fixed: Duplicate context menu items when Shell Integration is enabled when no
translation file is used and then a translation file is installed.
- Fixed: Auto check for updates checkbox does not remember the last value when
reopening Main Panel window.
- Fixed: Proxy configuration dialog can't be closed if only the address is completed
but no username and password.
- Updated: Added a textbox hint for address in proxy configuration dialog.
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What's new in version 4.3.0.0 (15.01.2015)
- New: Auto-update feature was added. If it is enabled, it will check only once,
after 20 seconds from the program startup.
- New: Added proxy configuration support when checking for updates.
- Updated: The Shell Integration text displayed in the right context menu of
executable files is now localized based on the corresponding strings from the
translation file.
- Fixed: Merge Rules feature doesn't work correctly when duplicate entries are part
of the input arguments.
- Fixed: The profile is not updated in Profiles tab if the user changes the profile
from WFwAS while a different tab is active in WFC.
- Fixed: NullReferenceException appears if the user opens the Properties dialog,
confirms the changes and then he tries to merge some rules.
- Fixed: "The root Visual of a VisualTarget cannot have a parent" exception appears
when .NET Framework 4.5.2 is installed and the user wants to open the Main Panel.
Princess in the Tower [1.0 alpha]
