Windows 10: firewall rule to block addresses NOT on an IP list?

I am just starting to learn the Windows Firewall (working on both Windows 7 and 10) and I'm not impressed with the inflexibility of its rules. I would like to know if


1. Is there is a way to do what I want with Windows Firewall?
2. Is there is a third-party firewall that would do it?


What I want to do is create a rule that blocks outgoing connections, for program X, that are to a destination **NOT** in an IP list.


Windows Firewall is not very flexible in how you specify IP list rules. When you give an IP list, your rule will match that list... you can't say "trigger the rule for non-matching IP addresses." Therefore to allow outgoing connections to a list, you have to


1. Change the entire firewall policy to block outgoing connections by default so that you can create an "allow rule" matching your list. This will mess up the rest of your programs.


2. Somehow combine a block rule and allow rule. Create a block rule for most traffic, with the "allow" rule overriding it when appropriate. However, this doesn't appear to be possible in general. It **may** be possible for connections that use IPSec, I'm not sure. And I'm not sure if I can use IPSec in my application.

And is there a third-party firewall that can do it? Most 3rd-party firewalls are LESS sophisticated than Windows Firewall, because the use case they are addressing is providing an interface that doesn't require much comprehension. I need one that's actually MORE sophisticated than Windows Firewall.

:)

 

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No because they still force updates. You can only delay updates with metered connections. You have to block all communications with their servers in order to block updates. Don't be intimidated by the windows firewall. You can always delete rules that
you add. You will name each rule and you can also turn them on and off without deleting them. You only need to add two new rules. One in the inbound and one in the outbound. They will be exactly the same too.

Just type wf.msc in the cortana box and when the screen pops up, select inbound rules on the upper left. Then in the far right dialog box you will see new rule. Click it and a new dialog box will pop up. Choose custom and then click next. Leave the next
at default (All Programs) and click next. Leave the next page at default as well and click next.

On this page, under "which remote IP addresses does this rule apply to," Click The radio button for "These IP addresses." Then click add and start adding the address ranges that I supplied above. You will have to keep adding to the list for each of the
addresses above. Some are single Ip addresses and some are ranges from one to the other like the first one on the list "65.52.108.1-65.52.108.255." For this select the radio button "This IP address range" and type 65.52.108.1
in the top box and 65.52.108.255 in the bottom box. This will block all ip's in that range.

For the single ip's use the top radio button "This IP address or subnet" and enter in the single address such as 23.103.189.157.

After you've entered all the Ip's then click next and select the bottom radio button to block the connections. Then click next and next again. On this last screen you can name your rule. Name it something like MSUpdateIPs. And give a description to remind
yourself what this rule is for. Say something like these ip's block MS Updates.

Then click finish and repeat this method for the outbound rules. You will see that this is fairly self explanatory once you try it. It really is nothing to get intimidated about.

 

"Quickbooks has stopped working" A problem has caused quickbooks to stop working correctly. windows will close the program & notify you if a solution is available.

The firewall concept works - just needs a little tweaking! Create a custom outbound rule:

1) Specify "This program path" to your QBW32.exe.

2) Skip the protocols (use the default)

3) Under Scope/Which remote IP Addresses does this rule apply to? select "These IP Addresses" then "Add" then "Predefined set of computers" then "Internet"

4) Under Action select "Block the connection"

5) Choose your profiles (I use all of them just in case)

6) Name the rule as appropriate

This worked for me - I was able to access the database on a domain networked share without the crash.