Windows 10: Free/cheap easy-to-use allow-by-default firewall to block applications

Hello everyone

A little background: I have a program on my computer that legitimately access the internet very, very regularly (a text editor that consults an online database and adds to it), but whenever it does so, it slows down the program. I would like to be able to easily prevent just that program from accessing the internet for a while. The current solution is to simply plug out the internet cable... but then I can't use the internet for other purposes, e.g. receiving urgent e-mails, doing web searches for research, etc.

I have looked at a few free or cheap "simple" firewalls that are able to block applications, but most of them are "block by default", i.e. they block all applications except for a few "major" ones, and then the user has to figure out how to whitelist other programs that the user wants to be able to access the internet. I was surprised that this is the most common way of working, in fact.

Do you know of a reasonably simple firewall (i.e. one that does not involve a dozen steps to block and unblock) that blocks nothing until you tell it to block an application?

Thanks
Samuel

:)

 

Best free AV and firewall

Can Windows Firewall block outgoing connections yet? If not, it's one step above useless.

Look into Online Armor for a free firewall.

 

Windows Firewall blocks App Store from downloading new apps

Hi,

Let's try to check if the app store you're referring to if it's really blocked by Windows Firewall. See these steps:

• Open Windows Firewall from the taskbar >
  Firewall & network protection > Allow an app through firewall.
• A new window will show up containing the list of the apps that ca be allowed through Firewall.
• Look for the app you want to be accessed, and make sure that the Domain, Private and Public are ticked. That would allow the app store to be accessed.

Let us know what happens after doing the suggestion.

 

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.