Windows Firewall Control is a handy and reliable utility designed to extend the functionality of the Windows Firewall and to provide quick access to its most frequent options.
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.
Windows Firewall Control offers four filtering modes which can be switched with just a mouse click:
· High Filtering - All outgoing connections are blocked. This setting blocks all attempts to connect to and from your computer.
· Medium Filtering - Outgoing connections that do not match a rule are blocked. Only programs you allow can initiate outgoing connections.
· Low Filtering - Outgoing connections that do not match a rule are allowed. You can block the programs you do not want to initiate outgoing connections.
· No Filtering - Windows Firewall is turned off. Avoid using this setting unless you have another firewall running on your computer.
Limitations:
· Lock Application and Shell Integration are disabled
What's New in This Release:
· New: Notification sound option in the Options tab. This will generate a sound when a new notification is generated and this option is enabled. Useful for Metro applications because notifications are displayed on the desktop.
· New: The GUI was redesigned to use standard window chrome instead of the skinned one.
· It seems that the fading effects, the custom windows that use transparency effects, the custom title bars, all the graphical enhancements, consume a lot of CPU and memory and make the program unresponsive on older systems.
· New: Importing and exporting the policy will use *.wfw files, like the Windows Firewall uses, instead of compressed *.wfc files.
· Improved: The scrolling in Manage Rules is now smoother by using proper virtualizing options.
· Improved: Memory usage was improved by 30%. All windows are recycled and the memory usage drops after GC.
· Improved: Various visual enhancements that offers a better view of the current state of the program.