firewall rules

[Hermite15]

just deleted the rules.xml file and rebooted, with the firewall set to ask, found when logging in that it was as expected created again, but unexpectedly filled with the same content as previously, tens of rules created again automatically with no prompt and nothing appearing in the application rule panel.

edit: so there must be another way to reinitialize the firewall more effectively, and have it behave like it did just after the install, with prompts   no ?   but how ? must be another file to take care of...

[DavidR]

avast has in the past had an integrity checker, so I can only assume that some thing like this is going on here, where it replaces the missing file, but must as you suggest have a backup of your settings/rules somewhere.

[Hermite15]

don't want to go into the details,off topic here and would be too long I went through some sort of disaster on my system this afternoon, that I could have avoided but I made a mistake in the process of recovering. Anyway, it all started when I deleted the content of rules.xml (edited, I didn't delete the file) and rebooted. Found an empty desktop, logged out, could log back in and found tens and tens of entries in Windows events related to DCom and NT/authority errors. I rebooted another time and got the empty desktop again. How I recovered from that is another story but I think what happened is that by deleting all the content of the firewall rules, all internal traffic in Windows got blocked 

[Hermite15]

back on AIS, I started this thread while back on "free": after upgrading to 5.0.393, I found that the firefwall seems to behave much better now, with rules created automatically when config on "auto-decide". More on this as it comes and as needed.

[Hermite15]

just to mention the pop up about new network detection is still there after each reboot, as if after a fresh install. Also, I just uninstalled an app that had a rule, and I don't want to delete this rule as I still have no idea if it will appear again in the UI rules panel if I ever reinstall this same app. It use to never appear again there, but was kept in rules.xml after deletion in the UI.

[Hermite15]

don't want to touch anything  Firewall seems to work great on default settings.

[lukor]

Hi, when deleting the app from the GUI it should also disappear from the rules.xml.

Concerning the popup dialog -- well, me working from a notebook I actually pretty much like it the way it is now - it pops, yes, but it also informs me in what network I am connected right away, which is handy for me. So even though at first we thought this should get changed, currently I sort of lean to keeping it poping. Perhaps a checkbox in the gui, for Desktop PCs to skip the popup migh be a good compromise?

[Hermite15]

Hi, when deleting the app from the GUI it should also disappear from the rules.xml.

Concerning the popup dialog -- well, me working from a notebook I actually pretty much like it the way it is now - it pops, yes, but it also informs me in what network I am connected right away, which is handy for me. So even though at first we thought this should get changed, currently I sort of lean to keeping it poping. Perhaps a checkbox in the gui, for Desktop PCs to skip the popup migh be a good compromise?

thanks for the feedback  so now I can delete uninstalled  apps and that will be indeed reflected in the rule.xml file, fine. No problem for me on such a compromise concerning the pop up, with an option to turn it off for those on Desktop PCs and not switching networks as often as those on mobile devices 

[Hermite15]

OK bad new I deleted CIS (comodo) entry from the rules panel, because I left it on (just the HIPS) after I reinstalled AIS, and finally changed my mind and removed CIS completely...I just edited rules.xml just for viewing, and the Comodo rule is still there  

edit: I deleted the group, so the rule in it should be gone as well... I think that's where the mistake comes from, the rule is kept is in the xml file but doesn't appear anymore in the GUI

[lukor]

Hi, can you send me the rules.xml file ?

[Hermite15]

Hi, can you send me the rules.xml file ?

OK  (mail)

[Hermite15]

just wanted to mention again, when something like that happens, if you reinstall the same app, as its rule wasn't deleted in the xml file, it will never appear again in the GUI list. Same goes if you simply delete the rule of an existing app from the GUI, relaunching the app doesn't recreate it in the GUI.

[lukor]

just wanted to mention again, when something like that happens, if you reinstall the same app, as its rule wasn't deleted in the xml file, it will never appear again in the GUI list. Same goes if you simply delete the rule of an existing app from the GUI, relaunching the app doesn't recreate it in the GUI.

This does not reproduce for me at all! I'll try to find something in your rules.xml, probably it got somehow corrupted...

[Hermite15]

just wanted to mention again, when something like that happens, if you reinstall the same app, as its rule wasn't deleted in the xml file, it will never appear again in the GUI list. Same goes if you simply delete the rule of an existing app from the GUI, relaunching the app doesn't recreate it in the GUI.

This does not reproduce for me at all! I'll try to find something in your rules.xml, probably it got somehow corrupted...

Hello,

OK, the thing is it happened already, and that's a new install now, hard to imagine the list would be corrupted...

[Hermite15]

just to mention that too many programs are listed in the "other" section in application rules list, although their publishers are well recognized. For instance Adobe Reader is well listed under the adobe group, while adobe air is listed in "other"...