block all windows 11 communication by firewall allowing only firefox.

cheaterslick said:

So what's the difference between a "maintenance release" and a regular release?

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The difference between active development and maintenance of an application is pretty straight forward. It's a matter of active design, programming, testing and deployment vs. simple bug fixes, minor optimizations, etc. The developer used to be very active at Wilders Security Forums, but ended participation when he made TW open source on 12-23-23, which you can see in the changelog. He responds to issues on the GitHub but TW is no longer his primary focus, and there are no other contributors.

The last true feature update was v3.3.0 on 3/3/23.

I actually love TW, and thought it was best firewall in terms of simplicity and lack of annoying popups. I tried using it not long ago until I could not find a way to allow Windows widgets after numerous attempts, and the dev was unable to provide a fix.

Minimal Firewall is very new, and not without its own issues, but the developer is proactive and responsive.

Not Open Source - but still free, i use Windows Firewall Control - which is basically a better GUI for Windows Firewall - with extra features. It's really easy to use. First you enable Notification:



Next, you apply/enable Secure Rules. Optionally, you can also set Secure Boot - so Windows will start will ALL connections blocked. And i do mean ALL, you just have to right click on WFC icon from systray and select Profiles - > Medium Filtering - so you have access to internet and... Firefox (if that's the only thing you use).



3rd, you select Medium Filtering (which will apply your rules).



And 4th, you start Firefox and "Allow it" and from here on you can simply block whatever you don't like - since every connection will be registered and ask you if you allow or block it. If you Want to Update Windows - you simply select Profile - No Filtering (which disables the firewall) and do your thing.

Furthermore - you can also install Port Master along WFC - and block/filter even Firefox connections. For example - blocking Mozilla Services:



...or whatever you like. This one is a bit harder to set (at first / the menus can be confusing for some).

oldschool said:

It's a matter of active design, programming, testing and deployment vs. simple bug fixes, minor optimizations, etc.

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Well it's a straightforward firewall. There's only so much you can do with it. So it is still getting some attention, yeah?

Does Minimal Firewall fix your widget issue?

cheaterslick said:

So it is still getting some attention, yeah?

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Yes, and I wouldn't consider it abandonware at this point.

cheaterslick said:

Does Minimal Firewall fix your widget issue?

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Yes, but it has its own issues since it is so new. It's a portable app that simply uses Windows Firewall. I've only been testing it for a short time. I uncovered one issue and the developer had a fix for it.

Having said all of this, it may fit your needs but you'll only know if you try it. If TinyWall is working out for you, then maybe stick with it, or use WFC as @neves suggested.

neves said:

Not Open Source - but still free, i use Windows Firewall Control - which is basically a better GUI for Windows Firewall - with extra features. It's really easy to use. First you enable Notification:

View attachment 145778

. This one is a bit harder to set (at first / the menus can be confusing for some).

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So how much memory does this use in that background?

I believe both TinyWall and Minimum Firewall use about 2MB, each. Really light.

And can you whitelist by program?

What about Windows updates? Are they interfered with?

oldschool said:

Yes, but it has its own issues since it is so new. It's a portable app that simply uses Windows Firewall. I've only been testing it for a short time. I uncovered one issue and the developer had a fix for it.

Having said all of this, it may fit your needs but you'll only know if you try it. If TinyWall is working out for you, then maybe stick with it, or use WFC as @neves suggested.

Click to expand...

It's been a few years but I remember TinyWall was pretty intuitive, no doubt about it.

And same thing with Mimimum Firewall: Can you whitelist by program?

What about Windows updates? Are they interfered with?

cheaterslick said:

So how much memory does this use in that background?

I believe both TinyWall and Minimum Firewall use about 2MB, each. Really light.

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If you have only 256 SDRAM - wouldn't recommend it...



The WFC app + the Service takes 41 MB! What are they thinking - that's obscene for the late 90s and users running Windows '98. But hey, as Nostradamus predicted - eventually, in the future - they'll release faster and better memory - and most will be able to afford 8GB SDRAM (or whatever its called). At such time - apps like this will be called Lite.

cheaterslick said:

And can you whitelist by program?

What about Windows updates? Are they interfered with?

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Yes, ofc. You chose what you allow or not. Including Windows Updates - you can chose to block or allow them. That's why i recommended to enable Notification - so you can whitelist (or block) any app connecting to the internet - as it happens. You only need to do this once. There's even a fail safe option...



More useful for beginners - cause you can always change any rule made - be it to block or whitelist (or the other way around). It's enough to enable Notification and it's pretty intuitive (the other settings i recommended - are optional).

cheaterslick said:

And same thing with Mimimum Firewall: Can you whitelist by program?

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Yes, AFICT so far.

cheaterslick said:

What about Windows updates? Are they interfered with?

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Nope.

neves said:

If you have only 256 SDRAM - wouldn't recommend it...

View attachment 145939

The WFC app + the Service takes 41 MB! What are they thinking - that's obscene for the late 90s and users running Windows '98. But hey, as Nostradamus predicted - eventually, in the future - they'll release faster and better memory - and most will be able to afford 8GB SDRAM (or whatever its called). At such time - apps like this will be called Lite.

Click to expand...

Wow, that's terrible! /s

That breaks the bank!

lol...

~

Nahh, seriously I had to ask that question since a lot of stuff out there are resource hogs running unnecessary bloatware in the background. Even on 16GB, 41mb isn't gonna kill anybody.

You don't know unless you ask, right....?

~

Besides, it seems Minimal Firewall likes to make it a feature they bring it up as.

One other thing. I used TinyWall on an older machine, back before I started using a (paid) VPN.

How well do these firewalls play with VPNs?

Currently many VPNs offer split-tunneling for apps, protocols or both.

cheaterslick said:

Nahh, seriously I had to ask that question since a lot of stuff out there are resource hogs running unnecessary bloatware in the background. Even on 16GB, 41mb isn't gonna kill anybody.

You don't know unless you ask, right....?

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Don't like bloatware heavy apps myself - so wouldn't use it if that was the case. But for what it can do - the resource usage is more than justified. Here's a direct comparison:

Minimal Firewall vs WFC – Direct Feature Comparison​

cheaterslick said:

How well do these firewalls play with VPNs?

Currently many VPNs offer split-tunneling for apps, protocols or both.

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It's just an app (be it using the VPN's own App or the VPN manager included with Windows) - which filters/encrypts your internet traffic. Similar to Firefox (or any other app - connecting to the internet) - you just to have allow (white list) it. Firewalls like WFC is rather simple - so there's not much room for conflicts, but using something like Portmaster - could take more steps to set correctly. Was recommending Portmaster too above - but seeing you struggle with basic firewall functions - i wouldn't (even advanced users who tried it - end-up blocking essentials apps - and even their browsers didn't work). It's a bit tricky/confusing at first - but once you get the hang of it - it's rather simple.

Fun Fact: WFC dev tried portmaster - and found it to confusing. :)

neves said:

It's just an app (be it using the VPN's own App or the VPN manager included with Windows) - which filters/encrypts your internet traffic. Similar to Firefox (or any other app - connecting to the internet) - you just to have allow (white list) it. Firewalls like WFC is rather simple - so there's not much room for conflicts, but using something like Portmaster - could take more steps to set correctly. Was recommending Portmaster too above - but seeing you struggle with basic firewall functions - i wouldn't (even advanced users who tried it - end-up blocking essentials apps - and even their browsers didn't work). It's a bit tricky/confusing at first - but once you get the hang of it - it's rather simple.

Fun Fact: WFC dev tried portmaster - and found it to confusing. :)

Click to expand...

Portmaster might be something I'd consider later. Do you use the portable version of WFC? How does that work?

cheaterslick said:

Do you use the portable version of WFC? How does that work?

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No, never tried it and "don't recommend it". Officially, there's no portable version of WFC - here's the official page: Windows Firewall Control Since it needs the service to run.

Unofficially, you'll find some links on the internet - linking to a portable version (which i presume it starts the service at the same time you start the app). But the unofficial versions are filled with malicious code (mostly from A.I. AV scanners - which usually find a lot of false positives - but same scanners used on the official version - find it 100% clean - so i wouldn't risk it).