block all windows 11 communication by firewall allowing only firefox.

Marie SWE · Sep 15, 2025

And for a few of you others.

Microsoft collects wayyyyyy more information then they need..
So its a differences between Security AND Privacy

Why do MS need your browsing history?
Why do they need to know what network devices i have in my network?
and a lot of other things.

and before you windows fanboys/girls start to say MS dont collect this.. Then i say.. Read ALL pages and sub-links of Microsoft privacy statement.

The OP did ask a valid question and some of you guys act like idiots.
If you dont have anything to contribute more then talk down on OP... Then zip it and grow up!!

ian50 · Sep 15, 2025

Apart from TinyWall and SimpleWall, I use FreeFirewall v 2.6.1

German programme, although in English. Very thorough, very granular, will block everything in or out except that which you specifically allow.

Irrespective of those who believe MS plays by open rules, it squawks everytime it cannot get a "phone home" - and the number of times that happened until I'd finally managed to record and block all of them absolutely staggered me. Seemed to go on for months.

Of course, trust if you wish. For me, stopping someone peering through my bedroom window at 3am feels good.

antspants · Sep 16, 2025

Marie SWE said:
You cant block windows system processes with windows own firewall. It is constructed to let system services bypass blocked rules.

Test to block all except DHCP and gateway and then run windows update.
Win10 built in firewall let the system bypass block-rules

I use Kaspersky so if I block activity, nothing is getting through, in or out.

I gave that post as an alternative to 3rd party which the Op seems to have an issue with.

I can’t test Windows firewall, it’s not in use in any of my systems.
Seems lacking, if you’re correct.

antspants · Sep 16, 2025

Marie SWE said:
and before you windows fanboys/girls

Totally just as unnecessary as the comments you’re addressing

cedric · Sep 16, 2025

Marie SWE said:
You cant block windows system processes with windows own firewall. It is constructed to let system services bypass blocked rules.

Test to block all except DHCP and gateway and then run windows update.
Win10 built in firewall let the system bypass block-rules

I can't say I'm surprised by that. That's why I have a very strong preference for non-Microsoft software. Bonus points if the source is available, so I can (pay somebody to) check if the program is doing what it claims to be doing.

Tinywall claims to be able to block windows update. I'll test that and report back.
I'll also check if tinywall is able to block ALL communication.

cedric · Sep 16, 2025

pseymour said:
You mean the feature for which you need a CoPilot+ PC, hard drive encryption, Windows Hello ESS, and is opt-in and totally removable?

Yea, that one. The one that was supposed to be opt-out, and was only changed to opt-in after heavy backlash.

That makes me wonder what other anti-privacy features are opt-out in windows that didn't cause enough backlash (yet) to be changed to opt-in.

One other thing i don't like is that Windows changes privacy settings after some updates. An OS should never change settings on it's own during an update, especially privacy settings.

Source: this Reddit post from 2 years ago (I couldn't be bothered to find a more recent nor reputable source right now)

https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/174t9p5/check_your_privacy_settings_after_1010_updates

cedric · Sep 16, 2025

antspants said:
Totally just as unnecessary as the comments you’re addressing

Agreed. Let's discuss what windows does wrong, and how to stop that.
Let's not call each other names.

TairikuOkami · Sep 16, 2025

Marie SWE said:
You cant block windows system processes with windows own firewall. It is constructed to let system services bypass blocked rules.

Not if you remove all rules or block specific processes. I have never had system services bypass WF in 11. It will complain, but that is it.

trevo · Sep 16, 2025

Marie SWE said:
The OP did ask a valid question

So what is your answer/solution to the OP's question?

Marie SWE · Sep 16, 2025

cedric said:
I can't say I'm surprised by that. That's why I have a very strong preference for non-Microsoft software. Bonus points if the source is available, so I can (pay somebody to) check if the program is doing what it claims to be doing.

Tinywall claims to be able to block windows update. I'll test that and report back.
I'll also check if tinywall is able to block ALL communication.

I actually dont know if there is any open source firewalls left to Windows.. I'm 7yeas out of the loop on Windows since i switched to to Linux as daily driver.. and my windows machines i have for win-only software is windows 7 offline usage.
a few weeks back or if its a month back.. i started to do some research of firewalls to windows LTSC as i need one dualboot machine with windows "just in case" i need windows online one day.
But i have not had the time to finish it yet.

TairikuOkami said:
Not if you remove all rules or block specific processes. I have never had system services bypass WF in 11. It will complain, but that is it.

View attachment 145525 View attachment 145527

I did a test for fun over at tenforums.com in one of the threads LastOneToPostWins to tame win-update and some other things.. and it was then i discovered that win-update can not be blocked in windows built in firewall..
So i became curious and did some web-searching and found that windows can allow certain system services and trusted OS components to bypass or be excluded from normal firewall restrictions.
So in stead of asking why??... or find out how to "fix" windows built in firewall.., i started to look after 3rd party firewall as that is less work and less frustration.
I have a list of firewalls, but i have not done the research of them if they are good or not.

trevo said:
So what is your answer/solution to the OP's question?

My answer to OP will start with questions..

Does the programs need internet access?
How deep is the knowledge about windows system and components?
Is it Windows Home, Pro or Enterprise?

and then i need at least two more cups of coffee

before i write anything more.

DJNelson · Sep 16, 2025

After 30 years of disagreeing with Microsoft and just about every other software developer over who owns my hardware, I've learned a few things. If you want a computer that doesn't spy on you or "update" unless YOU want it to update, a good start is Windows X-lite. I deleted a few registry keys after installing and now I actually own my hardware.. Here's a list of running services on my system, which I think might help you in locking down your own. Note what is missing.

cedric · Sep 17, 2025

Marie SWE said:
My answer to OP will start with questions..

Does the programs need internet access?
How deep is the knowledge about windows system and components?
Is it Windows Home, Pro or Enterprise?

and then i need at least two more cups of coffee before i write anything more.

I run a couple of programs that are windows only and don't need internet access.
I run a browser that needs internet access
I run anydesk that needs internet access.
I have a license for Windows 11 home (came with the laptop). As I don't like Windows 11, I have used that key to activate Windows 10 home on that machine.

I don't want to know much about windows beyond these things:
1) howto stop windows from rebooting (blocking updates is a nice way to do that)
2) howto stop background processes from slowing the machine down (this is an open question, I want to kill windows defender for this.)
3) howto stop Windows from leaking information about what I do on the machine. (For this I use a firewall and o&o shut up, applying all adjustments, and a local account)
4) howto do 1,2,3 while still running the programs I need to run.
5) howto do 1,2,3,4 on both bare metal and on a VM
6) howto do 1-5 without using anything that requires paying Oracle money
7) howto do 1-6 at work (so the VirtualBox Extension Pack cannot be used)

cedric · Sep 17, 2025

cedric said:
I can't say I'm surprised by that. That's why I have a very strong preference for non-Microsoft software. Bonus points if the source is available, so I can (pay somebody to) check if the program is doing what it claims to be doing.

Tinywall claims to be able to block windows update. I'll test that and report back.
I'll also check if tinywall is able to block ALL communication.

I have finished my test, windows update indeed complains about not having internet access when I block it in tinywall.
I could not be bothered (yet) to see if it blocks ALL communication.

cheaterslick · Sep 17, 2025

I used TinyWall for awhile and it's somewhat effective and blocking some things. I may even go back to it here in the near future. Maybe, maybe not.

~

Btw, I'm playing the Devil's Advocate, below here...

pseymour said:
You mean the feature for which you need a CoPilot+ PC, hard drive encryption, Windows Hello ESS, and is opt-in and totally removable?

Yup. And I hope it stays that way, too.

(winkie-winkie)

Edwin said:
Shut the PC down and browse on your phone.

Ha, that's even worse! lol

No it's best to get rid of the phone entirely and use landlines and pay phone booths. That'll work.

cereberus said:
Do you know there has not been a single case in a decade where MS have been shown to use legitimate telemetry for nefarious purposes?

Well, not we know of...

(winkie-winkie, again)

DJNelson · Sep 17, 2025

cedric said:
I run a couple of programs that are windows only and don't need internet access.
I run a browser that needs internet access
I run anydesk that needs internet access.
I have a license for Windows 11 home (came with the laptop). As I don't like Windows 11, I have used that key to activate Windows 10 home on that machine.

I don't want to know much about windows beyond these things:
1) howto stop windows from rebooting (blocking updates is a nice way to do that)
2) howto stop background processes from slowing the machine down (this is an open question, I want to kill windows defender for this.)
3) howto stop Windows from leaking information about what I do on the machine. (For this I use a firewall and o&o shut up, applying all adjustments, and a local account)
4) howto do 1,2,3 while still running the programs I need to run.
5) howto do 1,2,3,4 on both bare metal and on a VM
6) howto do 1-5 without using anything that requires paying Oracle money
7) howto do 1-6 at work (so the VirtualBox Extension Pack cannot be used)

I know your frustration. This was my solution:
Windows X-Lite. It's free and can be activated by any valid W11 license. No windows defender. No EDGE. No Copilot, No telemetry. No error reporting. Updates are turned off until the year 3000. On my machine, 109 running processes using 3.9GB RAM at idle. It doesn't slow down, it doesn't update, it doesn't reboot unless I tell it to. And it doesn't complain about all the "features" that have been turned off.

oldschool · Sep 17, 2025

cedric said:
Thank you. Tiny wall does exactly what I want.

Be aware that TW is not actively developed. It is in maintenance-only mode. Minimal Firewall is actively developed and meets all your requirements.

trevo · Sep 17, 2025

oldschool said:
Be aware that TW is not actively developed.

Not so, TinyWall released a new version in April 2025, version 3.4. which included various fixes, updates and feature additions.

oldschool · Sep 17, 2025

trevo said:
Not so, TinyWall released a new version in April 2025, version 3.4. which included various fixes, updates and feature additions.

3.4.1 - Maintenance release (06.04.2025.)

cheaterslick · Sep 18, 2025

oldschool said:
3.4.1 - Maintenance release (06.04.2025.)

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

~

Btw, I have no bias towards either TinyWall or Minimal Firewall

cereberus · Sep 18, 2025

gunrunnerjohn said:
Just because you're paranoid it doesn't mean they're not out to get you!

View attachment 145393

They are out to get you regardless of your paranoia state - end of story.

block all windows 11 communication by firewall allowing only firefox.

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