What is Reddit's opinion of
TinyWall?
From 3.5 billion Reddit comments
28 reviews of this app found across Reddit:
Personally speaking, I use TinyWall. Nothing phones home that I don't allow.
TBH, I forgot that Audacity could connect to the internet - the news about the Muse sale was surprising today.
You should read this before you bail, though - https://github.com/audacity/audacity/discussions/889
This firewall (tinywall) blocks updates from downloading, and this registry script blocks automatic restarts and nag screens.
Tinywall, or Binisoft Firewall Control are both a graphical interface for the built-in firewall which also have profiles where the connections are automatically blocked and then you get a tooltip where you can decide whether you allow the connection to happen in the future. Both are great pieces of software in my opinion, Binisoft seems to be working better for Windows 10.
So on your router you have NAT and the firewall all turned on and now just interested in Windows Firewall specifically?
Generally for Windows Firewall the only other thing you really want to do is check the "Block all incoming connections..." under the firewall settings. Windows by default though allows all outbound connections and managing that can get very tedious.
The best bet for that would be a third party firewall software or even better use TinyWall. It uses Windows Firewall but makes it but more secure and locked down by default, but makes it quick and easy to create firewall rules to allow outbound or inbound connections.
> Will I be exposing myself / my friends to greater security risks by using such services? If yes, how can I reduce these risks / better secure my laptop?
The host will be more exposed. If you trust the apps work as expected then closing the app on the host when not in use should do it. Otherwise you can firewall it off. I like TinyWall but there are plenty of options.
If you use Windows Defender, install TinyWall, you won't regret it.
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I used to have Kaspersky Internet Security - no real issues. Now I use BitDefender Internet Security and it works fine, no noticeable extra slowdown (and I'm on a 1gig/1gig line).
The builtin firewall is excellent, there is no better one, BUT, the UI is absolutely crap. Therefor you should use a shell, like TinyWall, by default almost nothing gets thru [just the basic OS stuff, outgoing], now you can add app by app. There are others, but I find this one the most usable.
Well, shit, don't do that. You want a firewall, you just want to pass exceptions through.
I use TinyWall which silently blocks everything unless I tell it not to.
I don't know what's going on with your system. Your connections should be consistent. Something is buggy, but at least you know it's not a beatsaber issue.
There's a program called tinywall that could be useful here, or at least provide a valuable overview. It's little more than a front-end for the Windows firewall, but it makes the firewall actually usable and understandable. It allows you to whitelist processes that you know need internet access, etc, either by choosing it from a list of running processes, or manually finding its exe(s). What you need to do is keep the program, in "normal" mode, and add programs to the whitelist. Once you have added one, the program will block anything you have not listed. The program can also show which applications are attempting or succeeding in making connections, with which port, etc.
jotti or virustotal for the small files.
I've tried a few repacked iso's (fitgirl jumps to mind) - I have to be honest, anything that tells me to
>disable yadayada.exe in my antivirus
makes me highly suspicious. I know exe packers can throw up false positives etc. but that just seems like asking for trouble to me.
Worth looking for gog releases? EDIT: I'd make sure you have a solid firewall (tinywall is my goto on windows) and ONLY what you know and trust is getting let thru. Even then it's not hard to inject processes without being seen.
I found out that windows was downloading some some shit in the background. I installed TinyWall (https://tinywall.pados.hu/). This is not a firewall, but a controller for windows built in firewall. I fucking blocked EVERRRRYYYYTHIINNNNGGGG and only allow Overwatch on the internet. And I mean Everything. Not a thing can connect to the internet when I play Overwatch.
This fucking solved 99% of this sort of shit. The other 1% involves some dickhead torrenting some shit on other device I don't have control of.
You don't need a guide, and you shouldn't use "privacy" apps or scripts. They all mess with the registry and will all break various parts of Windows sooner or later.
Go to Settings > Apps and uninstall anything you don't want or need.
Go to Settings > Privacy, go down the whole list on the left and turn off anything you don't need/want/use, especially the background apps.
Go to Settings > Update & Security and turn off Delivery Optimization (unless you don't care about being in the Windows Update mesh network.)
Go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Security > App & browser control > Reputation-based protection > Reputation-based protection settings. Turn that stuff off if you don't want Microsoft scanning your app and file downloads.
Go in the Edge browser and check every. single. setting. So many things to turn off there now.
Use TinyWall (user-friendly GUI) or simplewall (actually not simple) to control which Microsoft services can communicate with the mothership.
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I suggest installing Windows offline, and then disabling Windows updates after getting any quality updates to prevent feature (version) updates. Scroll down to the registry section here - https://www.windowscentral.com/how-stop-updates-installing-automatically-windows-10
If you must go online after you have set up your machine with everything you need for your music production, I suggest using TinyWall to block the Windows Update Service from connecting to Microsoft.
It installs at kernel-level and replaces the Windows Firewall controls - you don't use the Windows Firewall UI anymore. It's a lot easier than trying to configure the advanced firewall settings when you have VPN network adapters - especially the TAP adapters. I've been using it for years and it works great. I suggest trying it out - it uninstalls cleanly if you don't like it.
https://tinywall.pados.hu/faq.php
SimpleWall is a good open source firewall for Windows. It’s recommended all the time on privacy subreddits.
TinyWall is another second often mentioned option.
Firewalls with outbound protection. keyloggers need to send this information to someone so if you stop that it doesn't matter how many keyloggers you have.
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If outbound alerts are annoying, I recommend taking a look at Tinywall.
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It blocks all outbound connections by default except some deemed necessary. If a connection is block but you need to allow it. You can easily do so by going tray icon - rightclick: show connections > "show blocked apps" checked > rightclick on the process and select unblock
There's also a learning mode which might be better depending on your opinion
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The developer is active in a security forum which I won't mention right now unless asked by anyone here
Easiest solution is to reset Windows Firewall to default and use TinyWall to whitelist outbound programs and services connections.
Also - keep your quality updates current, keep Tamper Protection on in Defender, use uBlock Origin on your browser(s), and don't download stupid stuff.
TinyWall. Blocks whatever you want. Uncheck boxes in Special Exceptions tab.
Install Bitdefender Free to take over from Defender. Uses less resources.
Put uBlock Origin on the web browser(s) to block web junk.
There's simple things you can do in that case, then: if you do research over the Internet then put a whitelist firewall on your computer (if you are on Windows check out https://tinywall.pados.hu/) so that you only use what you need, and if you compulsively turn on social media then step away and go outside I guess? If you don't use the Internet for academic purposes then you can just plug it off. It's that simple. There's the Internet and then everything else you can do in life!
And remember that you said all those bad things about compulsive internet usage? Just recall that when you want to go back and turn on reddit: You don't need social media to be happy, rejoice because you don't use it, as if you were cured of a terrible disease!
Good luck bro.
You also need to comb through task scheduler and group policy settings to make sure it stays put.
I eventually ran out of patience and installed TinyWall and shutdownBlocker.
Listen, I was in your position a year ago, and it's been a real journey.
In these two years... I've done a lot (and still have to do so many things) in order to rid myself of being subjugated (this is the best word I could find) by the corporatocracy of the current world. I can't possibly tell you all I have taken in to get to this point... but if you're interested (I hope you are!), I absolutely recommend having some reads here and here. And don't forget: any step forward you take is always worth it.
I tell you all this because I also want to tell you what I would do if I wanted to dual boot myself (I don't need it personally, QEMU is enough for me). The goal here is privacy and security, so your best shot might be Windows 10 LTSC with a firewall at the router level (at its defect, a tool like TinyWall), or disconnected entirely from the Internet if you're playing non-DRM'd and/or offline games exclusively.
Cheers and good luck.
P.D.: proprietary software isn't bad but it can be more harm than good. Nowadays it's very, VERY rare to find that the proprietary alternative is better than libre ones (and if there is legitimately NO other option, then, dammit!)... Just get out of your mind that the most popular option is not automatically the best one, but you probably don't think so as you're in r/Piracy anyway :p
Oh boy, after reading all of this YOU WILL LOVE TinyWall https://tinywall.pados.hu/download.php its a litteral set and forget, simply right click its icon in the bottom right in the Hidden Icons menu and change it to learning mode, restart your computer, open a few programs and it will automatically create rules, after that you can click on Normal Protection in which it will have already learned which programs to allow, and unless you run a program when its in learning mode it wont be able to connect to the internet.
I use Netguard. It does have some non-free stuff but works and with a decent hosts file it does a gud job of adblocking as well.
On windows I use tinywall which does have a learning curve but is small, fast and does the job well. It works on top of Windows firewall with less faffing to implement rules.
On linux I usually write muh own iptables or use ufw. Either is gud but probably way beyond the needs for a casual user.
Use tinywall to defer updates as much as you like.
This registry script blocks automatic restarts and nag screens.
I have never used Tinywall so I can't say much on it.
From what I've seen, it does offer easier settings, while you have go manual with Simplewall. But one of the reason why I chose this one, was because it's open source (as opposed to the former).
EDIT: To comment quickly on what /u/dancedar said, I don't believe that one is especially better than the other. Just different solution for different people. I like to tune/tweak my firewall exactly to suit my needs.
>Then what firewall should we use? I like very much how Comodo's firewall works
Since you have suggested to us that you are using Comodo Firewall, we can assume that you are using Windows operating system.
The build-in Windows Firewall with advanced security is already one of the best host-based firewall for Windows OS, it is very configurable with a slight learning curve. TinyWall is a tool to help those who wish to take advantage of the default Windows Firewall but do not know how to configure it manually.
By the way, you are at r/privacy, so I am sure some people will suggest you open source firewall solutions or leave Windows OS altogether instead.
Very good question. Answer: You don't need it.
Personally I don't use anti virus it's useless you are better off installing a firewall which will simply block internet connection to everything you don't use rather than slow yourself down with anti virus which will scan tremendous amount of files as either way if you really want something you will click that unblock virus button either way. + not having anti virus means you don't really need to care about those CIA anti-virus exploits floating around. My recommended firewall: https://tinywall.pados.hu