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MRoutt
Former Member
Message 1 of 25

Firewall forcing programs to have "full" access to the internet

Hello,


I have noticed that McAfee firewall requires Internet Explorer, Firefox and AOL Instant Messenger to have full access to the internet, i.e. they must be able to accept incoming connections, otherwise these programs will not connect to anything.  I for one find this quite annoying and frankly I seen no good reason for it.  Is there any fix for this?

Message was edited by: MRoutt on 2/10/10 12:34:57 AM CST
24 Replies
newjack
Former Member
Message 2 of 25

Re: Firewall forcing programs to have "full" access to the internet

Hey Mroutt,

Open security center then click on internet & network.Near the bottom right click configure.Then click advanced.There is a tab(arrow) to apply smart recomendations.if that is enabled mcafee will do the work for you.Or you can change it to show,which will prompt you with pop ups & you can then allow or deny access.The 2nd tab down on the left of the page is program permissions you can block or give a program just outbound access,full access or block & remove a program.If you want to start fresh and choose all the programs the way you want them,There is also a button to reset to default and start all over.There is also a learn more section under each program that has permissions.If you click that it will take you to a page with a brief description of the program.Hope that helps                                      

MRoutt
Former Member
Message 3 of 25

Re: Firewall forcing programs to have "full" access to the internet

Hello newjack,


Thanks for responding.  With applying smart recommendations my original setting was to allow me to decide.  Smart Recommendations are now disabled per your advice and I have kicked the security level to "Stealth" (was originally at "Monitored Access") and I will see what this does for me. 

EDIT: apparently this did not work as well as i thought, though FireFox appears to be playing nice with these settings.  Even FireFox is not working as well with (monitored access atleast) as well as I first posted.  I got the alert that I have attached a screenshot of.  Problem is that if i click "Block" on the alert, it blocks the program entirely.  I guess my problem/question boils down to this: is it too much to expect that "block" will block inbound access in this case or that McAfee will include a seperate button with the alert that will allow the user to block inbound access while retaining outbound access?

EDIT 2 (5:02pm PST): Tech Support contacted

Message was edited by: MRoutt on 2/10/10 7:04:30 PM CST
newjack
Former Member
Message 4 of 25

Re: Firewall forcing programs to have "full" access to the internet

I am no Mcafee expert by any means,i saw your question and thought i might be able to help.I am not sure what version you have,but on mine you can allow outbound only,full access or block.As far as i know if you block a program you will have no access to the internet.If you have the same features as me.Open the security center and click on internet and network.Toward bottom on rght,click configure.There should be a rectangle on top that says firewall protection enabled.click advanced.On top left click program permissions.All of your programs that have permissions should open.You can then look at any of them and click on any of them in the screen.On the bottom right you can change most of them to however you want.For example if you have malwareantibytes and you want to allow outbound only(i believe you can do this and still get updates)click on malwarebytes and on bottom right change the item to outbound.You can experiment and see what works for you.Although be carefull not to block any important windows services.Some of the 1`s i have are grayed out &you can`t change.Lastly if you wan`t to change to your default settings when you 1st got Mcafee the last tab under where program permissions says restore.You can restore it to beginning.If you do that you will go through a few pop up`s if your set to show.If this is for firefox only you can set it to outbound only and it will work.Hope that answers your question.

MRoutt
Former Member
Message 5 of 25

Re: Firewall forcing programs to have "full" access to the internet

I have tried that, the problem is that I keep getting the alert that I attached to my previous message.


EDIT: after over an hour on the phone with tech support, who were less than helpful and tried to convince me that the browsers need to accept unsolicited inbound connections inorder to recieve data (false!), I am seriously loosing confidence with McAfee.  Frankly I am surprised no one has been able to fix this.  At one time you had a great product, now all I see is a sorry excuse for a firewall, and a sorry excuse for tech support.  I am afraid that I will be calling in (assuming the problem is still not fixed) to cancel my subscription, get a refund, and go with a competing product.  It has been fun while it lasted.

Message was edited by: MRoutt on 2/11/10 2:16:58 PM CST
newjack
Former Member
Message 6 of 25

Re: Firewall forcing programs to have "full" access to the internet

Hey Mroutt, Sorry about your problems.Believe me i know how you feel at times.There is a definate learning curve with Mcafee.I have had it for 3 years and i am still learning things.Tech support is not my cup of tea either,unless i can`t find a solution here.I think they try ,but the way it is set up there seems to be confusion.You can usually find an answer here.Most of the people who are very good with the product are volunteers.The only other things i can suggest to you if your comfortable with it is set the firewall to appy smart settings.The firewall is pretty good and comes that way as a default.It will know which programs to allow.Or try it that way while you use explorer and change it back after it sets it up for you.I noticed on the image you sent that you can allow full access or outbound.When that pops up have you clicked allow?Or allow outbound?If so and it keeps popping up,the only other thing i can think of is system gaurds.Have you changed anything in there to alert?Most of the gaurds on mine came as log only.IF you open security center,click on computer & files.Then click the configure button near bottom right.Under virus protection is enabled click advanced.On the left click system gaurds.There is an arrow down tab that has windows gaurds,browsergaurds ect.Check and see if they are set to alert.You may have to change some back to log only.Let me know if any of this helps.

MRoutt
Former Member
Message 7 of 25

Re: Firewall forcing programs to have "full" access to the internet

Yes, I have tried clicking "outbound only" to no effect.  Unfortunately there does not appear to be an option for system guards in 2010 (14.x)

newjack
Former Member
Message 8 of 25

Re: Firewall forcing programs to have "full" access to the internet

OH, I don`t have 2010 yet.They may still be getting a few bugs out.Not sure.Maybe 1 of the other members that know about 2010 will help you out.

Good luck.Have you just tried leaving it on apply smart reccomendations and let the firewall do the work for you?It is pretty good at knowing what programs to allow.You can always go back in and check the permissions periodically if you feel a little paranoid about something running that should not be and block it(after doing a little online research )

MRoutt
Former Member
Message 9 of 25

Re: Firewall forcing programs to have "full" access to the internet

I guess the thing I am "paranoid" about is allowing programs more permissions than they need (i.e. web browsers getting the ability to accept unsolicited inbound connections) and not being able to over-ride what the firewall thinks when I know it is wrong.


Edited to add screen shot of the firewall alert for Firefox.

Message was edited by: MRoutt on 2/11/10 9:38:30 PM CST
newjack
Former Member
Message 10 of 25

Re: Firewall forcing programs to have "full" access to the internet

I am kinda confused.Keep in mind i don`t have 2010 yet.How many times while useing your computer does that pop up?What does that say on the left of the image when you click more?If you click that more button some times it tells you other info.I don`t know what programs you have installed.Could you have something that is blocked that you tried to update of that needs an update that does`nt have access?

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