Firewall vs. Parental Controls

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Guest

I have Vista's firewall (Windows firewall with advanced security) configured
as: "Outbound connections that do not match a rule are blocked".

I have Parental Controls set to:
"Block some websites or content" and
"Block web content automatically" (any content level other than "none") and
"Only allow websites which are on the allow list" (box is NOT checked).

Using the configuration above, Parental Controls blocks access to ALL
websites. Note that my browser is allowed to make the connection ... it is
the individual websites that are being blocked by Parental Controls.

If I change Vista's firewall (Windows firewall with advanced security) to
"Outbound connections that do not match a rule are allowed"

- OR -

I disable Parental Control web filtering, the problem goes away and normal
website access is allowed.

The only other way I've found to make this work is to add all websites,
individually, to the Parental Controls "allow list" - not practical.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Note: this question was also posted under "Windows Vista General
Discussion". This post (hopefully) more clearly describes the problem.
 
Vista-fied said:
I have Vista's firewall (Windows firewall with advanced security)
configured
as: "Outbound connections that do not match a rule are blocked".

I have Parental Controls set to:
"Block some websites or content" and
"Block web content automatically" (any content level other than "none")
and
"Only allow websites which are on the allow list" (box is NOT checked).

Using the configuration above, Parental Controls blocks access to ALL
websites. Note that my browser is allowed to make the connection ... it is
the individual websites that are being blocked by Parental Controls.

If I change Vista's firewall (Windows firewall with advanced security) to
"Outbound connections that do not match a rule are allowed"

- OR -

I disable Parental Control web filtering, the problem goes away and normal
website access is allowed.

The only other way I've found to make this work is to add all websites,
individually, to the Parental Controls "allow list" - not practical.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Note: this question was also posted under "Windows Vista General
Discussion". This post (hopefully) more clearly describes the problem.
Click to expand...


I'd dispense with the automatic website blocking and set

"Block web content automatically" to 'None'

and then add individual websites to the block list. This has the effect of
allowing all websites other than those that you specifically block.


In your firewall, you'd need to create an outbound firewall rule to
explicitly allow Internet Explorer (or the browser that is used ) ie for
'C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe'
 
Jon said:
I'd dispense with the automatic website blocking and set

"Block web content automatically" to 'None'

and then add individual websites to the block list. This has the effect of
allowing all websites other than those that you specifically block.


In your firewall, you'd need to create an outbound firewall rule to
explicitly allow Internet Explorer (or the browser that is used ) ie for
'C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe'
Click to expand...
Jon,

I need Parental Controls to block sites that are not appropriate - have you
ever tried to block EVERY porn site individually?

The outbound rules are set for my browser and are working correctly -
thought I made that clear in my original post: "Note that my browser is
allowed to make the connection ... it is the individual websites that are
being blocked by Parental Controls."
 
Jon said:
I'd dispense with the automatic website blocking and set

"Block web content automatically" to 'None'

and then add individual websites to the block list. This has the effect of
allowing all websites other than those that you specifically block.


In your firewall, you'd need to create an outbound firewall rule to
explicitly allow Internet Explorer (or the browser that is used ) ie for
'C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe'
Click to expand...

Also, the firewall rules are in place and are working - this is not the issue.
 
Vista-fied said:
I have Vista's firewall (Windows firewall with advanced security) configured
as: "Outbound connections that do not match a rule are blocked".

I have Parental Controls set to:
"Block some websites or content" and
"Block web content automatically" (any content level other than "none") and
"Only allow websites which are on the allow list" (box is NOT checked).

Using the configuration above, Parental Controls blocks access to ALL
websites. Note that my browser is allowed to make the connection ... it is
the individual websites that are being blocked by Parental Controls.

If I change Vista's firewall (Windows firewall with advanced security) to
"Outbound connections that do not match a rule are allowed"

- OR -

I disable Parental Control web filtering, the problem goes away and normal
website access is allowed.

The only other way I've found to make this work is to add all websites,
individually, to the Parental Controls "allow list" - not practical.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

You need to allow the parental controls service access to the net.
It runs as service: WPCSvc as part of svchost.exe

Alun Harford
 
Alun Harford said:
You need to allow the parental controls service access to the net.
It runs as service: WPCSvc as part of svchost.exe

Alun Harford
Click to expand...
Alun,

Thanks for the feedback. Two problems: (1) I get a rather severe warning
from windows when I try to create an outbound rule for svchost.exe - so I am
hesitant to create this rule for the time being. (2) I believe that Parental
Controls already has access to the net - if I explicitly add a particular
site to the Parental Control allow list, it works.

Again, it is acting like the "Only allow websites which are on the allow
list" box is checked in Parental Controls. This box is NOT checked.
 
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