Functionality overview
Fort Firewall is a user-friendly yet advanced security tool for Windows 7 and above. It offers easy-to-use protection for beginners and customizable options for experienced users.
Fort Firewall employs its own kernel driver, which is based on the Windows Filtering Platform (WFP). WFP is a set of system services and APIs provided by Microsoft that allows developers to create network filtering applications for Windows.
By using its own kernel driver based on WFP, Fort Firewall can efficiently and securely filter network traffic, ensuring high performance and reliability. This approach provides a solid foundation for Fort Firewall's advanced features and enables seamless integration with the Windows operating system.
By using SvcHost.exe service names, Fort Firewall effectively filters network traffic.
With the ability to add your own custom icons, Fort Firewall allows you to personalize the look and feel of your firewall. See the details.
Fort Firewall offers a portable installation option. This enhances flexibility, as you can carry it on a USB stick or other portable devices. Furthermore, it leaves no trace on the host system, enhancing privacy.
But disadvantages of the portable installation are:
- you have to run the program as Administrator.
- you can not silently auto-update the program.
Please don't remove the README.portable file, as this will reverse the portability of the application!
- Run the Fort Firewall as Administrator.
- Open the 'My Fort' window and click on Portable:
Uninstallbutton. - Close the running Fort Firewall.
- Delete the Fort Firewall application's folder.
Password protection of settings enhances security by requiring a password to access and modify critical firewall configurations, effectively preventing unauthorized changes. This safeguard ensures that only authorized users can manage the firewall settings, strengthening system security.
- Edit "FortFirewall.ini" to remove "passwordHash=" line.
- Remove "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Fort Firewall\passwordHash" key from Registry.
- FFw: Fort Firewall
- NL: NetLimiter
- WFC: Binisoft Windows Firewall Control
- TW: TinyWall
- Sw: Simplewall
- GW: GlassWire
- Pm: Portmaster
- PB: PeerBlock
| Feature | FFw | NL | WFC | TW | Sw | GW | Pm | PB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Has own driver (based on WFP) | + | + | - | - | - | + | + | + |
| Network rules per program | - | + | + | + | + | - | + | - |
| Pause connection on notification | - | + | - | - | - | - | + | - |
| Wildcards in program paths | + | + | ~ | - | - | - | - | - |
| Speed limiting | + | + | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Program groups | + | + | + | - | - | - | - | - |
| Traffic statistics | + | + | - | - | - | + | + | - |
| SvcHost services handling for Windows Update | + | ? | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Effective IP list filtering with thousands addresses | + | ? | - | - | - | - | - | + |
| Boot time filter | + | + | + | + | + | - | + | - |
| Password protection of settings | + | + | + | + | - | + | + | - |
| Separate Windows Service | + | + | + | + | - | + | + | - |
| Can filter localhost (127.0.0.1) | + | + | - | - | - | - | + | + |
| Customizable block-lists to (auto)download | + | + | - | - | - | - | - | + |