That's why the Hosts file is secured, like in this case. Seems like the way this firewall is telling me that there is a problem, by just not letting me connect the app to the internet. In that case i know i will have to use the white list function, or to put it into learning mode for a minute. The fact is, and i find this astonishing, that it never shows any notification, which seems a bit odd, i admit that.
But i'm using it for maybe 10 years now, and it never let me down. I also had a bunch of the big personal firewalls before TinyWall, but they were constantly bugging me with some warnings, seemingly for no apparent reason. I think, starting with the very basic apps i'm using, like Firefox, TOR, Opus, Cubase, etc. in learning mode and then turning on the firewall is safe enough for my type of approach.
I don't fool around with any "cracks" anymore, like maybe 20 years ago, don't open attachments from emails, and also have some additional helpers (also lightweight, no Kaspersky BS), so basically it should be fool proof. It's a matter of taste, i guess. And of habits.
Yes, that's because it is just another tool to create rules for the default MS firewall, just like my context menu entries, very lightweight.. o)
Apart from how TinyWall handles this "hosts" file, which might not be optimal, but "learning phase" I read, which sounds interesting. In real life it can be very challenging to create proper rules manually, especially if you like to deny all outgoing connections by default (which was my thing back then). If you run an Epson Scan / Print / TWAIN whatever kind of multifunction device (e.g.) and try to punch holes in the firewall, so you all the services and maintenance tools work and you can actually make use of all the device' functions, it can take you a week or two until you made it work. o)
You then reinstall the OS at some point and think.. oh boy, not again. Maybe I just let outgoing connections happen this time.. which is the wrong outcome when it comes to security / privacy. Being overwhelmed with tasks to handle things yourself until you throw the towel and give in to all the modern day nonsense.. aahrrg. o)
So, maybe I try TinyWall as well.. muha, thanks! o)
Yep, it's basically a frontend for the Windows firewall, plus a few extras. I'm sure your buttons are quite similar, only that they don't have that learning mode, i suppose. Anyway, i had for a long time Avira, Comodo and the like, with constant signature updates etc., but i remember, at least for the latter, that i had some issues at some time. And i guess they were also heavy on the ressources, maybe a bit of an overkill. Nowadays i mostly use well known and tested free programs, and don't add much stuff, except for my music/DAW stuff, but that has to be legitimate stuff, so it's not suspicious to me and i will allow it right away. So, yeah, why not giving it a try? It's free and also around for several years.
