General :
01 - Why my firewall isn't tested in the test page ?
02 - Why do I find different results than those on the test page ?
03 - Are the leaktests viruses ?
04 - Is it the "end of the world" if my firewall is supposed to fail some tests ?
05 - So, which firewall is the best ?
06 - Are the leaktest tricks used in the wild ?
07 - Is it possible to block all of the leaktests ?
08 - I am scared by your site, do I ?
09 - The vendor of my firewall claims to pass all of the leaktests, is it possible ?
10 - When does the tests page is updated ?
11 - For which purpose the PayPal donation will be used ?
12 - I am a bit lost among all these information, is there a sume up somewhere?
13 - I think I have a valuable question, but it is not in the FAQ, can I submit it ?

Windows Worms Doors Cleaner :
14 - I see you offer a tool Windows Worms Doors Cleaner, how does it work ?
15 - Can Windows Worms Doors Cleaner damages my system ?
16 - Kerio crashes after applying Windows Worms Doors Cleaner, is there a fix ?
17 - Since I use Windows Worms Doors Cleaner, my boot time is longer ?
18 - How can I be notified of the next Windows Worms Doors Cleaner releases ?
19 - After disabling NetBIOS I can't access anymore to my LAN shared files ?

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01 - Why my firewall isn't tested in the test page ?

It can either be one of the following reason : your firewall is not belonging to the most populars, so to save me time I didn't yet added it to the test page, or your "firewall" isn't a simple personal firewall, but a security suite including eventually a firewall.
Such security suite generally includes a sandboxe or application monitoring component which does far more than a simple personal firewall. Whilst this kind of software is indeed efficient to block the leaktests, it is different than the software I am evaluating.


02 - Why do I find different results than those on the test page ?

I am using a particular testing protocol explained on the documents page (leaktest.pdf).
By using different criteria, you will hightly probably find different results than mines.
However, as a mistake from me is still possible, if you are absolutly sure of your result, you can submit it to me for re-analyse, and the result will be modified if you were right.


03 - Are the leaktests viruses ?

Your question is fully answered on this page.


04 - Is it the "end of the world" if my firewall is supposed to fail some tests ?

No it isn't. On the site you will find many ressources about how to further protect you and to overcome your eventual firewall vulnerabilities.
As a good start, read the advices page. Don't miss too the software page.
Generally adding other security layers will catch the leaktests before they reach your firewall.


05 - So, which firewall is the best ?

Good question ! Since everyone needs is different, the firewall which will fits the best to your needs will be different than the firewall which fits better to the needs of your neighboor. Almost all of the firewalls offers a very good protection at the network layer to protect you from worms or script kiddies, what will makes the difference is all of the features around, and eventually, depending on your system power, the ressources used (someone with a P4 3.2Ghz and 1Go RAM will not care of the ressources that his firewall can eat, but try to think to a P-III 500Mhz user with 128Mo of RAM).


06 - Are the leaktest tricks used in the wild ?

Yes, unfortunaly. There is no fear to have since a good layer defense will protect you, but leaktest tricks such as DLL injection, thread injection, and launch of the main browser are used by either trojans or spyware.
An article about this is available HERE.


07 - Is it possible to block all of the leaktests ?

Yes, almost all. Isn't it a good news ? Not with a personal firewall, since none of them pass everything, but by adding many security layers such as AntiVirus, AntiTrojan, AntiSpyware, and the most important, sandboxe and/or process integrity.
Sample of existing sandboxes, some free and other not, some from Win9x to Win2003, other only compatible with Win2000/XP, few with a built in firewall, and others without one : System Safety Monitor, Process Guard, Abstrusion Protector, WinSonar, BlackIce, Tiny Firewall, BitGuard. There is probably more.


08 - I am scared by your site, do I ?

No you don't have to. If you are afraid of not being protected, to at least restrict your applications on your firewall configuration and to allow them only what they need will increase your security.
If you don't know what to do more, please read the following advices page for more means to be more protected.


09 - The vendor of my firewall claims to pass all of the leaktests, is it possible ?

Either your firewall vendor is just making marketting advertising, which is understandable after all, or either your product is not just a personal firewall, but rather a sandboxe including a firewall (such as Tiny, BlackIce, or BitGuard).
These kind of products indeed are valuable against the leaktests, but are not the kind of software I am evaluating.


10 - When does the tests page is updated ?

There is no planning for the updates, because it depends mainly on the time I have. In addition, the updates are also more needed when there is new firewall builds and/or new leaktests. There is no scheduled updates.


11 - For which purpose the PayPal donation will be used ?

Mainly to pay the webhosting company, simply. If I would have sufficient funds I would buy a laptop to install every OS on it (a multi boot) and to plug in it on my LAN, with a backup of each OS on a secondary drive/partition. It would be a lot faster to do the tests and more convenient. In addition, any result mistake could be check quickly because the computer already ready to. But I don't expect to have so much donation of course, just a thought.
Depending on the amount of the donations, firewall licences or renewal would be paid.


12 - I am a bit lost among all of these information, is there a sume up somewhere ?

Yes, there is a paper about the leaktests, which in fact is more general, and talk about the security, describes the leaktests, explain the testing criteria used, and how to protect against the leaktests and more. It even includes the Advices page from the website, so I think it's a good sume up : documents page look at the leaktest.pdf document.


13 - I think I have a valuable question, but it is not in the FAQ, can I submit it ?

Of course you can, by using the online form or directly via email, if your question has been asked many time it will be added to the FAQ.


14 - I see you offer a free tool Windows Worms Doors Cleaner, how does it work ?

The full answer to your question is on the WWDC manual page. Briefly, WWDC just edit the registry.


15 - Can Windows Worms Doors Cleaner damages my system ?

Windows Worms Doors Cleaner just edit existing registry entries, but the Windows registry architecture being what it is, any modification can have unexpected results on programs which doesn't have the necessary checks and which expect things to be as they want. Thus, it has been reported that already "damaged" systems has been made unstable using WWDC. You must take care of and clean your registry from time to time, especially if you install/uninstall a lot of softwares or if you have been infected by many spyware. Every clean usual computers where Windows Worms Doors Cleaner has been tested was working perfectly, on Windows 2000, XP, and 2003 server.


16 - Kerio crashes after applying Windows Worms Doors Cleaner, is there a fix ?

BlitzenZeus from dslreports forum has found a way to prevent Kerio from crashing, just untick the option "For Microsoft Networking..." as shown below :







Thanks to him for this information.


17 - Since I use Windows Worms Doors Cleaner, my boot time is longer ?

One user has reported that by disabling NetBIOS (or more) the computer boot time increases. The solution so is to disable the automatic search of shared folders and printers at startup.
To do so, open explorer (the file browser), go to the Tools menu, Folders options, Display tab, and untick at the bottom "automatically search for shared folders and printers".
The boot time problem could be too because you didn't specify an IP address to your LAN network card, please so setting it one up, it may solve your problem too.


18 - How can I be notified of the next Windows Worms Doors Cleaner releases ?

Simply register to the newsletter, providing all of the site news, including the next Windows Worms Doors Cleaner releases.


19 - After disabling NetBIOS I can't access anymore to my LAN shared files ?

The file and printer sharing relies on NetBIOS (generally over TCP) to work.
If you disable NetBIOS with Windows Worms Doors Cleaner, you will not be able anymore to see the other computers in the computer explorer, nor to access to any files or printer. If you need this, do not disable NetBIOS.