# TinyWall and SeaMonkey Mail



## wr7777 (Mar 24, 2018)

This morning I installed the latest version of TinyWall, to replace the old version of PrivateFirewall I was using. Everything worked fine, no problems.

Later, I turned my computer on and ran SeaMonkey (portable version). The browser brought up my home page, but the mail window timed out repeatedly in attempts to connect to the mail server.

I've gone back to PF but think the more current TinyWall would be better, but not if it doesn't do what I want.

Does anyone have experience using SeaMonkey with TinyWall and not having my above problem?

Any suggestions and/or comments?


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## Johnny b (Nov 7, 2016)

A comment.

On a Windows platform from 7 to 10, for me, the Windows Firewall has worked better than 3rd party firewalls. Especially using the advanced settings.

Have you tried it?
Is there a reason you aren't using it?


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## lunarlander (Sep 22, 2007)

Yes, the Windows Firewall is good. If you want to get into firewall rules, go to the link in my signature section below and search for "Firewall Rules" section.


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## wr7777 (Mar 24, 2018)

Thanks for the replies.

In doing research, I discovered that I needed to allow the mail ports, but couldn't find any option for that within TinyWall. But there is an option for level of restriction and after setting it to 'no restriction' I can now get my emails downloaded. So far so good.

On the Windows Firewall, even though I had thought I had disabled it (I've been using PrivateFirewall for a long time, even on XP), my system shows it (WF) to be enabled, but not showing any software by name.

I'll look into using it and not using either of the others.

Thanks again.


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## lunarlander (Sep 22, 2007)

In Administrative Tools > Windows Defender Firewall you will see an Incoming Tab and Outgoing tab on the left. Close on those and you will see all the rules with program names. 

I don't know Tinywall, but setting it to 'no restriction' could mean you have disabled the entire firewall.


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## wr7777 (Mar 24, 2018)

I just looked at the Windows Firewall tabs you noted and finally discovered the programs. What I find interesting is that I've never used Windows Firewall prior to yesterday, so how did SeaMonkey, Avast, TinyWall, and Skype get into its list of allowables?

The 'no restriction' I referred to previously was only for SeaMonkey.


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## Johnny b (Nov 7, 2016)

https://www.technize.net/tinywall-configure-windows-firewall/



> TinyWall is a tiny application which uses Windows Firewall API and lets you configure the Windows Firewall the easy way. TinyWall can be thought of as a configuration interface of Windows Firewall as it does not have any filter of its own. It will rely on Windows Firewall to implement all the security measures configured in the program.


There are other apps that do the same.
Essentially, TinyWall is not a firewall.
Just a simplistic approach to setting rules in Windows Firewall.
I've never used TinyWall, but I suspect it's simplification overlooks a lot of the strengths that advanced settings in Windows Firewall is capable of.


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## lunarlander (Sep 22, 2007)

The rules are set there by MS because they are bundled with Windows, except TinyWall, which added a rule for itself. 

MS is stupid to allow so many programs inbound and outbound.

Inbound should be Very strictly restricted. Basically, Nothing should be allowed inbound. Except maybe DHCP if you don't set a static ip address for the computer.

Outbound should be also restricted to Only the programs that you actively use. Rules for uninstalled and unused programs should be removed or disabled. 

The golden rule for specifying firewall rules is to minimize.

And the default firewall policy is set to Outbound Allow. Which is stupid. With a default policy like that, Any program: malware, viruses, rootkits can all call home and bring in additional damaging tools. You can change that in the middle panel of the first screen. 

MS is counting on all the security it has in place to all work flawlessly. For example, they assume Windows Defender will Always find All malware. And other protections like Windows Defender Exploit Protection will always stop all exploits. Thus, they reason, everything can be allowed outbound because they are clean. But things do fail to work as planned. And you need overlapping security measures; if one measure fails, another one should still catch or stop or hinder an infection.


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