Ok Ilya, thank you very much for your answer. If I cannot solve it, as soon as I decide to reactivate the program as a service (I will use it mainly for specific tasks, like email attachments), I will mail you about this problem. The Giveaway has given me the opportunity of trying this software, which I very much wanted to try. I had read excellent reviews before, one of them at techsupportalert. The nicest thing about this product, is your willingness also to help people. Merry Christmas, and a very Happy New Year 2008.

1. You need to check out if you have registered DW properly with GAOTD registration key.
2. If it is, but by some reason DW's driver doesn't catch it- please, mail me to support, I'll help.

At almost exactly one month (today is December 22) since the Giveaway, DefenseWall HIPS gives a message of "driver not properly loaded, boot your computer one more time, or reinstall again".

I have tried to restart the computer, and also restart the program many times, it still gives the same message. Since it is a Giveaway, I obviously cannot reinstall it again, other than starting it as a layer.

At the startup of the program, there is anyways, always a splash screen which implies it is shareware (which is perfectly understandable).

I have decided for now to disable the program, and rely on Comodo Firewall with Defense++, and Sandboxie when accessing Internet.

Maybe Ilya Rabinovitch has an answer to this problem (I don't know if it was programed into the giveaway, to make it behave as shareware), at least for his potential buyers, who will be interested in buying his program. I understand that he has to earn his money from somewhere.

Because this classical HIPS is not for an average Joe user.

Why? Comodo firewall is free, industrial strength, dosen't eat resources and will be supported forever!

Download Comodo Firewall Pro Here

1. Do you have any minidump files of those crashes?
2. Have you installed those programs as trusted or untrusted?

I realize this is a bit late, but after about 9 days of using this program I had to un-install it. I experienced program, email and web slowdowns - and my system crashed (XP) several times. It was also inconvenient trying to install a couple of programs, as I had to disable defensewall for the install to work. Sorry, but I didn't like this one.

OK, I'll add Tablane Browser into built-in untrusted list for future versions.

To the person who recommended Recuva, thank you very much, it is the best 'rescue' programs I have ever used and helped me to fix some of the mess I made of my computer.
To Robert, again a huge thanks for your aid and things are coming along just fine, I expect to be back to normal...or at least what passes as normal for me (LOL)...within the next few days. And because so many people were kind enough to post links to freeware alternatives to the programs offered here, I suspect that I won't be out any of the good services that I'm use to enjoying. Thank you everybody. GAOTD, Still one of the best sites on the net.

#159,NannySamdi
I hope you did receive my links to some useful free imaging software.
Kind regards,
Robert

#162- Fred, please, contact me at support [at] softsphere [dot] com. I need to know what is wrong here.

I am not blaming anyone or anything. And I know things happen all the time. However, when I went directly to the DefenseWall site to download a trial version of DenenseWall ... all was well until the system needed to reboot to activate the software. When the system just could not reboot, it just never started again either, except as a contant reboot try, which it couldn't do. So after doing a diagnostic, etc, I had to do a system recovery. I have a new computer which works exceeding well and has 90% of its memory left.

Good idea but I see no benefits after a few weeks with all the clever malware and virii in circulation. Spyware Terminator is much better and completely free with more features like HIPS, activesheild, on demand virus scanner (ClamAV), free updates and more.

Installed it - easy to use, but would never pay for it or recommend using it. Comodo's new firewall includes HIPS now (www.comodo.com) and it's free (I prefer v2.4 without HIPS though). Malware is getting worse than virii these days, and HIPS is becoming more popular.

#159,NannySamdi

OK -We will try to get your system back to normal!:

1)Round 1:

Did you try systemrestore?

Go to Start-programs-accessories-system tools-system restore (click)
Choose:restore my computer to an earlier time -click on next
Now choose a restore point on a hour or date prior to the installation of DW-hips.
With a bit of luck DW-hips created one..
Click next...

Round 2:
(only if round one didn't help)

Use Sfc:

Click on Run in the Start Menu and type in:

sfc /scannow
(don't forget the space between sfc and / , or simple copy and paste it)

Windows File Protection will scan all protected files and verify their integrity, replacing any files when needed.

Warning:
1)You may need to insert your WinXp Cd (i suppose you have one?)
2)It may take a long while before its finished (take your time)

If this didn't help don't forget to tell me...
Success - keep me posted...or contact me by clicking on my name :
Robert

#155, Robert. Thank you for your suggestion. I do have backups of most of the programs I have installed on my computer and I am reinstalling them. The problem is that Windows is still not behaving properly, pressing the right mouse button or the delete button (any of them) crashes win explorer and this is not a problem I've ever had with Windows before. Even reinstalling the backup I made of my windows file hasn't fixed this and Microsoft doesn't seem to have any information on this problem at all. If you...or anybody else...have any suggestions I'd be very grateful for the help. I will keep checking in here every day or so, just in case. Again, thanks.

comments page still aborts to only 3rd comment, http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/defensewall-hips/#comment-72388

As #14 announced: Comodo has just released today, version 3.0 of its firewall, for both XP and Vista, with Defense+ HIPS (a very advanced HIPS) included in it.

Therefore, I will now have to check the complementarity and compatibility (for now, everything works perfectly) of both DefenseWall v2.09, and Comodo's Firewall v3.0.

*During the setup of Comodo Firewall (version 3.0), SSM HIPS is now seen as a conflicting and incompatible application (due to Comodo Defense+ HIPS).

I know few people will read this, since it's posted a couple of days after the offer ended, but it needs to be said.

The download, install, and activation (which I did after rebooting) went smoothly.

The program runs well, and I experienced none of the problems some people mentioned earlier; but I don't use Vista, which seemed to be the cause for some of it.

However, word of warning: I would highly recommend reading the help files thoroughly before doing much surfing or anything Internet-related to avoid surprises.

For example, a day and a half after installing it(*), I found out that Powermarks wasn't saving the bookmarks file automatically or when shut down, and I lost all those unsaved bookmarks. Solution: place that file in the "Defense Excludes" list. The developer of DW provides absolutely EXCELLENT support -- he got back to me with that solution within an hour!

(*) Yeah, I was in a hurry doing preliminary research and wasn't paying attention like I should have been...

#153,NannySamdi:
You might never read this, but please follow my suggestion:
Once you get your computer straight ask some friend,colleague,neighbor or whoever that has the knowledge, to make an image of your drive on cd/dvd.

Then you can put your system back in this state whenever you need it to be in about 20-30 minutes!

We all learn by making mistakes you know...
Kind regards.

(*From Josh - previous posts: 76,103,147)

For Ilya (developper of DefenseWall),

Thank you for your answer to my question about keyloggers.

My personal knowledge of computers is limited, as most people, only from a user's perspective. I have little idea, about what REALLY happens at the hardware and system levels. However, I want to learn more about it (through some computer encyclopedia), to configure more securely a computer, and afterwards, be able to choose the best softwares (i.e. not always playing with all kinds of security softwares).

As soon as I can (after solving some personal issues) I will do the suggested update.

P.S. Steven (#118) has raised a very interesting question (I just want to outline it, so that someone can possibly answer it, I will do no more interventions), which comes as follows:

"I really don’t see this as a sandbox in any way, anyway, maybe I don’t have the full gestalt yet. To limit an untrusted program by having more prompts and control is sensible, but it is not sandbox, which means “let it run wild in the kid’s room, it will just be sand blowing in the wind”. Am I missing something ? Maybe. Is there an article explaining to what degree this is sandbox and to what degree it is simply a nice-layered HIPS ?"

# 148, Robert, I'm not blaming the author. Once I figured out that the program was only doing exactly what it was suppose to do I put the blame for the 'accident' precisely where it belongs, with me. I'm a firm believer in "Buyer Beware" and normally wouldn't even plug in a vcr unless I understood perfectly what it did and how it works, this time I installed something I didn't understand and look what happened....and is still happening. (sigh) I may end up having to do a complete reformat and reinstall of windows but that isn't the end of the world and I have learned my lesson (again, over the years I've mucked up several computers doing things I didn't understand). And as for being cynical, I'm not really. I am however frustrated because it took me six months to get my computer running and looking exactly the way I wanted it and now I have to start all over again.....and I'm taking the time to talk about this (and enduring the negative marks) in the hopes that my experience might just save somebody else who doesn't quite understand what this program does from making the mistake I made. And this is all I have to say on the matter, now I'm going back to trying to fix my computer. Bye and good downloading to you all, this really is a great site.

#147- OK, hardware keyloggers can not be detected by software, it is obvious. As about software keylogging, DW has all the mechanisms to block or notify users (in case it is impossible to block such the methods as they are wildly used by legitimate software) about keylogging attempts with different methods. There is a good keylogging and screen capturing test here: http://www.firewallleaktester.com/tools/AKLT.exe

#149- there must be a minidump files at your computer after this BSOD. Just go to "%your windows directory%\minidump" folder, zip all the .dmp files into one package and send it to support [at] softsphere [dot] com. Right now!

#150- it is a sandbox. "Sandbox" means "rights restriction and isolation". So, it is not a replacement of your current security setup, it is an important addition to it. It doesn't requires definition updates as it relies on built-in restrictions ruleset.

i need help. what is this program supposed to do?
i know it does filtering but why will it not need definition updates?
also do i replace my anti viral program? firewall? both? what?

urgent, please answer

I am really disappointed. This Package really sounded like a Great Program. Unfortunately, It gave me a HARD Crash BSOD. It took a Restore Point and removal of Outlook and McAfee to get the machine back up and running. Keriver Image bailed me out.(Thanks GAOTD)

I have received many Great Programs from GAOTD and am very Appreciative of the Website and All the Info collected on a Daily Basis through the Feedback. Score: 25 Great! 1 Problem.

Not a Bad Run!

#145.NannySamdi
I really feel sorry for what happened to you.
But shouldn't blame the author.
Have you read comment #104?
I may sound cynical but a good uninstaller removes all traces of a program,including its installation folder.(in your case "Computer Tools")
As far as not being able to restore:installing new programs will always overwrite 'free space'....Sorry.
Perhaps some of your friends can help you with your lost programs.
Success!

I have an important question, after having read a review about DefenseWall, about the big problem of keyloggers:

*** http://security.over-blog.com/article-3088768.html

Does DefenseWall's actual version (v2.09), offer some effective (or at least, basic) protection against keyloggers?

Ilya Rabinovitch, developper of DefenseWall, comments the following, in that article (review of v1.40):

"DefenseWall is 100% driver level defense, it uses no user mode hooks and then can not be stopped or bypassed from the user mode level. As you may see, according to the tests, it makes its part of the security job as good as it should be but keyloggers section. Unfortunately, Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 has a huge security design flaw against keylogging, which can not be compensated from the driver level (all the user level attempts to make it could be easily bypassed by malware). In fact, non of the HIPS will be able to protect you from being keylogged with this security flaw. The only salvation is termination of all the untrusted processe with DefenseWall's "big red button" before you go banking online, or type something important."

If Windows OS, NT/2000/XP/2003, has a HUGE SECURITY DESIGN FLAW against keylogging, what would then be the most effective solution? (i.e.: installing Linux ASAP?)

Are anti-keyloggers programs such as "SnoopFree Privacy Shield" and "KeyScrambler Personal" (among the most highly rated at Casttlecops), really effective against this big problem?

At Casttlecops, there is also the following comment about keyloggers:

*** http://wiki.castlecops.com/Lists_of_freeware_antikeyloggers

"Hardware keyloggers cannot be detected by software methods.

There are two types of software keyloggers hooking keyloggers and kernel/driver keyloggers.

Kernel keyloggers are hardest to detect and when they are installed they can be almost invisible- many are really no different from kernel rootkits using stealth tactics to hide. The best defense against kernel keyloggers is to stop them from being installed in the first place by blocking drivers installations using HIPS or limited user accounts. Detection of installed kernel keylogger is difficult, an expert user using antirootkit such as Gmer can often detect it.

Hookbased keyloggers can be more easily detected, and most of the entries on this page are designed to work against them. Many HIPS also have the ability to block global hooks which will stop hook based keyloggers as well.

There are other application specific keyloggers , mostly commonly those that target browsers via browser plugins like (BHOs, extensions) or even proxies for man in the middle attacks. These can't be handled by the antikeyloggers on this page, because they do not use global hook mechanisms."

Thank you in advance for your answers and advice to this question.

P.S. I think that GAODT should think about developping some control mechanism (reviews should be possible only after at least 1-2 hours of posting the GAODT software), for not allowing TOO SOON, hasty and impulsive reviews by ignorant people, who have not even tried the software.

This problem at GAODT, has some quite negative and unintended consequences for the developpers themselves, in an undeserved negative image of their software, and most probably, losses of revenue (if not in some cases with ratings under 50%, the possible closing of their company).

For all these reasons, I agree with many others, about the possibility of a new future rerun of DefenseWall (which should have received much higher ratings - at least 90%), and also that better informed future visitors, downgrade the initial superficial and hasty comments.

Thanks for this giveaway. I love it. Installed and runs great. I definitely plan to keep using it and renewing when the time comes. Thanks for sharing GOTD.

I also downloaded the programs others recommended: ThreatFire, BoClean and Spyware Terminator. Threatfire and BoClean are good, but Spyware Terminator is not. Uses too many resources, slows down your pc, and a scan takes forever as well as using most of your memory while doing one. If you enable File Access, it blocks needed programs from running even if you tell it to not do so. Certainly does its job if you want your pc completely taken over. ;~)

NannySamdi here, this is just an update to what has happened since yesterday. First of all, I'm using a 2 year old computer running Win xp. Secondly, no, I haven't been able to retrieve any of my deleted programs. I have run a retrieve program and it has found my files but they're such a jumble of knowns and unknowns that I'll find it easier just to reinstall them from my backup cds. What I won't be able to do is reinstall the programs from GAOTD that I have been using that don't come with a specific registration key. (I could cry with frustration!!) However, as this is all MY fault, I really shouldn't complain. Had I opened and read the HELP file BEFORE I uninstalled, I would have learned how to uninstall THIS PROGRAM so that it wouldn't wipe over 50 files off my computer....NOT to the recycle bin mind you, but RIGHT OFF THE DISK. And can anybody explain why, when I right click on a program now, Dr Watson debugger freezes my computer???? And my Windows main program isn't even installed on this drive.
This program may be excellent at what it does but for ANYBODY who doesn't understand exactly how it works, I'd give it a pass rather than take the chance that one little mistake will do to you what it did to me. Maybe had there been a screen asking me if I really wanted to delete those 50 programs????? such a simple little thing would have made a world of difference. A future addition Ilya Rabinovich????

http://gladiator-antivirus.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=64267

Javier, major slowdown is not an option- contact me.

I use MS wXP SP2, and since I installed HIPS I have a major slowdown of the whole system, but the program seems reliable.

Thanks Ilya, nice job, but maybe too advanced for a common user like me.

#139, 140- contact me.

Just to add two more cents:

I have experienced the same problem as reported in #111.

Do not know what Reflection X is, but unaware of it being on my system.

I am running Copernic Agent however.

Thanks
David

this program worked fine for me yesterday when i had first installed it, but now it's messed up. turning on my PC this morning, i was welcomed with the windows taskbar looking like windows 98 (i use XP). i tried to open defensewall from the corner of the taskbar, but it wouldnt open its main screen. i decided to reboot. this time, the taskbar and general appearance of windows was fine, but defensewall still won't open. it's just sat there in the corner next to my other icons...

it still says (defenceWall status: untrusted) in my browser, but i cant access the programs interface.

Hi!

#98 - please, mail me to support [at] softsphere [dot] com, it must be a conflick with your indexing software, I assume. Anyway, there is everything is with logs I need to solve the issue.

#93 - mail me and I'll instruct you what you need to send me to solve the issue.

#111 - mail me, it looks like some Reflection X compatibility issue. I'll try to reproduce if I find any downbload link...

#112 - I need minudump files. Find, zip in one package and send to support.

#126 - I need DW's log file for this freezes.

Hi Folks,

Yes, thank you Ilya.
Take my critiques as questioning/helpful.

Plus, for security stuff Wilders and Castlecops are unsurpassed, and a couple of other forums are mentioned there. I think Ilya is on Wilders at least. I find the real techie security people more happy with a sandbox mentality than my skeptical approach.

btw, the idea of HIPS is to try to make up for the insecurities of the Microsoft largely unprotected operating systems where 'anything goes most anywhere'. A real well-designed operating system is far less loose, be it a minicomputer (AS/400) or a Linux or Mac.

However for various reasons we find ourself dealing with the Gates Box.

Shalom,
Steven

#Ilya Rabinovich,

We all appreciated your involvement in the comments' section!
This is unprecedented I guess...
Thumbs up!
;-)

#All
I would encourage readers to keep posting comments as to help Illya and maybe getting a stable rerun of the program at GAOTD.

Hi Folks,

#132 Oh, I had some of the install concerns, but sometimes that is firewall-related and it takes a couple of passes or (gasp) a short firewall turnoff. That .tmp file showed corrupted for me but the install eventually went ok and the .dwu file was in the unpacked .zip. Maybe you executed the setup .exe without an unpack of the .zip, that is the only reason I can think of of not having the GAOTD .dwu file.

"to come with an OFF switch"

Yes this is a problem I had, too, and is why I uninstalled on one machine rather than disabled. Defense and firewall programs sometimes make this tricky on purpose, so malware won't kill the program easily, however for me on a trial program of this obstrusiveness it was a reason to remove, on one machine.

This idea of clearing out a download directory (as conjectured above) should be checked by Ilya, if his install does that it is too aggressive and needs a change.

Shalom,
Steven

Hi Folks,

My second thoughts were less enthusiastic.

The online help is very necessary as some wording is too cryptic. Simple example .. in the untrusted there is a "remove" .. is that remove from untrusted (switch to trusted) or perhaps (gasp) remove the program, as in the common Windows Add/Remove ? Well it tells you in the separate help that it is remove from untrusted but nothing at all with an immediate rightclick or mouse hover.

Similarly I could "Run as Trusted" but it was unclear if that was only relaunching the program after ending the current run, or whether that was a mode switch for a running program.

And some of the clicks didn't seem to do much, with the Enable/Disable similarly obscure at first.

Such information should be fingertip ready. Not a separate help file read.

Well I couldn't tell for sure some of the results since my cable light disabled off, and I really don't have any idea why, an odd coincidence. And by the time I rebooted and reset it on I had DefenseWall off my primary puter and not starting up on the secondary, although even that disabling was not as simple as I would have liked.

Ok, I am considering a possible second chance later on the light puter.

Oh, if I make the major browsers (and email) untrusted, then it seems everything is pretty cumbersome, as in sandbox-handcuff-land, if I make them trusted, does the whole program do much for me ? Unclear. Is it gonna be as good a straight HIPS as AppDefend and RegDefend from Ghost Security, where everything is rather clearcut.

Oh, also somewhere in there it told me that Eudora was monitoring keystrokes. A bit of a puzzle, of course I could tell it to ignore.

So in my case it was too aggressive at startup, and/or there was an unfortunate 'coincidence' of a cable disconnect, or both. However I will have to read more on the theory of all this, since I remain an ultra-skeptic on any sandbox concepts.

Except for software testing or situations of necessity .. such as less unreliable users coming on the puter, in which case they should best have their own puter.

Apparently this is a tuff program to just wade right in, it helps to go slow on a light system, and maybe read up on it more before making the plunge.

Shalom,
Steven

This was the first time I experienced a problem with a GAOTD install. My uneducated guess is that it had to do with the deviation from the normal registration procedure. After the system shut down, a "corrupted file" message appeared briefly during rebooting, and there was NO .dwu(?) file to be found- not in the unzipped folder nor the installed folder nor anywhere on my hard drive. I noticed the "untrusted" tag appending to the top bar of every browswer window I opened (and agree with whomever said this often falls off the right edge of the page!) With some reporting the uninstaller destroying unrelated files, I was glad I'd created a Restore point! Tried downloading the software again, reinstalled again, got the same "corrupted file" warning again, and still no registration code file. What bothered me was that this program doesn't seem to come with an OFF switch, and yesterday was just too hectic to devote the time to risk installing an all-intrusive program that wouldn't register and have to experiment and learn how to use it before the 24-hour registration clock expired. Too bad, cause I really would have liked to delve deeper into it. I'd tried Sandboxie last year and suffered problems similar to those reported by others on Sandboxie-related forums, so this sounded like a reasonable (more user-friendly) alternative. Ah well, maybe next time. Many thanks to GAOTD for the daily opportunities to try different applicaitons.

Unnecessarily complicated registration. The same is true for other programs as well. I think this is done on purpose.

spyware terminator has the worse detection rate of any other program of it's type be it freeware or shareware and those installing it has greatly fooled themselfs. Furthermore, the vendor of spyware terminator has had a well known association with malware vendors.

Although it is very obvious that many of the Posters here today have absolutely no idea about actual computer security it is even more obvious they know even less about security programs. Today's giveaway was one of the very best programs on the market and anyone who missed out on installing it due to believing the Fud posted here today by people who had no idea what they were talking about truely missed out on a great security program.

Seems like a good program. I am still evaulating it. Uses a bit more resources then I would like.

But if it doesn't screw things up It might work out well.

I have been using Spyware Terminator for HIPS but lately that program has become rather resource intensive.

OK - just for general info - I have Win EP sp2 and Outlook express. I installed the program with no problems (even though I did a system restore point anyway just before install). I don't know what systems the others who had problems were running - but this software installed just fine and now is just another layer of protection. Thanks GAOTD!

Installed it, very easy to use. Nice protection. BUT it can be a head ache when we have installed two versions of firefox together i.e FF 2.0.0.9 and FF 3.0 Beta 1. why bcoz both use a single exe file firefox.exe to run. so we cant switch to 3.0 beta for some time without disabling it. Still it behaves strange. So uninstalled it. Anyway every review says that this is the BEST HIPS available.. So its worth trying.

Hey -- this is a great free product, with very powerful *sandboxing* functionality. It's better than most, since it adds a policy-based, additional layer of security in addition to standard AV/Anti-spyware tools. Policy-based is the key. Thanks, GAOTD, for a top quality product. Suggest people get this and read about concepts. Cheers. - DoD CISSP

This program installs fine and seems to work well, however all web pages slow down, this makes sufin a very slow process.I uninstalled it and IE 7 started to go much faster,

motman

Not working on Vista.

I couldnt get my version to register, even after opening the dwu file.... it just kept saying my registration coul not be processed... what is up with that?