Windows XP SP2 firewall problem

[pirity]

Hi all!

 

First: very sorry for my poor English.

 

I've installed Windows XP SP2 onto my computer, but the XP's firewall blocks BBO.

I tried to permit reaching internet sites for NetBridgeVu.exe, but didn't succeed.

(There is an exception tab in Windows Security Center, and i selected NetBridgeVu.exe

and clicked on ,,enable this program's communication with internet hosts'' -- or how to

say this in English -- my windows' language is Hungarian.)

 

If i log in as administrator, NetBridgeVu.exe works fine. If i disable XP's firewall,

then i can play bridge with my normal account too. If i enable firewall and try to

play from non-admin account, I see players in main lobby, but not news... just a

,,fatal error'' dialog box -- and NetBridgeVu.exe exits.

 

Can you help me?

 

Pirity Tamás Gábor

ptg@apaczai.elte.hu

[Nyrolph]

Configuring Windows Firewall as Administator usually affects all users, but you may have misconfigured it.

Here's how to do it :

Log in as the admin

Click on Start->Control panel -> Windows firewall.

Switch to the Exceptions.

Click Add program.

Browse to C:\bridge base online. Double click netbridgevu.exe.

Click OK again in the next window.

You should be back to the Exceptions tab. If netbridgevu.exe is not checked already, check it.

Click OK again.

That should do it.

If for a reason or the other it's still not working try opening port 9999 of TCP from the same Exceptions tab.

 

About that News error:

The News window uses parts of Internet Explorer. If IE is old or corrupt it will cause BBO to crash as well. You need to update your IE to the latest version, preferably using Windows Update.

Open IE. Click on Tools, Windows Update. It will connect to the official Microsoft website and attempt to download updates. Select at least the ones regarding IE and let it run.

Restart your computer when done.

 

Good luck!

[pirity]

I did exactly what you said, but this works only if i log in as admin-equivalent user.

If i log in with my wife's password, i see check mark near NetBridgeVu.exe,

but communication fails. I don't understand why.

 

I tried to permit traffic from local to to BBO's 9999 port, but ,,local port'' is not fix, sometimes 1033, sometimes 1055, and so on, and while i cannot permit all traffic to all incoming port -- so firewall blocks returned packets; i see this in c:\windows\pfirewall.log file.

 

Do you play bridge from XP SP2 and non admin-privileged user? I may give admin rights to my wife -- but I teach at a secondary school, and pupils like to play bridge -- but all pupils with admin rights? It is impossible imho. :)

 

Thx for your help.

 

Tom

[jikl]

I use a 3rd party firewall instead of XP SP2, the MS firewall catches far less than the 3rd party one. I tested 2 computers with the same software on them and went to lots of dodgy websites to see which computer was in the worst condition afterwards. I had to basically reformat the Windows one, the one using ZoneAlarm was in very good condition.

 

Plus the hackers etc automatically go after vulnerabilities in Windows before moving onto more general ones. So I now run with ZoneAlarm on and the Windows firewall off all the time.

 

Sean

[pirity]

Thx your answer,

 

I don't understand nothing now. I reinstalled current BBO beta client to c:\Bridge Base Online,

and everything works fine. I don't know if new BBO software helped, or c:\Bridge Base Online

is better than c:\Program Files\Bridge Base Online (old place) or maybe a windows update

(yesteday i did it), but now it looks OK.

 

To change XP's firewall to ZA at home is a nice idea -- but at school this is not my competency.

Maybe next week i will try to reinstall BBO client to proper directory, and probably (i think after

some tests at home) will work with original firewall setup.

 

Thx for advices.

 

Happy new year!

 

Pirity Tamás

[Gerardo]

Well, BBO writes some files to its installation directory, and you need Admin capabilities to write under "Program Files"

[pirity]

> Well, BBO writes some files to its installation directory, and you need Admin

> capabilities to write under "Program Files"

 

It looks OK, but... if personal firewall is disabled, BBO works, and doesn't

matter i've installed it to c:\Bridge Base Online or c:\Program Files\Bridge Base Online; _both_ work fine.

 

I tried today on school's computers -- everything OK if i install to c:\BBO;

just I'm wondering... it's very strange for me. B)

 

PTG

[pigpenz]

i have never hand any problems at all with Windows SP sp2 and firewall and BBO