FAQ

The AVG Firewall confirmation dialog is displayed when you need to decide whether you wish to allow or block network communication for certain application. The dialog is displayed because this application does not have defined rule that would specify an appropriate action.

The dialog has the following options:

• Allow for all - the communication for this application will be allowed for all networks (the whole Internet)
• Allow for safe - the communication will be allowed only for networks and/or adapters, which are marked as safe (Tools -> Firewall configuration -> profile name -> Defined adapters (networks)
• Block - the communication is blocked, which may restrict the application's functionality, or disable it altogether
• Save my answer as a permanent rule, and do not ask me next time - AVG Firewall saves the selected action for the application into its configuration
• Show details - displays information about the communication that induced the Firewall dialog
  

AVG program installed together with the Firewall component is compatible with the following operating systems:

• Windows 2000 SP4 w/ SRP1
• Windows XP SP2, SP3 
• Windows XP 64bit SP1, SP2
• Windows Vista, Vista 64bit (SP1; all editions)

Windows 9x, Me and NT 4.0 operating systems are no longer supported with the AVG 8.0 version.

Note: AVG Firewall is not intended for usage with server operating systems.

Generally it is not recommended to use more than one firewall on an individual computer. The security of the computer is not enhanced if you install more firewalls. It is more probable that some conflicts between these two applications will occur. Therefore we recommend that you use only one firewall on your computer and deactivate all others, thus eliminating the risk of possible conflict and any problems related to this.

Even before the firewall starts for the first time, it requires allowed/blocked applications/protocols to be specified. That is why the Firewall Configuration Wizard runs directly after installation to ensure that your computer is fully protected upon the first run.

Please take a look at the AVG User Interface to see if the AVG Firewall component is listed there. You can also check it here:

• Open AVG User Interface.
• Choose the Components menu.

If you cannot see the AVG Firewall component there, the Firewall component was not installed or your license number does not include such component.

Note: In order to get more information about installation of the Firewall component please refer to the FAQ 841.

AVG Firewall can be switched to one of the following states:

• Active: in this state the firewall is operational and ready to monitor/block processes according to its settings.
• Stopped: in this state the firewall is deactivated and does not monitor/block any processes.
• Emergency mode: in this state the firewall is operational and all traffic is blocked.

You can change the state of the firewall by double-clicking on the Firewall component in the AVG User Interface.

You should not be concerned about this. AVG Firewall really works in Stealth mode. The problem is that these tests are not testing AVG Firewall but are actually testing the security settings of your local network (for example if you use a cable connection to the Internet, they are testing the security settings of your provider).

All denied requests to system services and requests for applications that does not have its Allow for safe and Allow for all rules in the AVG Firewall are logged as FilterDevice. The record means that there was an attempt to contact a system service from inside or outside of the PC. It was allowed/denied according to your AVG Firewall rules.

It is mandatory that if the rule is found (that corresponds to the running communication), this rule is used for this communication and rules browsing ends.
AVG Firewall analyses rules this way:

• Initially it searches for a rule where the path to the application, and the communication port used, exactly match the application that is trying to communicate.
• If such a rule is found and is set as "Allowed“ in the Advanced configuration it analyses all requirements of the Advanced configuration in sequence from the first to the last one setting.
• If any requirement from the Advanced configuration does not match the current communication, the analysis will continue to point 2.
• If an application with a corresponding path is not found or no match is found in the Advanced configuration, the AVG Firewall will repeat the analysis for the application with the mark * appended to its path (that means "rule for all applications").
• If no rule has been found still, the AVG Firewall will continue with the settings corresponding to the Firewall settings -> Profiles -> default profile -> Application tab, Other Applications Rules option.

Some communications of the operating system are executed outside of the application environment, in lower levels of the operating system. These communications are not possible to assign to applications. If communications like this are required, you have to define a system rule (for example Microsoft file sharing and printing or RPC services).

It is not possible to generate "asks rules" for system services and no order is applied to them. An exact port (ports) with an exact log will be opened for the service defined in the system rule. Because some system rules could lower the level of your computer's security we recommend that you use them only for secure networks and take care when you are changing their configuration. We recommend that only advanced users and administrators create system rules.

No. AVG Firewall only checks if the application/system process is allowed to connect itself to the network. File which is being downloaded is virus-scanned by Web Shield component. The downloaded file is virus-scanned by the AVG Resident Shield (executables and documents) when there is an attempt to execute it.

When an application with denied access is trying to connect to the Internet the
count of the blocked packages does not increase.

Some packets cannot be counted, because we are intercepting some forbidden communication at higher than packet level, so then packets are never even created.
It is a feature.

In case that some of the following components are in the error state after installation of AVG program on Windows Vista operating system:

• Firewall
• WebShield
• E-Mail Scanner
• LinkScanner

AVG program has been installed in the compatibility mode with older operating systems.
In such cases please take the following steps to resolve this issue:

• Please download the latest installation file of the appropriate edition that you have ordered: 
  AVG Anti-Virus 8.0
  AVG Internet Security 8.0
  AVG Anti-Virus plus Firewall 8.0
  
• Click on the "Download AVG now (paid version)" button.
• When you are prompted, please do not open this file directly from the Internet, but click "Save" button and choose location where installation file should be stored. We recommend saving the file to the Desktop.
• Reboot your computer.
  
• Right click on the downloaded AVG installation package (avg_...).
• Choose the Properties item from the menu that will appear.
• Go to the Compatibility tab.
• Check if there is the compatibility option enabled - if so, please unmark this option.
• Press the Show settings for all users button.
• Check if there is the compatibility option enabled - if so, please unmark this option.
• Press the OK button twice to save and exit.
  
• Double click the AVG installation file.
• Choose the "Uninstall product" option.
• Choose "Remove user settings" when you are asked.
• Finish the uninstallation process.
• Restart your computer.
  
• Launch the downloaded package again.
• Follow the installation wizard.
• Enter your license number when you are asked (we recommend that you use copy&paste method to enter this license number into the installation form).
• If AVG asks you for a computer restart, please do so.
  

If there is any problem installing AVG, our technical support need to get the AVG installation log file to find out why AVG cannot be correctly installed on your computer.
To send us this file, please do the following:
Click Start -> Run, type %tmp% and press OK button. Please find a file called "avg8inst.log" in the Explorer's window that will appear on the screen and send it to AVG Technical Support team.

Since AVG Firewall can become inactive due to several reasons, we recommend to proceed as follows to address the most common causes and fix the problem:

1. Run AVG Firewall configuration wizard
   
   • Open AVG by double-click on its icon on Desktop or in system tray -> double-click on Firewall -> click button Configuration wizard.
   • Follow the wizard to create new configuration of AVG Firewall.
   • If the problem persists, please go to the next step.
2. Re-initialize AVG Firewall component in Windows
   
   • Open menu Start -> (Settings) -> Control Panel.
   • Double-click on Network connections.
   • Right-click on Local area connections -> select Properties.
   • Under This connection uses the following items un-tick AVG network filter driver.
   • Click OK to store the changes.
   • Once more right-click on Local are connections -> select Properties.
   • Tick the AVG network filter driver and click OK.
   • Restart your computer.
   • If the problem persists, please go to the next step.
3. Repair AVG instalaltion
   
   • Download the latest AVG installation package.
   • Run the file and select Repair installation.
   • More complete steps are available in FAQ topic 948.

If you want to empty the list of AVG Firewall log entries you can do it this way:

• Launch AVG
• From top menu "Tools" select "Firewall settings..."
• Click the "Logs" branch in the left navigation tree
• Now click the "Empty list" button located at lower right hand corner of this dialog

AVG Firewall filters IPv6 communication the same way, as standard IPv4 communication. In general, no adjustments need to be done to the Firewall in order to use IPv6.

Both application and system rules are valid for IPv4 and IPv6 traffic. While the application rules are bound to specific application and ports (e.g. Allow all traffic for Internet Explorer), system rules are defined as set of opened ports per protocol (e.g. Allow system TCP communication on port 80). Rules are therefore applied regardless of IP protocol version or format of IP address.

At the same time, it is also possible to define custom networks IPv6 in AVG Firewall, the same way they are defined for IPv4 protocol. These networks can be then used in an application/system rule definition, to restrict its validity only for some IP addresses. A custom IPv6 network in AVG Firewall can be created as follows:

• Open AVG -> menu Tools -> Firewall configuration.
• Go to Profiles -> your profile -> Defined networks.
• Click Add network -> Add IP -> tick Use IP version 6.
  
• The IP address fields will change to accomodate the IPv6 addresses.

More information about the IPv6 protocol can be found e.g. at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPv6.