XP PC Firewall Hangs P2E operation

[michohio]

Running fine for 7 years. Most recently ran with Version 5.5.

All of a sudden, I cannot pull in any projects or pictures without hanging my computer.

P2E starts fine

If I open a previous project.....hangs my computer...must reboot

If I pull in the 1st picture to create a show....hangs my computer...must reboot

Did a registry cleaner or malware cleaner get rid of my needed things?

I tried uninstalling 5.5 and then installing 5.6....did not help.

Did I accidentally get rid of my Key?....if so, how do I get my key back and reload.....did that in 2002 and I can't find it.

I could not find posts on this hang so I hope someone can help.

[michohio]

I see from this poste http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index....VER+PRODUCT+KEY

that I should have a reg.txt in my p2E Program files directory.

It is not there.

Does this mean that I do not have my old registration and that is the reason why P2E hangs?

[nobeefstu]

chrisp,

that I should have a reg.txt in my p2E Program files directory.

It is not there.

Does this mean that I do not have my old registration and that is the reason why P2E hangs?

PTE should not hang if you dont have a registration key. Your reg.txt will only be in the Program files directory if you personally saved a copy there.

Unregistered versions of PTE usually open with "Load A Key" prompt message window. To see if your PTE is actually registered ... from the main menu bar click Help | About PicturesToExe. The display popup will say licenced to : user name.

All of a sudden, I cannot pull in any projects or pictures without hanging my computer

I would first ... disable any virus/firewall protection running ... this will rule out if the hanging condition may be caused by some update or setting used by the virus/firewall protection.

Did I accidentally get rid of my Key?....if so, how do I get my key back and reload.....did that in 2002 and I can't find it.

If you cannot find your original registration key file on your PC but your registry still contains the key registration information ... you can retrieve a backup copy. Im currently soon to release KeyCopy utility tool to perform such a key backup task. It currently supports 9x, XP, and Vista. It now needs to be tested on Windows 7 before final relase.

[michohio]

Nobeefstu.....Thank you!

Firewall was it!!!!! I had loaded a new brand a while back (PC Tools Firewall Plus).

When I turned off the Firewall.......even with my Antivirus still running, P2E works fine.

So...I am running.

But I wonder what could cause it to prevent P2E operation? Is P2E sending info out (to WnSoft) when I run P2E? Normally my firewall tells me about any untoward activity and allows me to say yes.

I'm now trying to figure out what to 'not block' to allow P2E with my Firewall on.

Well...thank you again.....

[Conflow]

Chrisp,

I have said this many times before on this Forum and it can be supported by the Microsoft Corp.

XP2 and XP3 have excellent "Intergrated Firewalls" built into the Operating Systems which from time to

time are 'auto-updated' by the Microsoft Corporation without reference to the PC Owner.

Microsoft DO NOT advise the installation of a 2nd.Firewall on any XP whilst the original still exists on that

PC and under Anti-Monopoly Law's the Company is precluded from preventing you installing a 2nd Firewall.

The Anti-Virus Industry know about this 'loophole' and exploits it to supply/purvey their own Products and

unfortunately most PC Owners fall into this trap with detrimental effects to their Computer.

The Computer Industry is well aware of the problems of 2 concurrent Firewalls and have advised the Public

over and over against this practice, however there are some PC owners who seem to know better than the

Computer Industry. Ask yourself: Who's better to provide an effective XP-Firewall ~ Microsoft of a 3rd Party ??

Now you have the facts and its your choice...

Brian (Conflow).

[cjdnzl]

<snip>

Ask yourself: Who's better to provide an effective XP-Firewall ~ Microsoft of a 3rd Party ??

Now you have the facts and its your choice...

Brian (Conflow).

Hi Brian,

I would like to voice a minor problem with your remark above. Microsoft are not really known for being on the ball all the time, and for some time they weren't with their firewall, which would work with incoming, but did nothing whatsoever to block malware from calling home. They took quite a time to provide a two-way firewall, which programs like ZoneAlarm and others had been offering all along. This is the reason I run ZoneAlarm Extreme Security as my only anti-malware software. Microsoft Video ActiveX Exploit, Nine Ball, Gumblar.cn Exploit, Conficker Worm, and zero-day exploits in general are all caught by ZA, and there's then there's the 'vault' into which I can put all sensitive data like bank numbers, card numbers, full name, and anything you can think of that you don't want sent out - ZA monitors all outgoing data and will catch any data stream that includes any of the stuff in my vault. It also runs a virus/spyware checker in the background, which I have been thankful for more than once.

When Microsoft comes up with comparable software I might consider it - but I'm not holding my breath. The ActiveX exploit has been known for some time but they haven't yet fixed that, to my knowledge.

Regards,

Colin

[Conflow]

Hi Colin,

I think you have completely missed the point of my reply to Chrisp, as follows:-

.."It is bad practice to run 2 Firewalls simultaneously on any Windows PC"..

As for 'Active X Controls' one only has to go into Control Panel-->Internet Options

-->select-->Security(set to Medium) -->select Privacy(set to Medium) then these

settings block all 'Unsigned Active X Controls'.

The subject of the thread is about duplex 'Firewalls' running simultaneously on a PC,

If people wish to ignore the advice given -thats not my problem- nor do I intend to

pursue consequential problem threads resulting from 2 x Firewall operation's.

Best regards,

Brian.

Conflow.

[Ken Cox]

I THINK

that if you use a router that firewalls are somewhat redundant

http://cbl.abuseat.org/nat.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_address_translation

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/firewall.htm

ken

[Conflow]

Ken,

As far as it applies to the Web-Internet you are so correct, a decent Router is worth every

penny spent on it ~ its the best insurance out there because of its "proxy" IPS Address.

When it comes to E-Mails some still come with rogue "attachments" (usually hidden scripts)

and if one opens these all hell can break loose when the owner re-starts his PC. I have no

sympathy for such owners as its so easy to RH.Click the E-Mail in the 'Inbox' and select

properties ~ this showns the source of the E-Mail and its return to 'sender' routing, all is

then revealed ~ its easy to do this and delete the rogues in the Inbox without opening them.

As for 'Downloads' from 3rd parties this is where the XP-Firewall comes into its own in

filtering 'unsigned' Active-X controls and rogue Cookies if auto-management is turned on.

Auto-Transponder Programs ~ many Programs make silent connection to the Internet unknown

to the PC user and many Comms ports are 'open' active always. This comes as a shock to most

PC users and again the XP-Firewall filters these.

The Golden Rule is:- If your're not currently using the Internet simply turn it off till you need it.

However its my sad experience that most PC users simply don't care or are not aware or ignore

simple security and cleaning procedure's until the inevitable happen's...the rest is history.

Ken thats a good point you made about Routers and there are no annual subscriptions either !!!

All the best,

Brian (Conflow)

[Ken Cox]

Brian an IT guy set me on them back in early win 98 - " what the heck do you want to fool around with that goofy software for, get yourself a router" was his advice - -net gear at the time was $250 +, just replaced it last week when we set up a wireless system cw print sharing

http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/cat_sku....;AffixedCode=WW

dlink

same is working fine

ken

[Conflow]

Ken,

Routers sure were expensive in the days of Win.98 ~ now one can get a decent (single-line) LAN-Router for less than $50

with 4 Port (outputs) for PC's with up to 12.Mhz service speeds. Talking about 'Radio-Routers' we have our own Server and

2 years ago we went over to 'Radio Broadband' with inbuilt Duplex-Router (different in/out proxy addresse's) and we have

never looked back...touch wood !!

"D-Link" make goood Routers (they can be tricky to set-up) but they sure work well. On this side of the Pond "Net-Gear" is

a good choice for simple systems but for a more complex product we opted for "Lab-Gear" - expensive but good.

All the best of luck with the New System ~ I'm sure you have seen one heck of an improvement compared to the old unit.

regards,

Brian.

[cjdnzl]

Hi Colin,

I think you have completely missed the point of my reply to Chrisp, as follows:-

.."It is bad practice to run 2 Firewalls simultaneously on any Windows PC"..

As for 'Active X Controls' one only has to go into Control Panel-->Internet Options

-->select-->Security(set to Medium) -->select Privacy(set to Medium) then these

settings block all 'Unsigned Active X Controls'.

The subject of the thread is about duplex 'Firewalls' running simultaneously on a PC,

If people wish to ignore the advice given -thats not my problem- nor do I intend to

pursue consequential problem threads resulting from 2 x Firewall operation's.

Best regards,

Brian.

Conflow.

Hi again, Brian,

No, I didn't miss your point about running more than one firewall, I agree with that completely. It was just your implied claim that Microsoft firewalls must be better than 3rd party that I wished to disagree with.

I note that other posters in this thread have said that a router is all one needs. Of course most people running broadband will have a router, but I am unsure whether a router, or a firewall within a router, will stop 'phone home' messages from resident malware, as surely the router will consider any message from the computer to be legit. Likewise, malware from an infected website or email won't be stopped by a router either. In fact, the router and its firewall will only stop unsolicited attempts to access your system. Can you add any insight to those points?

Cheers,

Colin.

[Conflow]

Hi Colin,

You wrote..."will it stop 'phone home' messages from resident malware"...

'The Box on the wall Routers' supplied by your Internet-Provider are Buffer/Filter Unit

designed to seperate the Internet signals from the Phone-Line signals or alternatively

if its a Cable-TV Link it seperates VHF, UHF and Broadband Internet signals from each

other otherwise your PC would not work properly due to co-channel interference.

Some of these have a very rudimentary (hardware) Firewall unfortunately they do not

change your personal Internet IPS address given to you by your Service provider

You are confusing these 'Wall-Boxes' with (stand-alone) "Proxy Address Firewalled Routers" viz:-

A "Proxy Firewall Router" interrogates your PC and discovers your unique IPS Address.

Then it generates a unique "Proxy IPS Address" different from yours and requests the Server

to accept this new proxy address. It attempts this many times till it finds an acceptable code.

Thereafter this "proxy" IPS address is used in all communications with your PC so in effect

only 2 entities know your true identity...Your IPS provider and you, so in theory you become

invisible on the Internet. This "Proxy-Router" also contains a powerful (hardware) Firewall which

interrogates all 'scripts' hidden or otherwise and promptly kills them. It also learn data-patterns

from your PC communications particularily those which want to 'call Home' whereupon it will

trigger your PC.Firewall (if its on) which then should ask your permission to allow that contact

if your Firewall hasn't already done so. (Norton Internet Security Suite mirror's the same thing).

There is a lot more to these Routers than space allows here and as I wrote earlier I really don't

want to expand this thread as it is a complex subject excepting to provide the basics written above.

Hope this answers your question and explains the differences between your LAN Box and a Proxy-Router

which are two different devices entirely.

regards,

Brian (Conflow)

[Conflow]

Chrisp,

Today the 27th July you wrote (extraced quote):-

....."All of a sudden, I cannot pull in any projects or pictures without hanging my computer.

....."I could not find posts on this hang-up so I hope someone can help".....

With respects I replied to your original Posts on the 12th July a copy of which is below,viz:-

Copy Post #5 to Chrisp 12th July 09:-

Chrisp,

I have said this many times before on this Forum and it can be supported by the Microsoft Corp.

XP2 and XP3 have excellent "Intergrated Firewalls" built into the Operating Systems which from time to

time are 'auto-updated' by the Microsoft Corporation without reference to the PC Owner.

Microsoft DO NOT advise the installation of a 2nd.Firewall on any XP whilst the original still exists on that

PC and under Anti-Monopoly Law's the Company is precluded from preventing you installing a 2nd Firewall.

The Anti-Virus Industry know about this 'loophole' and exploits it to supply/purvey their own Products and

unfortunately most PC Owners fall into this trap with detrimental effects to their Computer.

The Computer Industry is well aware of the problems of 2 concurrent Firewalls and have advised the Public

over and over against this practice, however there are some PC owners who seem to know better than the

Computer Industry. Ask yourself: Who's better to provide an effective XP-Firewall ~ Microsoft of a 3rd Party ??

Now you have the facts and its your choice...

Brian (Conflow