Hi ppl,

I am creating a program that will update itself through the internet.

I am creating a windows app.
Can I use winsock to do this , without the "Windows Firewall has blocked this program" dialogue?

Ishwar

No I don't think so. The windows firewall is external to your program. So unless you have administrative rights to unblock the port that the program needs to update itself, the Windows firewall will block it. Sometimes antivirus programs also may block certain ports.

Use HTTP or FTP or something
(unless WF blocks those too. I wouldn't be surprised.)

Then how come the latest programs like Adobe Photoshop, yahoo msngr have a auto update, and they work without WF blocking them.

I don't know about Adobe update, but Windows Firewall definitely blocks Yahoo Messenger. The same for Windows Messenger too. The administrator should unblock it.

By the way, what is the big deal? Once you unblock it once, Windows Firewall won't trouble you again.

This program is kind of a chat system

Ok , but this program runs evrytime a user logs in , so evry time a user logs in , he/she has to unblock it?

Can't you unblock it once you install it, and WF will never bother you again for the rest of your life?

Yours,

Ishwar

Running a chat system every time a user logs in to the computer is bad practice unless the user explicitly wants it to do so. So you should provide an option for the user to check/uncheck this feature. However if the administrator has unblocked it, the user won't have to unblock it every time he/she logs in.[/quote]

Windows Firewall does not block a program when you install it. It blocks a program the first time the program tries to accept an unsolicited incoming connection. But if the administrator unblocks it, it won't trouble you again. However this cannot be done at installation time. It should be done at the initial execution. In any case this is a manual process and not a programable process. All depends on whether the administrator permits the program.