How do I block network access for a program

[Reverend Jim]

I have a Uniden wireless security system installed. The system consists of two wireless cameras and a small, handheld receiver with an LCD screen. The receiver has a USB connector to allow it to connect to my laptop. Software runs on the laptop which allows me to monitor the cameras and record the video from the receiver. The cameras communicate wirelessly only to the receiver, not to my computer.

Here's the odd thing - there is constant outgoing network activity associated with the executable, Uniden Surveillance System.exe. I cannot disable the wireless interface on my laptop as that is necessary to communicate with my router/hub. I got into the Windows 7 firewall settings and created a rule to block network access for the Uniden exe but the resource meter continues to show two outgoing connections running at around 67 bytes/sec each. One connection is to 239.255.255.250 and the other to 255.255.255.255.

My firewall settings for the new rule are

General

    Enabled
    Block the connection

Programs and Services

    %ProgramFiles%\Uniden Surveillance System\Uniden Surveillance System.exe

Protocols and Ports

    Protocol type: Any
    Local port:    All Ports
    Remote port:   All Ports

Scope

    Local IP address:  Any
    Remote IP Address: Any

Advanced

    All profiles and interface types are selected

Can anyone enlighten me as to how I can block this?

[rubberman]

255.255.255.255 is the global broadcast address. Your lan needs that to run. The other (starting with 239) may be the multicast address for a network printer. You should be able to configure your router to block any broadcast messages outside of your LAN. You may also be able to block messages to the 239 address. Normally multicast messages are not forwarded by a router, so I suspect they are simply "dropped at the border" and are not being sent to the Internet. IE, you will see broadcast and multicast traffic, but it is going nowhere.

[Reverend Jim]

I wouldn't have noticed it except for two things:

1. I am at the cottage for the summer and while here I connect via Rogers Rocket Hub. I pay extra if I go over three gig a month so I limit my use to around 100 meg a day.
2. I use NetWorx to monitor my usage and it alerts me when I get to 95 meg each day and it popped up the alert when I wasn't doing browsing or email so I fired up Resource Monitor to see what was using the bandwidth.

It's entirely possible the data is not getting past the router but in that case it is still getting recorded by NetWorx and is therefore skewing my stats so it would be nice to stop it at the source.