Major Internet Issue with WW 7.0.47 & PC Tools Firewall Plus

Weather Watcher Weather Watcher Help
1

I am reporting an issue with the new version, 7.0.47 that was released today, 10 Jan 2011.

  1. Version of Weather Watcher Live: 7.0.47

  2. Detailed description of the bug: Immediately after I installed version 7.0.47, I began getting notifications (Add or Block Process Messages) from PC Tools Firewall Plus as usual. However, these notifications persisted and refused to go away.

The notifications basically say that Weather Watcher binaries have changed as a result of changing or updating the program. I should “allow or block” the program from using previous rule based on trust preferences. I “Allow” the notification pop-up and it goes away. After a minute or two, based on whether I am surfing the internet or not, the notification reappears.

I have noticed that when the notification pop-up appears, links on the internet no longer work, the internet can’t be surfed, and for intensive purposes, doesn’t exist anymore. Things return to normal upon clicking “Allow”. Pressing “Block” results in “NO INTERNET” as if in “Lockdown”. I have changed every setting imaginable on PC Tools Firewall Plus and nothing fixes the problem. The issue ceases the moment I close Weather Watcher Live. Uninstalling and reinstalling WWL makes no difference.

I have never had any compatibility problems with Weather Watcher Live and PC Tools Firewall Plus Free. Versions 7.0.39 and previous work perfectly with PC Tools Firewall Plus. Something odd in this new version is driving my firewall mad.

  1. Any error messages (word-for-word): No error message.

  2. Steps to reproduce the problem (if possible): Unless you install PC Tools Firewall Plus Free or find someone else with it, I don’t know how else you could reproduce it.

  3. Any relevant screenshots: http://org121.zpcdn.com/0/6357/40689471.12e532.jpg

2

You should contact PC Tools. It looks like they’ve experienced this issue in the past:

http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&q="pc+tools"+"binaries+have+changed"&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&pbx=1&fp=7b989c6c17f79c85

3

Thanks for the suggestion.

I tried the link to forums at PC Tools and discovered that a new version had been released 30 Nov 2010. I checked my version and found that it was out of date!!

The program has an auto-update feature. I thought it was up-to-date and working, apparently it wasn’t. I installed the new version of the firewall and the new version of Weather Watcher and the program appears to be working just fine now.

Thanks for pointing out the search results. I think I tried searching for an answer before, but I obviously used the wrong search words.

I thought it was odd that Weather Watcher would suddenly start having compatibility issues. I wasn’t aware that PC Tools Firewall Plus was having an update issue. These days we unfortunately get in the habit of thinking that because a program has an auto-update feature, it is always doing it’s job. This serves as a reminder that we shouldn’t take that for granted and should check on our own every now and then.