Restrict programs from accessing the Internet

Restrict programs from accessing the Internet

I have a 256 kbit/s Internet connection. Most often, I find that the browsing speed is too slow. I have to use TCPView (SysInternals) to find out which program is accessing the Internet without my knowledge and terminate it. Previously I was using ZoneAlarm to control Internet access by installed programs. But as it doesn't work for Windows 7, I'm left with no option.

Asked by: Guest | Views: 266

Total answers/comments: 4

Comments display order:

Guest [Entry]

"I think you're looking for NetLimiter:

NetLimiter is an ultimate internet
traffic control and monitoring tool
designed for Windows. You can use
NetLimiter to set download/upload
transfer rate limits for applications
or even single connection and monitor
their internet traffic.

Along with this unique feature,
Netlimiter offers comprehensive set of
internet statistical tools. It
includes real-time traffic measurement
and long-term per-application internet
traffic statistics

There are 3 available versions of
NetLimiter 2 - Pro, Lite and freeware
Monitor."

Guest [Entry]

"I would suggest using Windows firewall, but if you want something else try Comodo Firewall, but afaik it is not supported for Windows 7 just yet.

However some people on this thread have gotten the Vista RTM package to install successfully in compatibility mode."

Guest [Entry]

A simple trick is to go in the settings of the program you want to block and set the connection through a proxy does not exist.

Guest [Entry]

"Firewall

I've used Sphinx's Windows 10 Firewall Control which you may want to look at. It's stable and relatively lightweight since it is works using the built-in windows firewall (it creates rules for you) and prompts you whenever a new application is trying to access the internet, and you can decide to enable or disable it. However, it's not really intended for monitoring applications that you decide to let enabled.

Caveat: the free versions works quite well for applications, but does not prevent system processes from being disabled so it can't block any windows services.

Traffic shaping

cFosSpeed is also a pretty good (paid) utility that attempts to automatically reduce your overall internet speed up until your ping times return to normal and prioritizes web browsing. It can help on slower connections, especially if your issues comes from your internet bandwidth getting saturated (100% usage). It also has tools for monitoring. Try it out before buying."