The GUI is essentially a "driver instructor" that communicates to the driver the IP list to check against. The GUI also receives notifications from the driver when a packet arrives and when actions are performed with a packet. Protowall Blocks both inbound and outbound packets.

Protowall blocks incoming packets from Internet addresses that are on the Bluetack Blacklists. This is handled by another program called the Blocklist Manager. This program finds and retrieves lists of bad IP addresses. They are sorted (overlapping resolved) and then converted to various formats such as Protowall, PeerGuardian & other common applications and firewalls.

Traditionally, many firewalls are resource hogs and have a tendency to crash your system. This is worsened when you try to add extra IP addresses for it to block. Protowall, however, is driver based, meaning it blocks packets at the system level, allowing for fast, lightweight and efficient operation. Protowall leaves a very small footprint on your resources, even under heavy uploading/downloading, and is very accurate at blocking packets.

There are no hidden programs in Protowall. The Bluetack team is committed to providing an Internet security solution that is free of any devious spyware/malware. Protowall has no ads either. Many ask why Protowall isn't open source - Protowall has nothing to hide, but it remains closed source to prevent cloning and others stealing its code.

Protowall, the Blocklist Manager and support for each of them is completely free of charge!

Protowall only blocks IP's (internet addresses) you instruct it to block, by giving it a list, or by entering them manually. It is not a firewall, or a replacement for one. It runs alongside a firewall without any problems, however, and we recommend you always have a firewall installed.

Protowall blocks all NDIS protocols. These include:

IP/ICMP/TCP/UDP/HOPOPTS/IGMP/GGP/IPV4/ST/EGP/PIGP/RCCMON/NVPII/PUP/ARGUS/
EMCON/CHAOS/MUX/MEAS/HMP/PRM/IDP/TRUNK1/TRUNK2/LEAF1/LEAF2/RDP/IRTP/TP/ BLT/NSP/INP/SEP/3PC/IDPR/XTP/DDP/CMTP/TPXX/IL/IPV6/SDRP/ROUTING/FRAGMENT/
IDRP/RSVP/GRE/MHRP/BHA/ESP/AH/INLSP/SWIPE/NHRP/MOBILE/TLSP/SKIP/ICMPV6/
NONE/DSTOPTS/AHIP/CFTP/HELLO/SATEXPAK/KRYPTOLAN/RVD/IPPC/ADFS/SATMON/
VISA/IPCV/CPNX/CPHB/WSN/PVP/BRSATMON/ND/WBMON/WBEXPAK/EON/VMTP/SVMTP/
VINES/TTP/IGP/DGP/TCF/IGRP/OSPFIGP/SRPC/LARP/MTP/AX25/IPEIP/MICP/SCCSP//
ETHERIP/ENCAP/APES/GMTP/IPCOMP/PIM/PGM/

What's new (Builds 1 - 7):

• Fixed a GUI error on the granted packets reset button
• Uninstaller now removes the driver
• Was rebuilt in Release Mode (No debugging stuff) and is now much smaller
• Added option to reset the video log
• Installer Tweaks and Optimizations
• Changed the protowall driver error message
• Disabled the 24 hour update for the time being
• Made the space bigger for the Blocked/Granted packet activity tracker as the number gets too big and will not display correctly. (Did it but i don't know if it will take)
• Updated About Screen
• Moved the Red/Green icon on the GUI
• The limit on the amount of rules PW can hold has been increased to over 400,000 rules
• Updated IPFilter.dat
• The blinking red/green Icon has been removed form the gui, but still blinking in tray.
• The "View Log" is now located in the File Menu. W/File/ViewLog.
  Other misc. gui fixes.
• Prevent crash occasionally occuring when closing protowall after being in about and/or preferences window
• New Tray icon
• Included a donate link in: W/About/ProtoWall on the Web/Donate..
• Shows an amber icon when pw is not running, green when running, flashing red if block occurs, in the system tray

Current Issues:

• GUI Bugs: After hiding either of the Video log window then minimizing and maximizing PW, they will unhide themselves
• GUI Bugs: When PW is set to load minimized, it does not show the Video log windows once it is maximized
• GUI Bugs: The activity tracker on the GUI does not work if logging is not enabled
• If PW is forced closed and then reopened, it fails to autostart
• PW occasionally starts up with 'Protowall Failure' message after updating the list or the app is forcefully closed
• Protowall may crash when reloading a blocklist
• BSOD has been known to happen, though usually not
• The Amber Icon does not always reset itself, so it shows green when Protowall is stopped at times.