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My printer says that my antivirus firewall isnt allowing my pc to communicte with my printer
Hello ndowning25,

 

Welcome to the Webroot Community,

 

Please look here at these PC User Guide articles that can help you with unblocking.

 

Controlling active processes

http://www.webroot.com/En_US/SecureAnywhere/PC/WSA_PC_Help.htm#C10_SystemControl/CH10b_ControllingPr...

Blocking/Allowing files

http://www.webroot.com/En_US/SecureAnywhere/PC/WSA_PC_Help.htm#C5_Quarantine/CH5b_BlockingAllowingFi...

Managing protected applications

http://www.webroot.com/En_US/SecureAnywhere/PC/WSA_PC_Help.htm#C6_IDProtection/CH6c_ManagingProtecte...

Managing active connections

http://www.webroot.com/En_US/SecureAnywhere/PC/WSA_PC_Help.htm#C4_Firewall/CH4c_ManagingActiveConnec...

 

 

You can also submit a Support Ticket if you need files whitelisted.

 

 

 

Lets try to put into English the essence of the areas where a user can tailor what WSA does to protect the system

 

There are essentially 3 key areas where this can happen/a user can override WSA.  These are essentially reached, from the main WSA panel, as follows:

 


  1. PC Security > Block/Allow Files
  2. Identity Protection > Application Protection
  3. Utilities > System Control > Control Active Processes
 

and once there the user usually has the options to:

 

A. "Allow"

B. "Protect/Monitor"

C. "Block/Deny"

 

In the case of 1. Detection Configuration

 

If an item is set to:

 

- "Allow", WSA ignores it during scans and shield actions, meaning if it's a virus that has been allowed, it can continue acting as a virus acts.  Be careful of what you allow in this area and ensure it's something you trust implicitly if you are going to change the status from Block to Allow.

 

- "Monitor", WSA will watch the item to determine if it is legitimate or related to malware.  It is not necessary to add files into this list or set files to monitor manually unless you are changing them from a Block or Allow status.  This might be useful if for example you think Webroot might have had a false positive on something and you want to check again at a later time to see if the determination has changed.  You could set it to Monitor and have Webroot check it again.

 

- "Block", then WSA will treat the items as it would detected malware.  It will not be executed, and it will not be written to your hard drive.  Detected infections are automatically set to a Block status.

 

In the case of 2. Protected Applications (Internet Security & Complete version ONLY)

 

In this case:

 

- "Allowed applications" are not secured against information-stealing malware, and also have full access to protected data on the system. Many applications unintentionally access protected screen contents or keyboard data without malicious intent when running in the background. If you trust an application that is currently marked as "Deny," you can change it to "Allow."

 

- "Protected applications" are secured against information-stealing malware, but also have full access to data on the system. By default, web browsers are assigned to the "protected" status. If desired, you might also want to add other software applications to "protected," such as financial management software. When you run a protected application, the Webroot icon in the system tray displays a padlock.

 

- "Denied applications" cannot view or capture protected data on the system, but can otherwise run normally.

 

And finally, in the case of 3. Control Active Processes

 

If a process is set to:

 

- "Allow" it means WSA allows it to run on the system. It's important to note that if an item is already allowed here, that's because Webroot knows already from seeing the file before that it's ok to allow.

 

- "Monitor" status means WSA will journal what that program is doing and keep a very close eye on it for any suspicious activity.  Basically it would treat it as if it wasn't already sure about it one way or the other, and it wants to monitor it closely until it's sure about it.

 

- "Block" means just that...iWSA does not allow it to run on the syste.  Be very careful about what you block in this area and ensure that anything you decide to block is a non-essential process.  Otherwise, you could be setting yourself up for a lot of grief if you block something critical.

 

Now, hopefully that has given you a consolidated low down on where to look and what you can do to affect how WSA 'interferes' with files, objects & processes on your system...and so wil help you get to the bottom of what is causing you grief.

 

Do post back with any specific questions that you may have re. the above.

 

 

 

 
Hi ndowning25

 

Welcome to the Community Forums.

 

If I may take a different approach and add to what Sherry has posted? If it is the WSA firewall that is causing the block and you can check this by going into the main panel, clicking on the PC Security tab and then moving the Firewall slider to the 'Off' position (entring the CAPTCHA characters requested), then trying to print something.

 

If that sorts the issue out then you will need to 'reset' you firewall settings, because it looks like you may have inadvertently told the firewall to block the printer; the first time a connection is attempted the firewall will prompt you with the options to 'Block' , 'Allow once' and 'Allow always' and if you do not respond to that it goes to default of 'Block'.

 

Now, depending on which version of Windows you are running will depend on what you need to do.

 

If Windows 7 then 

 

 

Please take a look at the this in relation to managing active processses. If however you are using Windows 8 or above then you will have to do a clean reinstall.

 

Please follow the steps closely!

 

Make sure you have a copy of your 20 Character Alphanumeric Keycode! Example: SA69-AAAA-A783-DE78-XXXX

 


  • KEEP the computer online for Uninstall and Reinstall to make sure it works correctly
  • Download a Copy Here (Best Buy Subscription PC users click HERE)
  • Uninstall WSA and Reboot
  • Install with the new installer, enter your Keycode and do NOT import any settings if asked to as you can set it up as you like once it's done
  • Let it finish it's install scan
  • Reboot once again
Once rebooted trying printing again and this time you should get prompted to allow the printer activity to proceed and can respond with a 'Allow always'.

 

Either way please let us know if that resolves your issue?

 

Regards, Baldrick

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