The best solution is to change your gateway (router) in a fake IP-adress everytime you BEFORE startup your daw. Now your router cannot be found so there is no internet connection, just your local network.
Your DAW and all of your plugins (ie Waves and Fabfilter) can call home but won't get connected.

 

Huh? Firewall is much easier tbh.

 

Nope you cannot block .dll's (plug-ins) to call home with third party firewalls. Dll's can call home OUTSIDE your DAW!!
Besides that, this is a much easier way to avoid ANY problems imho.

 

What about batch file for disabling network services?
That should work too, and perhaps more reliably.

 

Really would love to know how often this actually happens. Never experienced this issue before myself and all I have blocked inside my firewall is my DAW. But we've seen such problems arise quite a few times lately on these forums and I'm always left wondering whether they just forgot to block their DAW inside their firewall or if the plug-ins are circumventing that now and actually call home even when the DAW itself is blocked access.

 

The best solution is internet off.

I have ESET Smart Security and firewall is interactive mode so you have complete control over the In-Out .... I work for years and no software is not working problem ...
This is the best way and I'm always online .... but ..... every DAW can call home under a false name and a false address to another, and you can never block if you do not know what block.

The best solution is internet off.This rule does not apply ...

O.K. dear.... and I also practice safe sex but please, take off at least pants ....

 

Last edited: Feb 25, 2016

You can block .dll from using another process for accessing the internet with a firewall that has HIPS. It will block any process that tries to hook into another one to access the internet. Works pretty much the same as an antivirus.

http://antivirus.about.com/od/antivirussoftwarereviews/a/hips_behavior.htm

 

Well to be truly honest, the best way is to get your stuff legit. But yeah I think internet off is the way to go.

 

Temporarily disabling your network card when making music, is much easier and not resource consuming like an advanced firewall with host intrusion prevention running constantly in the background. Having said that, a firewall with hips is the most proper way to deal with such situations, as it's a set it and forget it routine that doesn't have to be repeated every time you want to fire up your daw and make music.
Btw, i don't endorse warez for anything other than test purposes but i understand some people are poor and talented. Just remember to buy the stuff you love and use if you make some money from your music. Cheers

 

Windows Firewall Control from http://www.binisoft.org/ enables you to use windows built in firewall to block .dll, .exe, .bin, .setup, .scr files. it is very robust and extremely easy to use. no need for an antivrus. This is good for everyday use, not just for trying to use some wared software. Makes configuring and using Windows built in firewall a breeze! And its cheap, only $10.00



Windows Firewall Control - Managing Windows Firewall is now easier than ever

Program Overview

Windows Firewall Control is a powerful application which extends the functionality of the Windows Firewall and provides quick access to the most frequent options of Windows Firewall. It runs in the system tray and allows user to control the native firewall easily without having to waste time by navigating to the specific part of the firewall. This is the best tool to manage the native firewall from Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista, Server 2008, Server 2012. Windows Firewall Control offers four filtering modes which can be switched with just a mouse click:

High Filtering - All outbound and inbound connections are blocked. This setting blocks all attempts to connect to and from your computer.
Medium Filtering - Outbound connections that do not match a rule are blocked. Only the programs that you allow can initiate outbound connections.
Low Filtering - Outbound connections that do not match a rule are allowed. The user can block the programs he doesn't want to allow initiating outbound connections.
No Filtering - Windows Firewall is turned off. Avoid using this setting unless you have another firewall running on your computer.
Program Features

√ Intuitive and easy accessible interface in the system tray, next to the system clock.
√ Full support with standard user accounts. Elevated privileges are required only at installation.
√ Disable the ability of other programs to add Windows Firewall rules.
√ Multiple and easier ways of creating new rules in Windows Firewall.
√ Integrated support of creating, modifying and deleting Window Firewall rules.
√ Lock feature which can disable the access to the settings of the program and Windows Firewall.
√ Shell integration into the right click context menu of the executable files.
√ Display invalid rules with the possibility to delete them very quickly.
√ Merge multiple similar rules or duplicate existing ones.
√ Search for executable files through folders and create new rules in seconds.
√ View recently allowed and blocked connections and create new rules from the Security log.
√ Choose if you want the program to start at user log on.
√ Import, export and restore all firewall rules or just the selected rules.
√ Protection to unauthorized uninstallation.
√ Possibility to restore previous settings at uninstallation.
√ Global hot keys are supported and various shortcut keys are available.
√ And many, many more. Just try it out.
Registered Users Features

√ Notifications System which provides notifications for outbound blocked connections. Four modes available:
High - Display notifications for all outgoing connections that were blocked, including System and svchost.exe.
Medium - Display notifications only for regular programs, without notifications for System and svchost.exe.
Low - Automatically allow digitally signed programs. Notifications are displayed only for unsigned programs.
Disabled - Notifications are disabled.
√ Create temporary rules which are automatically deleted when they expire or on program restart.
System Requirements

√ Microsoft .NET Framework version 4.5
√ Compatible with all x86 and x64 versions of Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista, Server 2008, 2012.
√ Windows Firewall service is required to be enabled for Windows Firewall Control to run.
√ DNS Client service is required to be enabled for the notifications to work properly.
Known Limitations

√ Windows Firewall is incompatible with software proxies, web filtering modules, NDIS drivers.
√ Notifications System is incompatible with old versions of BoxCryptor and TrueCrypt.
√ Due to multiple system configurations and software installed there may be incompatibility problems. Please report them all and help us to improve Windows Firewall Control. Thank you for your support !

 

Nice one ned944. But the drawback is the heavy configuration and another firewall in your system has impact on performance.
No, I think an automated disabled/enabled gateway is still the best solution for avoiding home calls and uploading files to your system by the developers to disable your plug-ins!

 

What about to un-plug the net wire?



Faster, secure, no O.S. tweaking... Think about it.​

 

dlls don't do diddly on their own, let alone performing actions outside their host process. Plugins use dll injection, which makes the daw or whatever tool running the dll call home. Block the process and you're safe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DLL_injection

 

I like the method, clean and simple. The only downside is that I might forget just once and completely screw myself over by doing so. I think I prefer my method to be without human intervention since I'll always trust a well configured machine to remember something more than I do myself.

I'm quite oblivious on the matter so I appreciate Fraifikmushi pointing out that DLL files don't do anything on their own and do actually need their host in order to execute actions like calling home and what not.

 

Seems over complicated. Why not just right click your network icon in the system tray (or got to ethernet settings on mac) and disable your network adapter, then re-enable after your session? Much easier and straightforward with same effect.

 

Nope that does not work Bunford. There has to be be an ACTIVE (enabled) local area network adapter in your system. That's the culprit where we talking about in these discussions! IE. Waves plugins can only work with an active network connection but in this case the call home check never takes place because of the redirection in your HOSTS file to your local host (IP 127.0.0.1) Your hosts file however is only accessible with an enabled network connection. That's how it works.
Don't shoot me, try it yourself...

 

Shutting down my PC... no "calls home"... oups the phone is ringing Alloooo? Steve? who? Steve Duda?

 

Last edited: Feb 25, 2016

Applicable to @poison9090 and his recent post (as reply)...

About stock Win firewall: run your DAW as administrator (we read this always on AS/AZ) = doors and windows are widely opened, btw injecting fw rule by simple Registry mod (or by invoking netsh command - silently) is a child's play for any plug developer!! Have a nice day!

 

Last edited: Feb 25, 2016

Windows Firewall Control, as far as I'm aware, is simply a front end for the built in Windows Firewall. The benefit of the Medium setting as pictured is app 'white-listing'. No app connects to the internet unless the user allows it and it couldn't be much easier to set up. I've used it for a few years now without issue or anything calling home in such a way it disabled itself as a result. The only app I have whitelisted is Firefox and I'll use a temporary rule to check for (Important only) Windows Updates. Everything else is automatically blocked -- silently, no effort required.

I'm intrigued by the discussion elsewhere of .dlls using methods outside firewalls to call home - I'm not convinced - I wonder if a tin-foil hat might help to clear my thought process...

 

Last edited: Feb 25, 2016

I don't know this for a fact, but it seems highly likely.

I use win 7 with default firewall in a non administrative account.

and still some vst's managed to call home, zynaptic plugins & the drop