My Sygate 5.6 firewall is "allowing" Generic Host Process for Win32.
Is this the correct setting? I have no idea what the "Process" is,
nor do I really care. I just noticed it while resetting a few other
simpler settings in Sygate.

I checked with GRC.com. All my XP ports are Stealth - for what that's
worth. I do run the simpler XP firewall at the same time as the
Sygate.

I caused a few problems with my firewall, that's why I was drubbing
around inside it. I had to straighten a few things out.

On 11/2/2022 6:19 AM, corky@here.now.com wrote:
> My Sygate 5.6 firewall is "allowing" Generic Host Process for Win32.
> Is this the correct setting? I have no idea what the "Process" is,
> nor do I really care. I just noticed it while resetting a few other
> simpler settings in Sygate.
>
> I checked with GRC.com. All my XP ports are Stealth - for what that's
> worth. I do run the simpler XP firewall at the same time as the
> Sygate.
>
> I caused a few problems with my firewall, that's why I was drubbing
> around inside it. I had to straighten a few things out.
>

When you run Firefox, it is listed as Firefox in Task Manager.

If the OS uses "rundll" to operate a DLL, then the Task Manager
displays "rundll" instead of the name of the DLL itself. This might
make it harder for an outgoing firewall to determine whether
it needs to be blocked or not.

A "svchost" might be more of what they had in mind. A svchost can
host sixteen items, and some of those items could be network-oriented.

On WinXP Pro, you can use "tasklist /svc" to see the names of the
entries inside a svchost. A tool such as Sysinternals Process Explorer,
when you run it as administrator, can also ferret out the details
of a svchost.

Paul

On Wed, 2 Nov 2022 06:41:23 -0400, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:

>On 11/2/2022 6:19 AM, corky@here.now.com wrote:
>> My Sygate 5.6 firewall is "allowing" Generic Host Process for Win32.
>> Is this the correct setting? I have no idea what the "Process" is,
>> nor do I really care. I just noticed it while resetting a few other
>> simpler settings in Sygate.
>>
>> I checked with GRC.com. All my XP ports are Stealth - for what that's
>> worth. I do run the simpler XP firewall at the same time as the
>> Sygate.
>>
>> I caused a few problems with my firewall, that's why I was drubbing
>> around inside it. I had to straighten a few things out.
>>
>
>When you run Firefox, it is listed as Firefox in Task Manager.
>
>If the OS uses "rundll" to operate a DLL, then the Task Manager
>displays "rundll" instead of the name of the DLL itself. This might
>make it harder for an outgoing firewall to determine whether
>it needs to be blocked or not.
>
>A "svchost" might be more of what they had in mind. A svchost can
>host sixteen items, and some of those items could be network-oriented.
>
>On WinXP Pro, you can use "tasklist /svc" to see the names of the
>entries inside a svchost. A tool such as Sysinternals Process Explorer,
>when you run it as administrator, can also ferret out the details
>of a svchost.
>
> Paul

Well, the thing was marked "Ask", and since I never remember that
process asking for "Allowance" at any time, I blocked it. So far, it
ain't complaining.

Don't even get into that svchost stuff. Sygate's full of those. I
don't even want to look them up to see what they are.

By now, you're probably asking yourself, if he doesn't know nor care
what most of that crapola is, why is he screwing with it? You're
right. I've been asking myself that for the last few hours.

On Wed, 02 Nov 2022 06:40:16 -0600, corky@mulkins.org wrote:

>On Wed, 2 Nov 2022 06:41:23 -0400, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:
>
>>On 11/2/2022 6:19 AM, corky@here.now.com wrote:
>>> My Sygate 5.6 firewall is "allowing" Generic Host Process for Win32.
>>> Is this the correct setting? I have no idea what the "Process" is,
>>> nor do I really care. I just noticed it while resetting a few other
>>> simpler settings in Sygate.
>>>
>>> I checked with GRC.com. All my XP ports are Stealth - for what that's
>>> worth. I do run the simpler XP firewall at the same time as the
>>> Sygate.
>>>
>>> I caused a few problems with my firewall, that's why I was drubbing
>>> around inside it. I had to straighten a few things out.
>>>
>>
>>When you run Firefox, it is listed as Firefox in Task Manager.
>>
>>If the OS uses "rundll" to operate a DLL, then the Task Manager
>>displays "rundll" instead of the name of the DLL itself. This might
>>make it harder for an outgoing firewall to determine whether
>>it needs to be blocked or not.
>>
>>A "svchost" might be more of what they had in mind. A svchost can
>>host sixteen items, and some of those items could be network-oriented.
>>
>>On WinXP Pro, you can use "tasklist /svc" to see the names of the
>>entries inside a svchost. A tool such as Sysinternals Process Explorer,
>>when you run it as administrator, can also ferret out the details
>>of a svchost.
>>
>> Paul
>
>Well, the thing was marked "Ask", and since I never remember that
>process asking for "Allowance" at any time, I blocked it. So far, it
>ain't complaining.
>
>Don't even get into that svchost stuff. Sygate's full of those. I
>don't even want to look them up to see what they are.
>
>By now, you're probably asking yourself, if he doesn't know nor care
>what most of that crapola is, why is he screwing with it? You're
>right. I've been asking myself that for the last few hours.

Well -

The Service Host process (svchost.exe) is a shell for loading services
from DLL files. Services are organized into groups, and each group is
run inside a different instance of the Service Host Process. There are
usually many instances of svchost.exe running because Windows requires
numerous services to operate correctly.

Page explaining it even in more detail:

What Is the Service Host Process (svchost.exe) and Why Are So Many
Running?

https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/what-is-svchostexe-and-why-is-it-running/

Walter Glenn @wjglenn | ? Reviewed By Nick Lewis

Updated Oct 21, 2022, 10:18 am EDT | 4 min read

<corky@here.now.com> wrote

| My Sygate 5.6 firewall is "allowing" Generic Host Process for Win32.
| Is this the correct setting? I have no idea what the "Process" is,
| nor do I really care.

If you don't care then why worry? I don't let it through.
But somethings, like DHCP, require it. So you have to be
able to do without those items. In the case of DHCP it means
using a fixed IP address. Fortunealy, on XP there are only a
handful of services that are actually needed by most people.

On Wed, 02 Nov 2022 07:14:56 -0600, corky@here.now.com wrote:

>On Wed, 02 Nov 2022 06:40:16 -0600, corky@mulkins.org wrote:
>
>>On Wed, 2 Nov 2022 06:41:23 -0400, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:
>>
>>>On 11/2/2022 6:19 AM, corky@here.now.com wrote:
>>>> My Sygate 5.6 firewall is "allowing" Generic Host Process for Win32.
>>>> Is this the correct setting? I have no idea what the "Process" is,
>>>> nor do I really care. I just noticed it while resetting a few other
>>>> simpler settings in Sygate.
>>>>
>>>> I checked with GRC.com. All my XP ports are Stealth - for what that's
>>>> worth. I do run the simpler XP firewall at the same time as the
>>>> Sygate.
>>>>
>>>> I caused a few problems with my firewall, that's why I was drubbing
>>>> around inside it. I had to straighten a few things out.
>>>>
>>>
>>>When you run Firefox, it is listed as Firefox in Task Manager.
>>>
>>>If the OS uses "rundll" to operate a DLL, then the Task Manager
>>>displays "rundll" instead of the name of the DLL itself. This might
>>>make it harder for an outgoing firewall to determine whether
>>>it needs to be blocked or not.
>>>
>>>A "svchost" might be more of what they had in mind. A svchost can
>>>host sixteen items, and some of those items could be network-oriented.
>>>
>>>On WinXP Pro, you can use "tasklist /svc" to see the names of the
>>>entries inside a svchost. A tool such as Sysinternals Process Explorer,
>>>when you run it as administrator, can also ferret out the details
>>>of a svchost.
>>>
>>> Paul
>>
>>Well, the thing was marked "Ask", and since I never remember that
>>process asking for "Allowance" at any time, I blocked it. So far, it
>>ain't complaining.
>>
>>Don't even get into that svchost stuff. Sygate's full of those. I
>>don't even want to look them up to see what they are.
>>
>>By now, you're probably asking yourself, if he doesn't know nor care
>>what most of that crapola is, why is he screwing with it? You're
>>right. I've been asking myself that for the last few hours.
>
>Well -
>
>The Service Host process (svchost.exe) is a shell for loading services
>from DLL files. Services are organized into groups, and each group is
>run inside a different instance of the Service Host Process. There are
>usually many instances of svchost.exe running because Windows requires
>numerous services to operate correctly.
>
>Page explaining it even in more detail:
>
>What Is the Service Host Process (svchost.exe) and Why Are So Many
>Running?
>
>https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/what-is-svchostexe-and-why-is-it-running/
>
>Walter Glenn @wjglenn | ? Reviewed By Nick Lewis
>
>Updated Oct 21, 2022, 10:18 am EDT | 4 min read

SVChost Viewer I found here:
https://www.softpedia.com/get/System/OS-Enhancements/SVChost-Viewer.shtml#download

Developer's Description
By ShoXDK
Svchost Viewer is a program to see what all those svchost.exe are
running. The software program scans all svchost processes that are
currently running on the system and displays them in a tree view. This
tree view can be expanded to show additional information and the
services that are run under each svchost entry.
Windows, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7
Additional Requirements Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0

On Wed, 02 Nov 2022 07:31:46 -0600, corky@here.now.com wrote:

>On Wed, 02 Nov 2022 07:14:56 -0600, corky@here.now.com wrote:
>
>>On Wed, 02 Nov 2022 06:40:16 -0600, corky@mulkins.org wrote:
>>
>>>On Wed, 2 Nov 2022 06:41:23 -0400, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:
>>>
>>>>On 11/2/2022 6:19 AM, corky@here.now.com wrote:
>>>>> My Sygate 5.6 firewall is "allowing" Generic Host Process for Win32.
>>>>> Is this the correct setting? I have no idea what the "Process" is,
>>>>> nor do I really care. I just noticed it while resetting a few other
>>>>> simpler settings in Sygate.
>>>>>
>>>>> I checked with GRC.com. All my XP ports are Stealth - for what that's
>>>>> worth. I do run the simpler XP firewall at the same time as the
>>>>> Sygate.
>>>>>
>>>>> I caused a few problems with my firewall, that's why I was drubbing
>>>>> around inside it. I had to straighten a few things out.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>When you run Firefox, it is listed as Firefox in Task Manager.
>>>>
>>>>If the OS uses "rundll" to operate a DLL, then the Task Manager
>>>>displays "rundll" instead of the name of the DLL itself. This might
>>>>make it harder for an outgoing firewall to determine whether
>>>>it needs to be blocked or not.
>>>>
>>>>A "svchost" might be more of what they had in mind. A svchost can
>>>>host sixteen items, and some of those items could be network-oriented.
>>>>
>>>>On WinXP Pro, you can use "tasklist /svc" to see the names of the
>>>>entries inside a svchost. A tool such as Sysinternals Process Explorer,
>>>>when you run it as administrator, can also ferret out the details
>>>>of a svchost.
>>>>
>>>> Paul
>>>
>>>Well, the thing was marked "Ask", and since I never remember that
>>>process asking for "Allowance" at any time, I blocked it. So far, it
>>>ain't complaining.
>>>
>>>Don't even get into that svchost stuff. Sygate's full of those. I
>>>don't even want to look them up to see what they are.
>>>
>>>By now, you're probably asking yourself, if he doesn't know nor care
>>>what most of that crapola is, why is he screwing with it? You're
>>>right. I've been asking myself that for the last few hours.
>>
>>Well -
>>
>>The Service Host process (svchost.exe) is a shell for loading services
>>from DLL files. Services are organized into groups, and each group is
>>run inside a different instance of the Service Host Process. There are
>>usually many instances of svchost.exe running because Windows requires
>>numerous services to operate correctly.
>>
>>Page explaining it even in more detail:
>>
>>What Is the Service Host Process (svchost.exe) and Why Are So Many
>>Running?
>>
>>https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/what-is-svchostexe-and-why-is-it-running/
>>
>>Walter Glenn @wjglenn | ? Reviewed By Nick Lewis
>>
>>Updated Oct 21, 2022, 10:18 am EDT | 4 min read
>
>SVChost Viewer I found here:
>https://www.softpedia.com/get/System/OS-Enhancements/SVChost-Viewer.shtml#download
>
>
>Developer's Description
>By ShoXDK
>Svchost Viewer is a program to see what all those svchost.exe are
>running. The software program scans all svchost processes that are
>currently running on the system and displays them in a tree view. This
>tree view can be expanded to show additional information and the
>services that are run under each svchost entry.
>Windows, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7
>Additional Requirements Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0

More on the viewer: Svchost Viewer review
Martin Brinkmann
Aug 29, 2008
Updated • Oct 14, 2019

https://www.ghacks.net/2008/08/29/svchost-viewer/