Only using the Windows XP Firewall... I only see a choice for HAL7.exe and the braineditor.exe in the exemptions list...
Haven't changed anything, I have games that work and are in the exemptions list along with a couple of other programs and they work fine...
Ok, I have figured it out. It's related to Windows XP, the VB6 Internet Transfer Control, and encrypted connections over https.
A quick history of events:
- Secure connections over http were first introduced back in 1995 as the SSL 2.0 protocol.
- SSL 3.0 was released back in 1996.
- VB6, the language Hal is written in was released in 1998
- TLS, a better replacement for SSL was released in 1999 and has been updated regularly with the last update, TLS 1.2, in 2008
- Security updates to VB6 were ended in 2003
- Security updates to Windows XP were ended in April 2014
- SSL 3.0 was proven by security researchers to be broken September 2014 with the release of the "POODLE" attack
- Microsoft released updates in 2014 to VB6 libraries to make it use the newer TLS instead of the broken SSL 3.0, but only to supported operating systems, meaning Windows Vista and newer. Windows XP was left out
So basically Hal is unable to establish a "secure" encrypted connection to the Zabaware Cloud servers unless you are running Windows Vista or newer. There is not much I can do about it since VB6 is not supported by Microsoft since 2003 and Windows XP since 2014.
Ultra Hal is actually blocking the connection itself because it is deemed insecure. The only thing I have the power to do is allow it anyway. Would you like me to do this? If I do this I would put a big fat warning that Zabaware highly recommends Windows 7 or newer and that I can't offer any guarantee on the security of the data that is transferred between you and Zabaware if you decide to continue with Windows XP.