Internet Security Software Adding Exceptions for RailMaster and TrackMaster

(Revision November 2014)

Copyright 2013-2014 by Invicto Systems Limited. All rights reserved.

Preface

It is a sad fact today that there are many criminal gangs, unscrupulous organisations and individuals who take pleasure in destroying data on other peoples’ computers, stealing data and holding users to ransom through data extortion. More and more sophisticated methods are being used by criminals around the world to achieve these goals and anybody who connects to the Internet, opens emails or reads USB memory sticks can introduce a virus or malware onto their computers. Genuine websites can be hacked by criminals so that any visitor will automatically and silently download their malicious programs.

To counter these threats, software companies are producing ever more sophisticated and aggressive Internet security package s which encompass antivirus and firewall protection.

Antivirus (also known as anti-malware) software protects your computer from downloading malicious programs in the first place and if downloaded should be able to remove them from your system, however, antivirus software is only ever 95% effective even immediately after updating their virus definitions. The simple reason is that the creators of antivirus software must work on a ‘cure’ for new viruses all the time and there are millions of them.

Firewall software is designed to prevent active communications intrusion to your computer by criminals in a remote location. It also stops programs running on your computer from communicating with the outside world.

There are two principal side-effects of using Internet security software. A) at some point you will get a false positive, where the antivirus program believes it has found a virus or malware signature within a file, when in reality the file is safe. B) some firewall software blocks programs without notification so you can spend a great deal of time finding out why your program does not work properly, only to discover that you need to add it as an exception to your firewall. This can happen with RailMaster or TrackMaster.

On occasion, RailMaster and Hornby TrackMaster can be blocked by some Internet security software without warning and then it can be difficult to add the

program as an exception. This guide aims to show you how to add both RailMaster and TrackMaster as full exceptions to the Firewall element of the most popular Internet security software.

A Note About Routers On very rare occasions a router can block RailMaster or TrackMaster’s activation process. Generally, all routers allow these programs to access our secure activation servers, however around 1 in 5,000 times it is the router that blocks the activation process rather than the installed Inte rnet security software on the computer. In these circumstances the router must have been specifically told to block additional Internet protocols and in this case you will need to reset your router to its default settings or unblock all protocols that were blocked.

All routers, when they come from the factory, do not block the secure protocols used by RailMaster and TrackMaster to perform activations, deactivations, automatic updates and allow Help Requests.

It is important that you read ensure the following:-

1. You have correctly added RailMaster/TrackMaster as a full exception to the Windows firewall if it is running

2. You have correctly added RailMaster/TrackMaster as a full exception your antivirus software (and its built-in firewall)

3. You have set RailMaster/TrackMaster to run with administrator rights

4. You have set the read-only status and permissions of your RailMaster/TrackMaster program folder.

CONTENTS

Adding exceptions to the Windows Firewall 7

McAfee Internet Security 11

Norton Internet Security 15

Avast! Free Antivirus 19 AVG Internet Security 25 Avira Internet Security Suite 31 Kaspersky Internet Security 35 HandHeld app and RailMaster 39 Read-Only status of RailMaster Folder 40

Setting permissions on the RailMaster Folder 41

Windows Firewall: Adding Exceptions

When you install most third-party Internet security software they will turn off Windows’ own Firewall. Rarely, the Windows Firewal l may be left on so that two firewalls are running on your computer. It is unwise to have two Firewall programs running at the same time on the same computer, so one of them should be turned off. The third party Internet security software creators suggest that the Windows Firewall is turned off in favour of their own installed offerings.

If your Windows Firewall is active, possibly because you are also using the default Windows Defender antivirus program, then when you run RailMaster or TrackMaster you will be invited to allow or block the program in the Firewall. You should always allow the software through your Firewall on both private and public networks. You can check the Windows firewall at any time.

Adding an exception, i.e. a program which is not to be blocked, to the Windows Firewall, is relatively straightforward. The first thing you need to do is to get to the Windows Control panel. This is done in different ways depending on which version of Windows you have.

Once in the control panel you will see an entry called Windows Firewall. Double click this and you will see the Firewall screen:-

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If the Windows Firewall is indeed running you will see two green shields. If not then the shields will be red. This is usually an indication that another Firewall package is running on your computer. On some earlier versions of Windows the firewall screen will have a tabbed interface and you will need to click on “Exceptions”, otherwise click on “Allow an app or feature through Windows Firewall”. You will then see a window similar to the following:-

Click on “Edit settings” and you will be able to add a program to the Firewall using the “Allow another app..” button. You should first scroll down the list to

see whether RailMaster or TrackMaster are already listed as you may only need to ensure that both the “Private” and “Public” boxes are both checked.

If RailMaster or TrackMaster is not listed you can add it by clicking on the “Allow another app..” button. The name of this button may be different on some earlier versions of Windows. A list of installed programs will then appear similar to that shown.

Simply scroll down the list to locate either RailMaster or TrackMaster and add them by clicking the “Add” button. This will now revise the earlier list to include the program(s) you added. You should ensure that both the “Public” and “Private” boxes have been checked.

If you follow these instructions carefully the Windows Firewall will allow the program you have added through, which will mean you can activate and deactivate (RailMaster only), order upgrades, use the Help Request system (RailMaster only) and benefit from automatic program updates.

You will need to repeat the process above for each program you wish to add to the Windows Firewall.

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McAfee Internet Security

McAfee’s Internet security software is one of the most popular in the world and also among the most aggressive at blocking programs.

The McAfee Internet security software tends to block programs without notifying the computer user. Then, it is not very intuitive to add a program exception to McAfee’s Firewall, so this guide should hopefully make things clearer.

Start by locating the McAfee icon in the system tray of your computer (bottom right-hand corner of the Windows main screen). You may need to press a small left or up-pointing chevron or arrow to show a pop-up menu containing additional system tray icons.

Click (or double –click depending on which version of Windows you have) to open a window

on which you will see the following area called “Web and Email Protection”.

Within this panel is a link “View firewall and anti-spam settings”. You should click on this link to see a window with an entry entitled “Firewall: On”, similar to the following:-

Click on “Firewall” to see a window showing the current Firewall status, On or Off and also additional options to configure the McAfee Firewall.

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You will need to click on the entry “Internet Connections for Programs” and you will see another windows with an area similar to the following, listing all programs currently listed in the McAfee Firewall.

Click on Add to add a program to the Firewall and you will be able to browse to the folder containing the program you wish to add. In this case we want to add RailMaster to the McAfee Firewall so we navigate to the C:\Program Files (x86)\RailMaster folder. On Windows 32-bit systems the folder is C:\Program Files\RailMaster.

You then need to highlight the program “RailMaster.exe” (the extension “exe” may not be shown on some versions of Windows) and click “Open”

Once you have added the chosen program to the McAfee Firewall you will see a window which allows you to tell the McAfee Firewall how to deal with the program.

Ensure you select “Full” from the “Access” pull-down list and also set “Net Guard” to Off and click “Save”. You will then see the entry on the previous list.

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In the above example we have added both RailMaster and TrackMaster.

When browsing to the program you wish to add, if it is TrackMaster then you will need to navigate to the C:\Program Files (x96)\TrackMaster folder and add the program “Trakplan.exe”.

The folder is C:\Program Files\TrackMaster on 32-bit Windows systems.

Special note to McAfee users: We have found McAfee to be by far the most aggressive and also troublesome antivirus product on the market. On rare occasions, even when you have followed the above procedure s, McAfee will still block RailMaster or TrackMaster. In the event that you still cannot send a Help Request or order the Pro-Pack upgrade or activate the program and you have also set the permissions and read-only status on the program folder (see later in this guide) then you should uninstall McAfee completely, then do what you need to do on RailMaster or TrackMaster and then you can reinstall McAfee if you want to. Remember that Windows has its own firewall which will be turned back on and its own antivirus software (on most versions).

Norton Internet Security

Norton is another popular Internet Security package, which also has the tendency to block programs without letting you know and then, like McAfee, not making it very easy to add exceptions to the Firewall.

Start by locating the Norton icon in the system tray of your computer (bottom right-hand corner of the Windows main screen). You may need to press a small left or up-pointing chevron or arrow to show a pop-up menu containing additional system tray icons.

Click (or double –click depending on which version of Windows you have) to open a window similar to the following:-

From this window click on “Settings” at the top and you will be taken into the Norton Settings window.

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From this window click on the link “Configure [+]” to the right of “Program Rules” on the right of the window. This will take you into a list of all programs currently being dealt with by the Norton Firewall.

You can add RailMaster or TrackMaster by clicking on the “Add” button, which will invite you to browser to the program you want to add.

In this case we want to add RailMaster to the Norton Firewall so we navigate to the C:\Program Files (x86)\RailMaster folder. On Windows 32-bit systems the folder is C:\Program Files\RailMaster.

You then need to highlight the program “RailMaster.exe” (the extension “exe” may not be shown on some versions of Windows) and click “Open”.

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This will show you a window where you can tell Norton’s Firewall how to deal with the program. You should ensure “Allow always” is selected then click “OK”. This will now list RailMaster or TrackMaster in the Firewall entries.

When browsing to the program you wish to add, if it is Hornby TrackMaster then you will need to navigate to the C:\Program Files (x96)\TrackMaster folder and add the program “Trakplan.exe”.

The folder is C:\Program Files\TrackMaster on 32-bit Windows systems.

Avast! Free Antivirus

Avast! is a popular free antivirus program, with the option to upgrade to a more powerful fee-paid version.

Start by locating the Avast! icon in the system tray of your computer (bottom right-hand corner of the Windows main screen). You may need to press a small left or up-pointing chevron or arrow to show a pop-up menu containing additional system tray icons.

Click (or double –click depending on which version of Windows you have) to open a window similar to the following:-

Within this window you need to click on “Tools” on the left hand side and you will be shown a sub-menu which slides out to the right. From within that sub-menu click on “Firewall” and you will be taken to the Firewall window.

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Avast! works slightly differently to other Firewall packages in that, rather than simply adding a program to allow through the Firewall, you need to set up a group first. To do this click on the link “Application Rules” at the bottom of the window. This will take you to the window where you can add groups.

Click on the button “New Group” and type a name into the new box which appears, for example “Trains”.

When you have entered the new group name click on the Button “New Application Rule” and a small pop-up menu will appear listing all groups.

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Click on the name of the new group you just entered and you will be invited to browse to the location where RailMaster or TrackMaster is.

In this case we want to add RailMaster to the Firewall so we navigate to the C:\Program Files (x86)\RailMaster folder. On Windows 32-bit systems the folder is C:\Program Files\RailMaster.

You then need to highlight the program “RailMaster.exe” (the extension “exe” may not be shown on some versions of Windows) and click “Open” and the program will be added to the Firewall with the default setting “Internet out (otherwise auto-decide).

You should use your mouse pointer to click on the last orange bar, which will set the option to “All connections”, allowing RailMaster or TrackMaster

full access through the Avast! Firewall.

You can then click on the Close button to save the settings.

When browsing to the program you wish to add, if it is TrackMaster then you will need to navigate to the C:\Program Files (x96)\TrackMaster folder and add the program “Trakplan.exe”.

The folder is C:\Program Files\TrackMaster on 32-bit Windows systems.

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AVG Internet Security

AVG is another popular free program with the ability to upgrade to a more powerful paid-for version.

Start by locating the AVG icon in the system tray of your computer (bottom right-hand corner of the Windows main screen). You may need to press a small left or up-pointing chevron or arrow to show a pop-up menu containing additional system tray icons.

Click (or double –click depending on which version of Windows you have) to open a window similar to the following:-

From this window it is a simple case of clicking on the “Firewall” option to be taken into Firewall options.

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Within the Firewall options window, click on the “Settings” button at the bottom and you will be taken into the Firewall settings window from where you can add applications to allow through the Firewall.

Click on “Applications” on the left hand side and you will see a list of all programs currently being controlled by the AVG Firewall.

Press on the “Add” button to add RailMaster or TrackMaster as an exception. You will be presented with a small pop-up window asking you for details of the program you want to add to AVG’s Firewall. The simplest way to do this is the click on the button with “...”

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In this case we want to add RailMaster to the AVG Firewall so we navigate to the C:\Program Files (x86)\RailMaster folder. On Windows 32-bit systems the folder is C:\Program Files\RailMaster.

You then need to highlight the program “RailMaster.exe” (the extension “exe” may not be shown on some versions of Windows) and click “Open” and the program will be entered into the previous window.

If you click on the Create button you will then see a window similar to the one on the left, where you can ensure that the Application Action is set to “Allow”. When finished press the “OK” button and the program will now be listed

in the Firewall programs list.

In the above example we have added both RailMaster and TrackMaster to the Firewall.

When browsing to the program you wish to add, if it is TrackMaster then you will need to navigate to the C:\Program Files (x96)\TrackMaster folder and add the program “Trakplan.exe”.

The folder is C:\Program Files\TrackMaster on 32-bit Windows systems.

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Avira Internet Security

Start by locating the Avira icon in the system tray of your computer (bottom right-hand corner of the Windows main screen). You may need to press a small left or up-pointing chevron or arrow to show a pop-up menu containing additional system tray icons.

Click (or double –click depending on which version of Windows you have) to open a window similar to the following:-

From the above opening Avira Screen click on “Firewall” on the left panel and a window similar to the following will appear:-

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If you then click on “Application Rules” you will see a list of programs currently being controlled by the Avira Firewall. Click on “Add application” to add either RailMaster or TrackMaster to the list of allowed applicati ons.

You will see a list of available applications and you will need to click “Add” again to add the desired program.

In this case we want to add RailMaster to the Firewall so we navigate to the C:\Program Files (x86)\RailMaster folder. On Windows 32-bit systems the folder is C:\Program Files\RailMaster.

You then need to highlight the program “RailMaster.exe” (the extension “exe” may not be shown on some versions of Windows) and click “Open” and the program will be added to the Firewall. The screen shows both RailMaster and TrackMaster added to the Avira Firewall.

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Click OK to finish.

When browsing to the program you wish to add, if it is TrackMaster then you will need to navigate to the C:\Program Files (x96)\TrackMaster folder and add the program “Trakplan.exe”.

The folder is C:\Program Files\TrackMaster on 32-bit Windows systems.

Kaspersky Internet Security

Start by locating the Kaspersky icon in the system tray of your computer (bottom right-hand corner of the Windows main screen). You may need to press a small left or up-pointing chevron or arrow to show a pop-up menu containing additional system tray icons.

Click (or double –click depending on which version of Windows you have) to open a

window similar to the following:-

An important note regarding Kaspersky is that before adding either RailMaster or TrackMaster as a Firewall exception you must first run the program for it to appear in the list of programs to be added. When you have done this click on “Settings” at the bottom of the window.

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On the above window you then need to click on “Protection Center” on the left hand panel.

Scroll down the list of options until you can see the Firewall entry and click on that.

In the Firewall Settings window click on “Configure application rules” and you will see a list of programs currently being controlled by the Kaspersky Firewall.

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Scroll down until you see RailMaster or TrackMaster and then right click on the program name. A pop-up menu will appear on which you select “Restrictions”. Another pop-up menu will then appear. You need to select “Trusted”.

You can repeat this process for both RailMaster and TrackMaster, if you have both programs installed.

The summary will show the program(s) you added. You can now close the Kaspersky window.

HandHeld App and RailMaster

When using the RailMaster HandHeld app on an Apple, Android, Windows CE/Mobile or Palm device there are a few things to note regarding antivirus and Firewall software.

Some Firewall software, as well as block ing programs, also block communications ports.

When setting up your wireless network for the RailMaster HandHeld app, it is advisable to set a static IP address on both your RailMaster PC and your hand-held device. In fact, it is good practice to set static IP addresses on all devices on your network. This makes troubleshooting much easier and in some cases can speed up connections and communications. See the separate RailMaster HandHeld app guide installed with RailMaster.

If you experience communications problems between your PC and hand-held device then your Internet Security software could be the cause, blocking the IP address of your device . For example, if your hand-held device has a static IP address of 192.168.0.34 you should add this address to your Firewall software. Not all Firewall software manages IP addresses as well as programs.

Also, you may need to specify the port too, for example 30. In its default mode, the RailMaster HandHeld app will use ports 30 to 37 on the IP address and so will your PC. You may need to experiment a little until you have your network set up and Firewalled correctly.

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Read-Only Status of RailMaster Folder

In some cases the RailMaster program folder can have a read-only status and this can prevent activation, deactivation and order submission.

You can check this simply by opening Windows Explorer (My Computer) and navigating to the C:\Program Files (x86)\RailMaster folder. On 32-bit Windows systems the folder is C:\Program Files\RailMaster. This assumes you installed RailMaster into its default folder. You should always install into the default RailMaster folder.

Right click on the RailMaster folder and select Properties. There may be a security tab to click also, depending on your version of Windows. If the “Read-only” checkbox is ticked you must un-tick this and save the settings by clicking OK. You may be asked if you want this to affect all files and subfolders. Answer Yes.

Read-Only Status of RailMaster Folder

In some cases the permissions on the RailMaster folder can prevent Help Requests from being sent, activations and Pro-Pack order submissions. If you are 100% sure that you have checked the Windows firewall and your antivirus software as per earlier in this guide then you should also set the permissions on your RailMaster program folder. This should not apply to Windows XP users.

You can check this simply by opening Windows Explorer (My Computer) and navigating to the C:\Program Files (x86)\RailMaster folder. On 32-bit Windows systems the folder is C:\Program Files\RailMaster. This assumes you installed RailMaster into its default folder. You should always install into the default RailMaster folder.

Right click on the RailMaster Program folder and choose the option “Security”. On the pop-up window that appears click on the Security or Permissions tab and you will see a window showing the list of users and permissions.

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You should click on the Edit button then highlight every group or user liste d on the next pop-up window (see example on previous page), one at a time, and check the box “Full control”. This will automatically insert a tick into all of the boxes below.

When you have finished you can click the OK button.

Special note to McAfee users: We have found McAfee to be by far the most aggressive and also troublesome antivirus product on the market. On rare occasions, even when you have followed the above procedures, McAfee will still block RailMaster or TrackMaster. In the event that you still cannot send a Help Request or order the Pro-Pack upgrade or activate the program and you have also set the permissions and read-only status on the program folder then you should uninstall McAfee completely, then do what you need to do on RailMaster or TrackMaster and then you can reinstall McAfee if you want to. Remember that Windows has its own firewall which will be turned back on and its own antivirus software (on most versions).