Wake On LAN with Avast Firewall - NDIS Firewall Filter

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I have an older HP Desktop using an Nvidia Nforce 4 Chipset with Nvidia Onboard Ethernet that I wanted to use as a Server with Wake On Lan capability.

I tried literally everything and studied how WOL works in detail. From Pattern Matching, Magic Packets, to ARP Cache issues, everything.

In order to get this setup working properly with this HP Machine (HP Pavilion Media Center a1540n)
I had to Disable, Uninstall, and Delete the latest Windows Update Driver from Nvidia.
Then I turned off the Automatic or Recommended setting in Windows 7 Device Installation and manually installed the Oldest Microsoft Driver from 2006.

This made Wake On Lan work, but I noticed that after an Extended Sleep period, the Magic Packets were no longer getting to the Ethernet.

So I unchecked IpV6 in Properties and I had to UNCHECK Avast Firewall NDIS Filter Driver from the Network adapter Properties.

This made Wake On Lan start working.

So with the latest Nvidia Ethernet Driver for this HP Machine, Wake On Lan simply did not work whether sending Broadcast or Not. I found out that the Broadcast setting is used with Magic Packets.

With the Older Driver made by Microsoft, Wake On Lan worked fine, but would not work after an extended period in S3 Sleep mode.

Disabling AVAST Firewall NDIS Filter Driver made this problem go away.

Nothing else I did worked. I tried opening UDP Ports 7-11 within both Avast and Windows Firewall, that also did not work.

This has not been a problem with ANY other PC I have and I use Wake On Lan for 10 Desktops and 5 laptops without a problem.

My Wake On Lan applications that Turn the PCs on are on both iOS and Android Devices.

So the Main Culprit so far has been the Avast Firewall NDIS Filter. I am pretty sure that if I re-install Avast after Updating my Ethernet Driver to the latest, it will work but I do not have the time to much about.

Using Powercfg -devicequery command I was able to figure out what devices support Wake from Sleep and the new Driver did show it self as supporting upto S4 Standby mode. However, I only use S3 (Sleep) but so far I have fixed this problem by Downgrading the Driver and also Removing this Filter from Avast.

So this is just an update. In time I will remove Avast Firewall and just use Windows Built in Firewall. I hope this topic has helped people having Wake On Lan issues going into Sleep mode using Windows 7 with older HP Computers.

I used to think that WOL had nothing to do with Windows or any OS when Waking up from Sleep but I was wrong. Ethernet Drivers and ANYTHING ELSE that is added on top such as this Avast Firewall NDIS Filter Driver can cause massive headaches for people. So I hope I have helped some people as Wake On Lan issues are posted all over the internet.

Last but not least, Stay away from HP. Avast is great, but I am hoping there will be a Tool that will completely remove avast as the Avast uninstall utility tends to leave Stuff behind in Device Manager.

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I can now absolutely confirm that HP Pavilion Media Center a1540n PC with NVIDIA North Bridge GeFroce 6150(C51PV) and South Bridge NForce 430 (MCP51) can Wake On LAN if using the Microsoft Drivers dated 2006 and also 2008 (Driver version 1.0.1.211) driver and NOT the Nvidia Drivers. The Network Adapter properties should show NVIDIA nForce 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet.

Wake On Lan works with avast! Firewall NDIS Filter Driver UNCHECKED only. I tested it by putting a check mark on it, and Wake On Lan did not work.

So here is a summary.

NVDIA DriverVer = 07/30/2009, 73.1.4 - Does Not Wake On Lan WITH OR WITHOUT Firewall NDIS Filter Checked or Unchecked.

Drivers provided by Microsoft both from 2006 and 2008 worked ONLY if Firewall NDIS Filter is Unchecked in Network Adapter properties.

This is on Windows 7 32bit with latest Avast Firewall. Can’t put the blame on Avast or Nvidia for this because it is obviously not easy to test every single configuration, however I have found that not mucking about with Network Adapter drivers is probably the best route and this Avast Filter causes problems. Uninstalling Avast using the Utility provided also does not fully remove Avast, as it leaves behind stuff one must manually remove from Device Manager.

I hope this helps anyone who has been having these Wake On Lan problems.

Intel systems do not seem to have this problem at all. So this is a problem with the Avast Firewall NDIS Filter Driver. Even if you open UDP Ports 7 through 11 in Avast Firewall or Windows Firewall, it does nothing.

I am hoping that next time someone googles Wake On Lan issues with Nvidia NForce Chipset, my post will be helpful. If anything new arises, I will be sure to post.