Making Visual Studio Express & Comodo HIPS Play Nicely Together

If not configured properly, firewalls (Host Intrusion Prevention Systems, in this case) can make debugging a tedious process. Not only this, but it can also make auditing HIPS rules feels more difficult than performing calculus. Fortunately for Comodo users, there exists an option to allow programs based on groups:

1. First, open Comodo by double clicking its icon (a red box with a thin white 'C')
2. Navigate to HIPS rules by clicking 'tasks' in the upper right hand corner, then select 'Sandbox Rules' then 'Open Advanced Settings'. Expand the HIPS section to find its rules.
3. Create new rule by right clicking then select browse. Here, select 'file groups' and any option within. We'll be creating our own logic next, so category is irrelevant.
4. Expand your created group and double click. Answer yes to the prompt. Right click on the groups screen and choose to add a new group. Highlight your newly created group and add the following:


These rules add exclusions in Comodo's HIPS engine for the console -- for console programs, along with your project folder. Of course, if you've changed your directory you'll need to update accordingly.
 
5. Finally, repeat step 3 but choose your custom group. You'll also want to delete the policy we defined in step 3. Unfortunately, group policies become in-editable after creation.

Upon completion,  all debugging attempts will execute -- without any further interaction.