So I had some issues with Windows recently where I had to reinstall it on my local partition (I keep my games on another partition, including Uplay) and after starting Uplay I noticed Far Cry 4 wasn't installed even though all of it's files were present in the game folder. I moved the files out of Uplay and moved them back again, and chose to install Far Cry 4. Thankfully Uplay recognised that apparently most of the files were there (suggesting that Uplay didn't download properly to start with!!), and proceeded to download the rest of the game. I managed to start up the game just fine at this point.
However, the next day I tried to play Far Cry 4 and saw that directx and other essentials were being installed (which I guess makes sense seeing as I haven't done so since reinstalling Windows, though I don't know why they weren't installed when I first started the game). Among these essentials includes "Firewall" and I have no idea what it is or what Uplay is trying to do (is it making firewall exceptions?). I can only assume this must be punkbuster as Assassin's Creed 4 and Far Cry 4 both used it too.
The only problem is, whatever Uplay is trying to do just doesn't happen, it's stuck on "Installing firewall" and won't let me play the game. On top of this, when I close Uplay it actually stays open in task manger details, aswell as Uplay service, and so if I start up Uplay again it's in exactly the same state as I left it. If I force close UplayService.exe and Uplay.exe in task manager details then I can load up Uplay again without it still on the same "Installing firewall" screen. Since then, I have validated Far Cry 4 files and it redownloaded a small number of files, and yet when I start it up it's still giving me this same screen with no end in sight. Ubisoft please help, it's almost as if you don't want people to play your games.
EDIT: I just found that, when the "Installing Firewall" screen is stuck in that state, force closing ONLY UplayService.exe in task manager details actually closes the screen and proceeds to the game. I do NOT want to have to do this every time so please can someone provide a fix that doesn't require me downloading 25GB of information all over again.