Zone alarm security update

[Cat Dancer]

I downloaded an update for this last night and went through the steps to install it. I did an "upgrade" and not a "clean install" and now I can't get it to even come up on my computer. It's turned off and when I click on the "zone alarm security" on my programs list it won't even come on so that I can turn it back on.

Has anyone installed this successfully? I'm sure I've done something weird to it.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

I've just downloaded the upgrade myself last night but have not yet installed it.

A couple of things come to mind:

1. I believe you need to reboot after installing ZoneAlarm - did you do this?

2. You could try to reinstall ZoneAlarm, and if it still doesnt work, repeat selecting the clean install option.

3. Did you download the update directly from their website or via the pop-up box from your previous version of ZoneAlarm?

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Doing some research at the ZoneAlarm Support Forums (I have no idea what software they are using for their forums but it is SLOOWWW and annoying), I find that others are having problems with this new version.

One suggestion is:

If you don't want to use the New Bloated ZA7FREE version, I also suggested using the More Compatible ZAPro 7 15 day trial that revert to the FREE ZA7 without the Problems of ZASS..

That worries me a bit but maybe downloading the 15 day Pro Trial as suggested would be a solution?

I'll continue researching this...

 

[David Baxter PhD]

More:

The ZA ver. 6 was about 18 megs in size..
The ZA ver. 7 is about 38 Megs in size..

That is because the New ZA FREE 7.0 is really the 15 day Trail of the FULL Blown ZA Security Suite, that installs the Full Security suite
and turn into the FREE Version if you do not Pay for a Register licsense,
and Drivers for the ZASS remain in the registry to conflict with any other Anti-Virus..

your best bet if you want the Version 7 FREE ZA Firewall is to Install the ZAPro v7 15 day trial, that reverts to the ZA FREE, but has none of the ZASS files to conflict with a third party Anti-virus..

 

[Cat Dancer]

I downloaded from the pop up thing which led me to their website and I picked out the "free" version to download. I have had to completely take it off my computer as of now because I couldn't connect to the internet and that was the only thing that was different and when I "un-added" it, then I could connect again. It seemed to have messed some stuff up on my computer, but after deleting the whole thing, it seems fine now. I don't know what I did wrong.

I'm going to try to redownload it again tonight. It's so big I have to just leave it on while I'm sleeping. Sigh.

I did restart after I installed it.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Did you keep the old version? Could you reinstall that?

 

[Cat Dancer]

No, I deleted all of it because my computer wouldn't connect to the internet at all. And now it will after I deleted it. Of course it could have been something completely different. Sigh.

I'm not sure what to do. If I download it now it will be the updated version, won't it? Hopefully they'll straighten out whatever the problems are.

 

[Retired]

I've been using ZA on one of my system at home for several years, though the laptop system uses another firewall and security system.

There have been a few recent incidents of ZA behaving badly.

Would this be a good time to reconsider using ZoneAlarm?

 

[David Baxter PhD]

No, I deleted all of it because my computer wouldn't connect to the internet at all. And now it will after I deleted it. Of course it could have been something completely different. Sigh.

I'm not sure what to do. If I download it now it will be the updated version, won't it? Hopefully they'll straighten out whatever the problems are.

See www.oldversion.com to download the previous version of ZoneAlarm.

I've been using ZA on one of my system at home for several years, though the laptop system uses another firewall and security system.

There have been a few recent incidents of ZA behaving badly.

Would this be a good time to reconsider using ZoneAlarm?

Possibly. They may yet sort it out. Other firewalls have had similar problems, and some versions of ZoneAlarm (notably version 3.0 if memory serves) needed some debugging and upgrading to undo similar problems.

But I do think it may be time to research alternatives and weigh the pros and cons.

 

[Cat Dancer]

I am in the process of uploading the previous version to my server. That will take a little while but when finished you can download the previous version from http://www.psychlinks.ca/dl/ZoneAlarmSetup_65_737_000_en.exe.

Ok. I'll try to redownload it when it gets finished. I know it takes a long time to do this stuff on dialup. The download last night was 38.8 mb and it took several hours. :hide:

 

[David Baxter PhD]

That seems to be one of the problems - it's no longer just the firewall, so it's shot up from about 12-13 MB to 38 MB... with features you probably do not want. That's one of the reasons I went to ZA in the first place, to get away from the bloated security suites that Norton and McAfee had turned into.

 

[sister-ray]

I no longer use Zone alarm , XP has it own firewall which seems to work fine for me, just a suggestion Janet if you have XP.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

The built-in Windows XP firewall is better than nothing but it's very limited.

You can download the previous version of ZoneAlarm here at oldversion.com.

OldVersion.com is a great resource for finding older versions of other "new and improved" programs and utilities that no longer work well for you. Their motto is "just because it's new doesn't mean it's better".

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Two other firewalls that seem to be well-reviewed are Kerio personal Firewall and Comodo Firewall.

 

[Retired]

Isn't the main difference between ZA and Windows Firewall that ZA advises the user of outgoing traffic?

The significance of outgoing alerts is that you would be warned of spyware that might be installed on your system trying to call home.

Not that this feature should be under rated, some people feel outgoing traffic notification is unnecessary.

For those, based on reports I have read, Windows Firewall makes your computer invisible to the internet.

The effectiveness of your firewall can be tested online by Shields Up

My laptop system came with McAfee Security Center, which has behaved for the year since I began using it without any unexpected behaviour. McAfee Security Center includes a firewall that alerts you of outgoing traffic.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

I've never tested Windows XP firewall alone using Shields Up, have you Steve? I'd be interested in seeing just how well it does perform, even for incoming connections.

 

[Retired]

The last time I tested Windows Firewall using Shields Up, it passed all the criteria.

That was done over a year ago when I was setting up a new system and was trying to decide what firewall to use.

I eventually opted to use ZA on that system because of the outgoing alerts, but based on the reports in this thread, when I return home I'll be rethinking my use of ZA :roll: and switch to Windows Firewall :crossfingers:

 

[David Baxter PhD]

I may do a bit more research myself. I think I'm going to have a look at Comodo, too.

 

[sister-ray]

I use to like Zone alarm because of the alerts!! What does shields up do? When I pressed the link just got a blank page. and the lock came up for secure site but that was all.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Shields Up attempts to scan your computer for any open ports. If it finds any, it means your firewall isn't secure.