Free Version ZoneAlarm Problems on XP Media PC

[Donald Darden]

I use Windows 2000 Pro, as does most of the family.  My brother-in-law got a media PC from HP, so he uses XP Media.  It quit working on him - that is, it would not complete the boot process, but he couldn't tell me what he might have done or what happened when this problem started.  Long story short, it turns out that the new update for Zone Alarm (free version) was causing the problem.  Trouble is, if I attempt to stay with the previous version of Zone Alarm, I get nag notices about upgrading with every reboot, even when I tell it not to bug me.  I did everything I could think of to get around the problem, but finally had to uninstall Zone Alarm and replace it with another firewall.

The symptom is that you get the black Windows notice screen with the little colored lights moving in a pattern, and it stays like that forever - it will not go forward with the boot process.  You can still perform a safe boot, but you cannot disable ZLS*in the startup using msconfig - it automatically re-enables on you.  You have to remain in the Safe Mode and perform an uninstall of Zone Alarm, and then perform a reboot.  You can do the uninstall through the menu or via Add/Remove Software in the Control Panel under Settings.

[Theo Gottwald]

> You can do the uninstall through the menu or via Add/Remove Software
if it makes trouble, why can't you just remove it?

XP has a Firewall thats ok for normal people usage ... or not?

[Kent Sarikaya]

I had similar strange problems with zone alarm in the past. I use windows firewall time to time to see if anything I don't know about is trying to access the web without me knowing. You can also look in the exceptions area to see what you gave permission too. I don't run it all the time, just time to time as I have a Linksys Router and use the firewall in that.

I just saw this vidcast a few days ago. If you have an older computer available for 24 hour use you can setup an awesome firewall with more functions than you can imagine and control. The software is opensource and free.

Here is the vidcast and product link:
http://dl.tv/episodes/       Episode 203

http://www.smoothwall.org/

[Marco Pontello]

I think that a software personal firewall (with per application control) isn't worth the time it take to install it, much less to deal with the endless little quircks it can cause in normal use. Really.
If one his behind a common NAT/Router combo, it can basically forget about software firewall.
Eventually, a basic firewall with inbound control, like Theo said, is usually enough.

Bye!

[Donald Darden]

In castle design, was it deemed suitable to just create a moat and drawbridge?  Didn't they also build a high stone wall behind, then add towers, and an inner stone wall in case the outer one was breeched?

I want to protect my PC, and layered protection is better than a single defense.
Using frequent backups also helps, by letting me undo mistakes and things that went awry, or the appearance of unwanted intrusions.  Yes, having a router gives you an added defense, but how many people have reset the admin password on their router?  Three to five named brands probably account for 90 percent of the routers in use, and that is a hackable number.   

[Marco Pontello]

I maintain that usually a so called personal firewall create more problems/issues than the ones that it try to solves!

Bye!