Octopus Overlords

I used the free download version of ZoneAlarm for quite a while, and just got the ZoneAlarm Pro for Christmas. What is the best configuration for this thing. The free version was easier to get started on IMHO. For instance, it wouldn't recognize my internet connection today, even though I've put my internet in the trusted zone. It kept trying to tell me it had found a new iternet connection which was not my IP address, I have no idea who's it was. When I turned off the do not start at startup, my internet came right up. It won't let me download with my WinZip, everything just hangs, even though WinZip is in my trusted zone. I'm getting very frusterated with this, though I loved the free version, and like the concept of this one, it's just so hard to get it to recongnize programs I've used all along. It also doesn't recognize an important dll for my printer, and though I've tried many timed to add it to the user programs, it won't add it. So my printer will keep whatever I want printed in quey,(sp?), but won't print them until I restart my computer, which is just plain wierd. Any ZoneAlarm 5 Pro users suggestions on settings would be greatly appreciated.

Your internet connection IP is not the IP of your computer. If ZA is detecting a new internet connection, and your old one isn't connecting, you should allow it. If you're not sure, then just allow it once and see if that clears things up. If that works, then the next time, tell it to remember your choice.

What level do you have your program control on?

My program control is set at medium. Funny that today when I started the computer, everything started as normal, internet, ect. However, it still won't let me put the dll that it keeps telling me is missing from my printer, though it's right there in my Sys folder, and no matter how many times I try to add it to the list of accepted programs, it won't do it. Guess I'll have to uninstall and re-install my printer hardware. I did a google on the dll that's missing, and it appears that I'm not the only one with this problem running ZoneAlarm. Should I just set it back to the default settings and stop worrying about it so much?

My opinion only: The best ZoneAlarm setting is NO ZONEALARM installed on your pc. Before I had a Linksys router I used ZoneAlarm. It slowed my connection speed and web pages were always slow to load.

Buy a Linksys 4 port router and set it up correctly and it will serve you well.

Jshaw, that works great if you have broadband. It's useless if you have Dial-up.

I used ZoneAlarm Pro for a while and had much the same experience. I eventually gave up on it and switched to Kerio, which I love. My router acts as a firewall as well; I use Kerio for the program launch notification and the outbound warnings. I never see inbounds because they all bounce off the router.

Fretmute wrote:I used ZoneAlarm Pro for a while and had much the same experience. I eventually gave up on it and switched to Kerio, which I love. My router acts as a firewall as well; I use Kerio for the program launch notification and the outbound warnings. I never see inbounds because they all bounce off the router.

I have DSL and a router (Netgear), but I still use ZoneAlarm to catch any outbound traffic as well, just in case some kind of trojan/spyware/etc gets past my other defenses.

I ditched Zonealarm long ago due to having way too many problems with connections, printing, slow net performance, etc. In fact, I think I had the exact same printing problem you are describing, snoleopard (it would go into the queue but would not print until I restarted). I switched to Sygate and all my issues went away. I have been very satisfied with Sygate ever since.

I have Cable connection, but I think I'll try getting a router. I talked to my internet provider, and they said sure, a router would work fine with their internet equipment. Freezer, I read about Sygate at a tech website. Seems a lot of computer techs like it also. I do like ZoneAlarm, it's just been causing me to many problems. I uninstalled my printer software, re-installed per instructions, and still have the same problem. I like being protected, as some here in this forum know about the problems I was having with getting bombarded by viruses/trojans/keyloggers a short time ago, so I need something to keep whoever he/she/they are that found an open port on my computer and decided to have a field day with it. So until I find something better, I need to keep ZoneAlarm running, along with SpySweeper, AdAware, Spybot, and my anti-virus. I'm starting to sound paranoid, aren't I?...

snoleopard wrote:I have Cable connection, but I think I'll try getting a router. I talked to my internet provider, and they said sure, a router would work fine with their internet equipment.

If there is a Cat 5 (or Cat 6) cable going from your cable modem to a network card on your machine, you can almost certainly stick a router in there.