Having problems with ZoneAlarm Pro since upgrading to Windows XP
John Becker
months with no problems. The Windows XP upgrade advisor didn't suggest
there should be any problem with ZAP. But since upgrading to Windows XP,
I have had a number of ZAP problems.
First off, after the upgrade ZAP wouldn't start automatically. I solved
that by doing a complete uninstall, using the lengthy manual procedure
at http://www.zonelabs.com/services/support_install_XP.htm followed by a
reinstall of the program.
Within a day or two, I suddenly had Internet access problems. (I have
high-speed 24/7 access via cable modem). ZAP was blocking communication
with my DNS servers. Shutting down and restarting ZAP would fix this for
a few hours, but not permanently.
I found a "solution" to use for the time being, but I don't want it for
a permanent fix. I added the DNS servers as "Other Computers" in my
"Local Zone". I didn't have to do this with Win98, and I don't see why
it should be necessary now. And even this isn't 100% reliable. A couple
of days ago DNS was blocked again, and when I looked at my ZAP settings
the DNS servers were no longer shown as part of my local zone. I have no
idea why they disappeared, but I suspect it happened after a reboot when
I had installed some other unrelated programs.
Since the Windows XP upgrade, ZAP shows a couple of programs
communicating with the Internet that I hadn't noticed before. But
instead of being identified by name and path, they are only identified
by process number. Right now I have a "process 716" which is listening
to ports TCP: 5000 and UDP: 1900, and a "process 704" with no details
listed. I have also seen a "process 696" instead of 704. These seem to
change after a reboot. I don't know how to determine what these programs
are or what they are doing. Their icons are shown in the "programs"
window, but they aren't listed in "program settings".
Obviously it is necessary to allow the OS to access the DNS and DHCP
servers, but I don't know the correct way to configure ZAP to do it. I
don't know what component of the OS performs these functions.
At one point I tried to start from scratch by deleting the Internet Log
files. When I did this, ZAP had no applications at all listed under
"Program Settings". But when I started various applications such as web
browser, mail, and news, ZAP wasn't asking me for access permission for
the programs, and (obviously) none of them worked! Fortunately, I had
saved the log files in an archive and was able to get back to where I am
now by restoring them.
This is really frustrating, because I know ZAP is a good program and
v2.6.362 is supposed to be fully compatible with Windows XP. And other
than this situation, I am generally very happy with Windows XP. It's
going on 2 weeks and I have had no blue screens of death, lockups, or
crashes!
Suggestions, anyone?
Thanks!
John
Wolfgang Kueter
> This is really frustrating, because I know ZAP is a good program
How do you know? Did you look at the source code?
> Suggestions, anyone?
Uninstall the whole crap including XP and switch to a more secure
operating system.
Read:
http://www.fefe.de/pffaq/
Wolfgang
--
A foreign body and a foreign mind,
never welcome in the land of the blind.
Peter Gabriel, Not one of us, 1980
John Becker
Thank you so very much for your helpful advice.
John
Ian Pollard
wrote:
>I had been using ZoneAlarm Pro v2.6.362 under Windows 98 SE for several
>months with no problems. The Windows XP upgrade advisor didn't suggest
>there should be any problem with ZAP. But since upgrading to Windows XP,
>I have had a number of ZAP problems.
>
<SNIP>
Zonalarm is a problem with "some" machines. That is the comment from
Zonalarm support. Read the article following. It is an answer received
from Zonalarm regarding XP.
QUOTE
When your computer uses standby mode, sleep mode, or in some cases
screensaver activation, it can be basically powered off, and may lose
all connections to the Internet. Since ZoneAlarm allows a connection
to be set up to the Internet, going into sleep-type mode will end that
connection. This can cause problems with browser and email
connectivity on some machines.
To get the firewall out of this state, turn it off and then back on
(set Security levels to low and then set them back to defaults).
There may also be a problem with your TrueVector service. ZoneAlarm is
dependent on its TrueVector service to function properly. You may need
to refresh the files associated with this service, especially after a
networking change, OS change, or ZoneAlarm update. This also resets
the database for lost or forgotten passwords.
If the panel is displaying TrueVector driver as loaded and ZoneAlarm
is still not functioning properly, it is possible that some files have
become corrupt. To repair this problem, please follow these steps.
Please note that this will remove your program permission settings (so
you may want to make note of them), but re-establishing them is a
simple process; you will be prompted again for program access for all
the applications that you use to access the local network or Internet.
If any of the steps below does not apply to you, or you are unable to
perform the function listed, please continue to the next step.
1. Open the ZoneAlarm program, go to Configure panel, and make sure
the Load At Startup box is UNchecked.
2. Right-click on your taskbar, select Toolbars, and make sure that
the ZoneAlarm/ZoneAlarm Pro deskband is UNchecked as well (if it is
checked, click on it to uncheck it).
If you cannot highlight the Desk Band by right-clicking on the
toolbar, then highlighting Toolbars, try this: Click on the Configure
button from the ZoneAlarm/ZoneAlarm Pro panel, then look for the "Show
Shell Toolbar" checkbox -- make sure that this box is UNchecked.
3. Reboot. You should now have no ZoneAlarm processes running on your
system.
4. Open the Internet Logs directory (in 95/98/ME this will be
"c:\windows\internet logs", in NT and 2000 it will be
c:\winnt\internet logs, in Windows XP it could be either of these
folders), where you will find a file called "iamdb.rdb" and a file
named after your computer with the ".ldb" extension. Delete both of
these files.
5. Reboot your system.
6. You will need to start ZoneAlarm manually. (Click Start, Programs,
Zone Labs, ZoneAlarm). ZoneAlarm will start up again with a fresh
database. Each program should ask for access again if the files were
properly deleted.
7. Be sure to REcheck anything you unchecked earlier.
NOTE: If you received an error message upon deleting the files, the
original programs remain in the Programs list, or if the problem
persists after this, removing the files in Safe Mode will allow you to
delete the files properly. If you need further help with this, please
reply to this email keeping all text intact as we do not archive
previous emails. UNQUOTE
Ian
--
Ian Pollard//Wooler//Northumberland//UK
pol...@bigfoot.com
Mike_B...@webbbs.org
John Becker <john...@attbi.com> writes:
> This is really frustrating, because I know ZAP is a good program and
> v2.6.362 is supposed to be fully compatible with Windows XP. And other
> than this situation, I am generally very happy with Windows XP. It's
> going on 2 weeks and I have had no blue screens of death, lockups, or
> crashes!
>
> Suggestions, anyone?
I used ZAP for a long time, and was happy with it, but when I went to XP, I
found that it simply was not compatible with XP. I experenced all the items
you mentioned but I would also get "blue screens of death" every now and
then.
The only solution I found was to switch firewalls. I tried a bunch of them
and the only one I found that had *NO* problems at all and ran like a top
was TPF.
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Osama-Bin KENOBI
>I had been using ZoneAlarm Pro v2.6.362 under Windows 98 SE for several
>months with no problems. The Windows XP upgrade advisor didn't suggest
>there should be any problem with ZAP. But since upgrading to Windows XP,
>I have had a number of ZAP problems.
ZAP 2.x doesn't work properly with XP despite anything Zone Labs may
claim. But the good news is that 3.x, which just came out does work.
You should be able to update to it for free if you have 2.x. Haven't
had any more Truvector crashes or database corruptions. The new
interface is vastly improved as well.