Doesn't Windows XP SP2 and higher come with a reasonably good firewall?

Zone Alarm has the nifty feature in that it monitors and informs you about programs inside your computer trying to connect to the outside world and offering to block them, grant them conditional access, or allow them free reign. This is handy when you don't know what problems to look for.

By contrast, Windows' built in firewall merely lets you block things you already know about. It won't help you find other items that should be blocked.

I haven't used Zone Alarm since, oh, about version 1.6 or something like that. It proved to be way too much of a system hog at that time. It slowed most other programs down significantly while it was active. To those folks using it now, how is it these days? Is it efficient enough now to be relatively transparent?

> I haven't used Zone Alarm since, oh, about version 1.6 or something like that. It proved to be way too much of a system hog at that time. It slowed most other programs down significantly while it was active. To those folks using it now, how is it these days? Is it efficient enough now to be relatively transparent?

IMHO, it's actually worse. The Pro version is just a bunch of bloatware. I stopped using it about a year ago (after renewing my license for several years prior) and now just use the Free version and even that is getting annoying, forgetting about programs that I've told it a dozen times were OK. (yes, I checked the little box to remember but it seems to love to forget) Also, it has a nasty habit of reversing your zones so that your LAN becomes the untrusted zone and the Internet becomes the TRUSTED ZONE! Not good!!!

I have a friend who still has a license for Pro and he has to stay back-leveled because the current version messes up his PC so that he can't get to the internet at all. IMHO, ZoneAlarm has joined Symantec in believing that the primary reason you bought a computer was to run their software and nothing else so why not take over the whole thing without asking.

It is my opinion that when a company is giving away their flagship software it usually means their regular customers have all jumped ship and they are fishing for anyone who will use the product. They already have a free version, why give away the Pro version? I could not recommend ZoneAlarm Pro version. I'd never use it again even for free. But don't believe me... go read their user forums. In general, they are not a happy bunch.

~jr

Zone Alarm used to be a good program when it was an always-free product developed by a couple of geeks who wanted a fast, small-footprint internet firewall.

Since it was sold several years ago it has become an albatross for many of those who have stuck with the Pro version through its transition through XP and Vista. Crashes, lost internet connectivity, massive slowdowns, upgrades that permanently corrupt the OS, parasitic processes reaching into the depths of the OS making permanent removal almost impossible, and lots of phone-home stuff going on make this now one of the worst choices I can imagine. We've now had to do OS installs on two of our nonprofit's computers just to get rid of it.

High-integrity security sites like grc.com used to recommend ZA Free for everyone's computer, now they say just use your router's firewall. The only thing ZA has going for it is outbound program alerts, but the rest, as someone said, is all bloatware. I used to subscribe to their forum RSS feed just for giggles when one of their "updates" was causing OS corruption a few years ago and couldn't be removed. Just trudge around their forums for a while to see what I'm talking about.

My most disappointing experience with ZA's new owners was when they suddenly dropped support for 98SE/ME several months prematurely to their announced date, leaving me with ten months of upgrades that I had paid for that I could not use. After ignoring several service requests, they finally told me that they would not refund the difference of my one-year contract, and in so doing flagrantly violated their own EULA. Beware of strangers bearing gifts . . .

Comodo has just integrated their free firewall and their free anti-virus into one free package called "Comodo Internet Security." I installed it for free on a couple of machines and it works quite well. Did I mention that it's free?

http://www.comodo.com

As they say - "there's no such thing as a free lunch"!

Just received my download instructions and key for the "freebie" - except there's just one tiny catch.

The key expires in 1 year! Hmmmm....

Caveat Emptor!

Tom

"
As they say - "there's no such thing as a free lunch"!

Just received my download instructions and key for the "freebie" - except there's just one tiny catch.

The key expires in 1 year! Hmmmm....

Caveat Emptor!"

Yes, I have just noticed the same and was about to post a similar 'warning'

Wayne

> The key expires in 1 year! Hmmmm....

GOTACHA!!! ;-) That's what they don't tell you when you pay for the product either. The first couple of years it was $19.95 each year and I was OK with that for the anti-virus updates. Then it went to $29 and finally $39.95 a year. Yikes!!! They want you to buy the program again every year and you have no choice. That along with all the instability was enough to make me say "no more... it's not worth it".

ZoneAlarm is "subscription based" software so the "free" pro license is $40 a year just like when you buy it. You're just getting the first year free.

~jr