ZA beta firewall for Vista

[CZ]

FYI:

http://download.zonelabs.com/bin/free/beta/index.html#download

Read the notes on the web page before you use it, as there are some issues.

 

[Victek]

FYI:

http://download.zonelabs.com/bin/free/beta/index.html#download

Read the notes on the web page before you use it, as there are some
issues.

FWIW, this beta is called ZoneAlarm Antivirus, although there is mention of
a firewall in the known issues list.

 

[CZ]

FYI:

I just loaded it into a clean install of Vista Business.

It is very similar to the old ZA free as an initial impression.

I am impressed.

 

[CZ]

FWIW, this beta is called ZoneAlarm Antivirus, although there is mentiona firewall in the known issues list.

Victek:

No, it is called ZoneAlarm for Vista, and the AV feature is an option that I
did not install

 

[CZ]

Victek:

I just reviewed it (it is in another vol) and it is referred to by three
titles in different places:
ZoneAlarm
ZoneAlarm Security
ZoneAlarm AntiVirus

And per the web site: "Welcome to the technical beta launch of the new
ZoneAlarm for Vista"


Previous posts:
Victek:

No, it is called ZoneAlarm for Vista, and the AV feature is an option that I
did not install

 

[B. Nice]

a firewall in the known issues list.

Victek:

No, it is called ZoneAlarm for Vista, and the AV feature is an option that I
did not install

You mean there is a ZA version for Vista now? - Thank you for warning
us.

 

[Victek]

Victek:

I just reviewed it (it is in another vol) and it is referred to by three
titles in different places:
ZoneAlarm
ZoneAlarm Security
ZoneAlarm AntiVirus

And per the web site: "Welcome to the technical beta launch of the new
ZoneAlarm for Vista"

Thanks for the clarification. I'd be interested to hear what you think
after you've tested it.

 

[CZ]

I'd be interested to hear what you think after you've tested it.

Vectek:

I did not do my usual port scan and packet sniffing testing of the f/w as it
is still in beta.
However, I did spend some time becoming familiar with the program.

Some thoughts:
IMO, the beta is for the ZA Suite program, which includes: ZA f/w, AV, and
Malware protection.
There is no indication what features ZA free will include.
The program interface will be familiar to current ZA users
If you like ZA in previous op systems, you should like it in Vista.

Overall, I was impressed.

 

[Victek]

Victek:

I did not do my usual port scan and packet sniffing testing of the f/w as
it is still in beta.
However, I did spend some time becoming familiar with the program.

Some thoughts:
IMO, the beta is for the ZA Suite program, which includes: ZA f/w, AV,
and Malware protection.
There is no indication what features ZA free will include.
The program interface will be familiar to current ZA users
If you like ZA in previous op systems, you should like it in Vista.

Overall, I was impressed.

Do you think it's stable enough to rely on at this point? Also, can the
antivirus and antispyware components be disabled (or not installed) as I
really only want the firewall?

I'm currently using PC Tools Firewall Plus 2.0 (out of beta) on Vista
Business and it works quite well, but I'm more familiar with ZA and will
probably switch to it eventually.

 

[CZ]

Do you think it's stable enough to rely on at this point? Also, can the
antivirus and antispyware components be disabled (or not installed) as I
really only want the firewall?

I'm currently using PC Tools Firewall Plus 2.0 (out of beta) on Vista
Business and it works quite well, but I'm more familiar with ZA and will
probably switch to it eventually.

Victek:

I would not recommend running the ZA beta on anything other than a test
computer, and then only if behind a NAT-router.
IMO, CheckPoint has some work to do on the program.
I did not like some of the defaults/initial settings.
I installed it w/o ZA's AV, and installed the aVast AV program.
I ran it with Vista's f/w enabled; ZA had a setting enabled whose purpose
was to disabled the Vista f/w, but for some reason it did not do it. As I
said, the beta needs some work.

I would stay with PC Tools with Vista's f/w enabled. That is my normal
setup for my test computer.

 

[Guest]

I have just downloaded the zonealarm, however it will not install.. it starts
to install but then it starts searching for previous installs and just froze
up.. I tried several times and had to reboot because it froze the entire
computer.. I have never had that happen before.. I guess Ill wait a while
longer.. Running vista home premium 32bit.

 

[Guest]

Ok never mind, I just checked and its for antivirus only.. even the
downloaded file says ZA_AV Which usually means AntiVirus... Thanks but its
not a firewall..

 

[Richard Urban]

It certainly does contain a firewall. I installed it about 6 hours ago.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban MVP
Microsoft Windows Shell/User

 

[CZ]

Ok never mind, I just checked and its for antivirus only.. even the
downloaded file says ZA_AV Which usually means AntiVirus... Thanks but its
not a firewall..

Ravynne:

It includes ZA f/w, AV s/w, and malware s/w.


From my previous post:
I just reviewed it (it is in another vol) and it is referred to by three
titles in different places:
ZoneAlarm
ZoneAlarm Security
ZoneAlarm AntiVirus

And per the web site: "Welcome to the technical beta launch of the new
ZoneAlarm for Vista"

 

[Robert Moir]

You mean there is a ZA version for Vista now? - Thank you for warning
us.

I just don't see the market for ZA in vista. NVidia and ATI already have the
"Random crashing" market covered with the quality of their Vista drivers at
the moment, and Symantec AV has the "total waste of space that claims to
improve your security somehow" angle sewn up.

 

[CZ]

I just don't see the market for ZA in vista. NVidia and ATI already have"Random crashing" market covered with the quality of their Vista drivers at
the moment, and Symantec AV has the "total waste of space that claims to
improve your security somehow" angle sewn up.

Robert:

So what do you propose for outbound control firewalling of programs in
Vista?

 

[Robert Moir]

"Random crashing" market covered with the quality of their Vista drivers
at
the moment, and Symantec AV has the "total waste of space that claims to
improve your security somehow" angle sewn up.

Robert:

So what do you propose for outbound control firewalling of programs in
Vista?

Waking up and realising its a total waste of your time? Or sticking with the
built in product, which is as good a toy firewall as any other toy firewall?

 

[CZ]

So what do you propose for outbound control firewalling of programs in

Vista?

Waking up and realizing its a total waste of your time? Or sticking with the
built in product, which is as good a toy firewall as any other toy firewall?

Robert:

Have you tried to configure Vista's f/w for outbound control?

Do you understand the difference between the method used by Vista and by ZA
to handle outbound control?

What do you consider to not be a toy f/w?

TIA

 

[Robert Moir]

Waking up and realizing its a total waste of your time? Or sticking with
the
built in product, which is as good a toy firewall as any other toy
firewall?

Robert:

Have you tried to configure Vista's f/w for outbound control?

Do you understand the difference between the method used by Vista and by
ZA to handle outbound control?

What do you consider to not be a toy f/w?

Something that doesn't run on the host that it's trying to protect and hence
absolutely cannot *guarantee* any kind of proper outbound filtering no
matter what you do would be a decent start.

 

[CZ]

What do you consider to not be a toy f/w?

Something that doesn't run on the host that it's trying to protect and hence
absolutely cannot *guarantee* any kind of proper outbound filtering no
matter what you do would be a decent start.

Robert:

Valid point, except for pragmatics.

I have used MS's ISA product, and have complained loudly about using the
MS's Small Business Server product with ISA running on the SBS server, when
ISA should be on a dedicated perimeter device!

But, it is not practical to expect end users to run a dedicated proxy server
or to be knowledgeable of their details. Therefore, we have "toy" f/ws
that IMO do provide value, even though they are less than ideal.

Also, users may not be willing to take a dedicated proxy server to a WiFi
hotspot.


Re: absolutely cannot *guarantee* any kind of proper outbound filtering no
matter what you do

You expectations are higher than mine. IMO, all software is suspect to some
degree eventually, that is why one should have multiple backups.