Zone Alarm Problems

[Talahasee]

I just went ahead for the heck of it and shut off Z/A and the A/V just to
see what happens. I was able to access one of the computers, but the other
one still was not cooperating.

That means you've solved ONE of your issues!

You're now like 50 % there.

This IS progress!




Tallahassee

 

[Travis King]

On my main computer, I have NSW 2003 Professional. Before that, I had NSW
2002. I like it other than it causes me lots of shutting down problems and
it's a nightmare to completely uninstall. I've also seen Avast catch more
viruses than Norton Antivirus.

 

[Travis King]

The computer that is having problems used to have Windows 98SE. We had
the network working fine then, but we didn't use Zone Alarm, although we
used Avast for A/V. That computer had a fresh install of XP, and we put
Zone Alarm and Avast on. It was working fine with the network other than
Zone Alarm would keep blocking the network until you added the computers
to the list, but as I said, the next time you restarted the computer, Z/A
lost the settings and you'd have to add them again. It got annoying, so I
updated Z/A to find out that Z/A itself was not working proplerly in the
new version. Reinstalled the old version (after uninstalling the new
version), but now I can't get one of the computers to cooperate. None of
them will until you turn off both Z/A and Avast, but that still leaves the
other computer that won't cooperate. By the way, Z/A is remembering the
settings now.

I removed Zone Alarm completely EXACTLY how Zone Alarm's website said to
completely remove it. This included searching for additional files that
Zone Alarm left. I also removed Avast. (There were a few registry keys
related to Avast that would not delete, even in safe mode.) Still, the one
computer is not accessible. It will not let me view the workgroup either.
Only the folders in My Network Places, and only the folder for the computer
having the problem itself and one other computer. (Think this next sentence
through - it's a toughy.) The computer that the problem computer's having a
problem with cannot access the problem computer either.

 

[Mistoffolees]

I removed Zone Alarm completely EXACTLY how Zone Alarm's website said to
completely remove it. This included searching for additional files that
Zone Alarm left. I also removed Avast. (There were a few registry keys
related to Avast that would not delete, even in safe mode.) Still, the one
computer is not accessible. It will not let me view the workgroup either.
Only the folders in My Network Places, and only the folder for the computer
having the problem itself and one other computer. (Think this next sentence
through - it's a toughy.) The computer that the problem computer's having a
problem with cannot access the problem computer either.

If you have access to all of the computers having problems,
look in Event Viewer. Are there reports...any reports...of
issues related to networking, including the Master Browser?
Also, do permissions exist for the problem computer to make
an access? If so, by a specific user (log on) name or through
a "guest" account?

 

[MAP]

I have XP's (Microsoft's) firewall turned on, and have
found it adequate. I've been using XP for several years now,
and have had no intrusion problems.

Tallahassee

From www.spywareinfo.com



I promised myself a while back not to go on another anti-Microsoft rant,
that I would write calmly about any goofs they make. It has been a hard
promise to keep at times. And now, I must break that promise. If I don't
rant about this, I will burst at the seams.

The function of a software firewall is simple. It allows the user to control
the computer's access to other computers. To do that, it blocks attempts to
send unauthorized data out over a network, as well as the attempts of other
computers to send data to the protected computer. A proper firewall allows
data into or out of the computer, only when the user gives the firewall
permission to do so. I think most people will agree that this is an accurate
description of the proper function of a software firewall.

So I am left to wonder if the Microsoft programmers who designed the Windows
Firewall have lost their freakin minds. While the Windows Firewall will
block network access like any other firewall, the settings which determine
whether or not an attempt to access the network is permitted is stored in
the registry. Any piece of software is allowed to edit that part of the
registry and give itself permission to send or receive data over the
network.

There are several viruses, worms and spyware programs that edit the registry
settings for the Windows Firewall. Even if the user discovers a virus
infection and cleans it successfully, that computer can be reinfected at any
time, if the virus edited the firewall settings. Many network worms can
infect a computer if it discovers certain unsecured network ports. It
happened to me once, when I turned off my firewall and forgot to turn it
back on.

Changes to a firewall's settings should be possible only through the
firewall program's interface. Those changes should be saved into an
encrypted file, which cannot be altered by any other program. Those settings
should not EVER be written to the registry, where they can be altered by any
other program running on the PC. It takes only the smallest shred of common
sense to realize this.

Where was the common sense when they were creating the Windows Firewall?
This is like hiring security guards to keep gate crashers away from a party
but allowing the guests to write their own invitations.

But wait, there's more!

Someone discovered recently that the Windows Firewall interface won't even
tell the user about an opened port, if the registry entry granting it
permission has a malformed name. Not only can a malicious programmer give
his evil creation permission to bypass the firewall, he can hide the fact
that he's done it!

It is boneheaded mistakes like this which make it difficult to use Windows
safely. God help us all when Microsoft begins to make its own antivirus
software. The only reason Microsoft's antispyware program works well
probably is because Microsoft didn't write it.

 

[Rctfreak]

Open the Zone Alarnm Control Panel
Click on Firewall
Set the "Tursted zone" to medium

If you have it set to high sharing is not allowed on this setting.

 

[Fred S]

I removed Zone Alarm completely EXACTLY how Zone Alarm's website said to
completely remove it. This included searching for additional files that
Zone Alarm left. I also removed Avast. (There were a few registry keys
related to Avast that would not delete, even in safe mode.) Still, the one
computer is not accessible. It will not let me view the workgroup either.
Only the folders in My Network Places, and only the folder for the computer
having the problem itself and one other computer. (Think this next sentence
through - it's a toughy.) The computer that the problem computer's having a
problem with cannot access the problem computer either.

Travis,

I've been away and see that you've done lots of stuff but it is not
clear to me if you have done the following:

1 - REMOVED ZA from ALL computers
2 - Set Windows Firewall to OFF an ALL computers
3 - REMOVED AV from ALL computers

It sounds like you've only done this for the "problem" computer.

then....

after rebooting all computers create a "new" workgroup for all PCs, you
can still use original computer names.

Please advise.

Fred S

 

[Travis King]

I finally gave up and reformatted the problem computer. It still didn't
work, but all I had to do was disable the firewall on the problem computer
and now it works! Now all I have to do is install all the software back on
the problem computer. (Not much to install actually since it is only a 4GB
hard drive.) Thanks for all your help. Oh, and I am NOT installing Zone
Alarm - besides, the ZA newsgroup said that the free version of ZA does not
support file sharing.

 

[Rctfreak]

Oh, and I am NOT installing Zone
Alarm - besides, the ZA newsgroup said that the free version of ZA does not
support file sharing.

Oh. Never said in any of your previous posts that it was the free
version.

 

[Travis King]

Oh. Never said in any of your previous posts that it was the free
version.

I didn't know before I asked on ZA if it made a difference, and that never
struck my mind.

 

[Rctfreak]

I didn't know before I asked on ZA if it made a difference, and that never
struck my mind.

No problem. Usually though as in this case, any free version of a
program that also has a paid version, will have limits on it. This is
one of the limits in ZA free versus the paid version.