Zone Alarm

[Bonnie]

Hi,
I just had my computer worked on and was told by the tech.
that I did not need Zone Alarm that it makes it harder for
my computer to boot up, and that it doesn't stop viruses,
or hackers. just want to know if this is true.
Thank you
Bonnie

 

[R. McCarty]

The advice you got, wasn't good or thought out. Zone Alarm or
other 3rd party Firewall is a necessary part of PC security.
Always "Temper" any off-handed advice like that as dubious.

Computer technical advice isn't like Doctors or Lawyers where
a certain level of proficiency can be assumed. Technicians have
varying levels of training & experience. There are certifications
that can obtained, but many times these days people attend a
paid seminar that guarantees they will pass the certification test.
Competent PC technicians or shops is similar to finding a good
car mechanic. As Malke says try to avoid Best Buy or CompUSA
where personalized service isn't their main objective.

 

[JW]

Zone Alarm stops unauthorized inbound communication by hackers and
network worms. Zone Alarm can also stop unauthorized outbound
communication by Trojan horses, if you configure it to do so. Zone
Alarm does not scan/detect/remove viruses, because it is not an
anti-virus program. Zone Alarm is primarily a software firewall,
although Zone Alarm Pro can also be configured to stop JavaScript,
ActiveX, MIME objects and other mobile code, on a site-by-site basis.

If you do not use Zone Alarm, it is imperative that you use another
firewall, whether it is another software firewall, a router with a
built-in firewall, or the one built into XP. Not using a firewall is
like leaving home with all the doors and windows wide open in your home.
The following article will show you which is the best.

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,115939,pg,1,00.asp

 

[Guest]

I use ZoneAlarm and it's great. It's a firewall and does stop intrusions to
your PC. It doesn't make my PC harder to boot up - in fact, it's a piece of
software that is often recommended in computer magazines. You are supposed
to be safe running just the Windows XP firewall but I read somewhere that
it's good but not that good to run on it's own. XP firewall used to
disengage itself when you had ZoneAlarm running but a fix from Microsoft has
stopped that happening. You can control really well, what applications you
want to allow to connect to the internet. To start off with, you'll find
that every time a program wants to attach, Zone Alarm will ask you for
permission. If it's a program you know about and you want it to access the
internet, you can ask Zone Alarm to remember your answer and it won't ask you
again the next time that program accesses the internet. Or you can say just
click accept and it will ask you again next time, or you can deny.

Re. being a virus checker - ZoneAlarm monitors the security of my virus
checker but the free version (which is what I use) isn't a virus checker in
itself. I like and run AVG V7 as my virus checker and it too is great.
It's from www.grisoft.com. There is a free version available as well from
Grisoft.

Both pieces of software are very user friendly AND very controllable.

 

[Guest]

Hi,
I just had my computer worked on and was told by the tech.
that I did not need Zone Alarm that it makes it harder for
my computer to boot up, and that it doesn't stop viruses,
or hackers. just want to know if this is true.
Thank you
Bonnie

Experience differs. Some people have had horrible problems trying to
install the Zone Alarm firewall (or the CA firewall, which I think is a ZA
firewall), while others have not. Speaking for myself, I'm squarely in the
first group. In fact, as an experiment I recently -- as in a week ago --
tried to install the latest version of EZ Armor 2005 on my fully updated and
patched Windows XP Professional system with SP2. It didn't work, and it
caused my computer to reboot itself automatically each time the firewall
tried to load.

The same thing is true of other third party firewalls, such as Norton.
Experience will differ. My past experience with the Norton firewall has been
mostly good -- if I install the Norton firewall as a standalone item instead
of as part of Norton Internet Security.

If you decide to go instead with the built in Windows SP2 firewall, you will
never have a problem with it. The only downside is that if some piece of
crud -- a trojan, a virus, a worm, spyware, ad nauseum -- lands on your
machine and then attempts to "phone home," the Windows firewall will allow
the communication. Third party firewalls like ZA and Norton will block it.
Therefore, they are more secure. But sometimes the additional security comes
with unwanted side effects, such as a performance hit, a stability hit, or
conflicts with other software (again, experiences differ).

Ken

 

[Ken Blake]

In

I just had my computer worked on and was told by the tech.
that I did not need Zone Alarm

He's technically right. You need a good firewall, but it doesn't
have to be ZoneAlarm. It's one good choice (the one I personally
use) but not the only good one.

that it makes it harder for
my computer to boot up,

That's nonsense. Don't rely on any tech who tells you things like
that.

and that it doesn't stop viruses,
or hackers. just want to know if this is true.

It's not an anti-virus program (you need a good anti-virus
program in addition to a good firewall), but it can stop many
other intrusions.

Again, I recommend ZoneAlarm, but the are other good firewall
choices. It doesn't have to be ZA, but make sure you run one of
them.