is the free zone alarm any good?

It blocks unwanted inbound traffic well enough but does not show or block outbound traffic.

 

ZA version 6 IMO is the best one they have made that controls in and out traffic, and the fact that it runs lighter than earlier versions is just a bonus.

 

thanks mercurie, so far everything i've installed is free, i'm going to keep it that way until i'm convinced there is something good enough that warrants buying

 

I think I'll give it another try.

 

that's what i've heard too, cheers Ailric

 

does that mean it would stop a keylogger from sending data out of the computer Bigc?

 

Go with the free firewall and invest in something like Ewido or BOClean.

 

BOClean looks interesting Hammer - i will check it out, thanks

 

Check their site for brief overview here http://www.nsclean.com/boclean.html and here for more detail including screenshots http://www.nsclean.com/supboc.html They do not have a trial version but do have a money back guarantee. They have a good reputation on Wilder's forums. Were quick to get back to me when I emailed support.

 

Would be my choice.....

 

Zone alarm is much better than xp 2 firewall in many respects including outbound control and 3 layer protection (decent protection against trojans), however there is one thing i don't like about it. It buries itself into your system, and the uninstaller leaves traces behind. Plus i found that boot time was slowed down and there were some internet slowdowns too that i suspect came from ZA 6.0. Also, i installed it on an older Windows ME pc, and it corrupted or something and then blocked access to the internet for "security" (this is a pretty bad practice, b/c if it was a virus that had corrupted ZA, then i could not get updates to my AV. luckily, i don't think it was a virus).

My reccomendation is to try out several free firewalls.
ZA 6.0 (easy to use)
Kerio 4.x (medium difficulty, gave me problems after installation)
Kerio 2.15 w/ BZ ruleset, but its not that secure without proccess guard (fairly easy to use)
Netveda (easy to use)
Filescab (unkown, but i hear its good)

Not Worth Trying out (both free and paid)
Outpost free - hasn't been updated in forever
Tiny Firewall - i forget if this one is even free, but difficult to use and the security it provides is not that much better
Webroot firewall - useless
Sygate - about to dissapear, and using a firewall that will never update again is not a good idea.

 

thanks for the details Hammer

 

not only that Toploader but with the new ZA6 free has the same technology that a great program called ProcessGuard has it it

 

thanks FC -having installed free zone alarm i will stick with it for the time being - i just want something simple that does a good reliable job

 

how is Kaspersky Anti-Hacker? Looks lite on resources and kind of reminds me of Sygate from what ive seen.

 

the answer is NO!

UNBELIEVABLE PILE OF CRAP!!!!

i pull the plug on my dialup connection do a bit of shopping then reconnect,
NOTHING, i'm connected to the net but the browsers think they are not.

i switch zone alarm off and they burst into life briefly and then gone again.

i disable zone alarm in start up and switch back to xp2 firewall then reboot

once rebooted - reconnect - this time the connection times out.

i suspect that bugger zone alarm is still screwing things even though it's not started!

i check security centre and it says firewall on - i check further and guess what zone alarm has managed to disable xp2 firewall and switch itself back on even though it's not started.

i check applications, services and processes no zone alarm anywhere but the bugger is in there somewhere blocking access to the internet

ZONE LABS YOUR PRODUCT IS RUBBISH!!!! it's worse than a F**KING rootkit!!!! it's like HAL - "no toploader i can't let you switch me off"

OK that's it!!!! i crawl into the service tunnels and inch along to the uninstall icon - i uninstall zone alarm there and then and thankfully i've got my internet back.

RUBBISH!!!!

 

Toploader, I have installed 100's and 100's of copies of ZoneAlarm over the last 4+ years. With every piece of software there is a learning curve. Something in your setup of ZA is not quite right. I would click on "Program Control" and look through what has been given access to the internet, nothing other than Messenger and ICQ should be given server rights, with the basic exception of your Anti-virus should it ask for such.

Ask questions, give it a little time, post a few screenshots and you should have ZA settle in in no time at all...

Cheers

 

To late he uninstalled it. But it would be interesting to know his security setup such as AV, AT etc as something may have been conflicting with ZoneAlarm. Also was the windows firewall off?

 

well it's gone Blackspear - thanks for the offer but as far as i'm concerned it's had it's chance - i expect something that simple to behave itself.

xp2 firewall just works, it doesn't interfere it just does it's job quietly - it may not be the best firewall but at least it doesn't mess about.

the zone alarm control panel gave no indication of what it had done. a simple firewall should have a minimal learning curve. it should query what is allowed access (which it did) and then it should just get on with it. there is no way it should still be in the system after being disabled but it was - sorry Blackspear it had to go - it was a threat to the solar system

 

yes windows firewall was off, then when everything stopped working i switched zone alarm off disabled it in the start up list then switched xp firewall back on (and checked it) how zone alarm managed to get itself switched back on beats me it simply wasn't in the system but the moment i uninstalled it - everything ok again.

i'm running AVG spywareblaster and winpatrol - the thing is it was working until i went shopping it just refused to let me back on.

the only way to get back on the internet was to uninstall it. i couldn't check it's status cos it wasn't running. (but it was in there - oh yes it was in there somewhere)

 

i got my main internet connection back immediately i uninstalled za - but my backup isp connection had been changed, i had to reset it to it's default values to get it going again. months of perfect internet connections with zero glitches and za reduces me to a gibbering wreck in minutes. it's all working again - i will never slag off XP2 firewall again.

 

Depending on which "crowd" you end up in, ZA version 6 either works very well or doesn't work hardly at all. I have been using ZA 6(was using the suite, then to Pro) and things were working fine, except for VPN into work. I had put up with the issue(ZA 6 hangs the VPN connection) but it's getting to the point where it's an unnecessary frustration. What's irking me the most is ZA isn't paying attention.

I'm now using Outpost 2,7 on their 30 day trial(at least they have a viable work around for getting Cisco's VPN to work), but am waiting for a more stable version of Kaspersky Internet Suite 2006 beta, before purchansing Outpost(since as a KAV pro owner, I get a free upgrade to KIS 2006).

Anyway, just a heads up that it seems to be all or nothing with ZA 6 at the moment(they do have a new version in testing tho, so we shall see).

 

Well Toploader, it may have been a simple setting such as DNS or DHCP being added to the trusted zone that needed to be made, I guess we will never know now. With Windows Firewall you will not accomplish what you originally inferred as a need - stopping outbound trojan connections. That additional protection from ZA is probably the reason that you got frustrated so soon in the configuration process.

I also think you should take a look at BOClean to help you fill out your security apps.

 

toploader,

Just got finished slogging through all of the posts in your thread. Sorry to hear you 86ed ZA.

While you no doubt have read (others have mentioned) that Windows XP Firewall is only good for inbound protection and not at all for outbound connection notification (so far), there is another capability of either firewall that is important, i.e. the ability to stealth the ports on your computer.

With whatever firewall you choose, test out its ability to stealth ports at:
http://scan.sygate.com and http://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

But if you really want to know which firewall does a better job of passing some major firewall leaktests other than the two websites mentioned above, checkout the website: http://www.firewallleaktester.com

You don't have to download the tests, you can just read the most recent report (latest is Oct 13, 2004) to get the results. By all means, read the remainder of the website for advice to acquire some good tips on firewalls.

No doubt since the time of that posting, there have been significant improvements in some if not all of the firewalls. Those improvements have yet to be tested at firewallleaktester.com, however, or if tested results to be published.

Ronjor makes a useful point about the overload of firewall capabilities as a personal choice (not desired in his case) vs other security software capabilities, as well as your take on ease of use and not doing anything to disrupt the operation of your system when it is uninstalled.

Whatever your choice, a multi-layered approach to security is best, e.g. running a hardware firewall and a software firewall is better than either just a software firewall, or no software firewall with a hardware firewall.

-- Tom

 

hey Chuck thanks for the feedback - in the end i had no choice but to uninstall ZA to get my connection back - because i didn't have the expertise to figure out what it was doing and i was scared of it screwing my internet good and proper - there was too much weird **** happening - when it refused to completely shutdown that was it - i got the impression it was too clever for it's own good - like it wanted to control the show come what may. Mike Nash said he was writing online armour for his mother - simple enough for inexperienced people to install and use without having to sit there wondering what the heck it's upto. likewise i expect the same of a simple firewall - install and forget not install and then sit there thinking what's it done now!

charitable soul that i am i will give ZA the benefit of the doubt - but i won't be trying it again.