Zone alarm pro wouldn't allow

A few questions for clarification...

You said you just got "this zone alarm pro version" a few days ago... Does that mean you had Zone Alarm already and upgraded, or is this a total new install of Zone Alarm?

Are all forms of logging and alerts enabled in ZAP currently? And if so, are there any events being logged while trying to run the update program?

There are many possible reasons why a program might be getting blocked, but it varies depending upon the specifics of your situation. It could be that the ZAP configuration is corrupt, or the program settings somehow got mis-configured, or that the updater program simply needs to be removed from the ZAP Programs list, then run again to have ZAP rediscover and revalidate it and your access permissions.

 

Well, if it's a new and clean install of ZAP, then it may not be database corruption, but let's keep that for later if nothing else turns up.

What I meant by that sentence you quoted is that you should have all forms of logging enabled (as shown in the image below), and when you attempt to run the updater that is failing, you should look in the ZAP "Alerts & Logs" panel > "Log Viewer" tab and see if there are corresponding messages there saying that the program was blocked from accessing the Internet.

So, check to see if all forms of logging are checked, if not then set them all. Then try to run the updater. After it fails, flip to the Log Viewer page in ZAP and look for messages in there related to that specific program being blocked, or even messages right at the same time about incoming packets being blocked - they might be related to why the program isn't able to update right.

 

You are getting other logged events though, correct? High or Medium level alerts about various blocked probes or such? Or are you getting no logged events at all?

It's disturbing that there are no block messages that correspond to the same time that you attempt to run the updater program, and yet the updater doesn't connect out.

There are so many different things that could be the problem and there are lots of things to try unfortunately in order to diagnose the problem, so it may take time to figure out. The first and easiest thing to try is to remove the program entry (whatever program that updater program is) from ZAP's Program list. Just go into ZAP > Program Control > Program (list) > right-click on that program and select Remove from the menu.

When you run the updater again, ZAP should see it as if for the first time and give you a chance to approve it again. This might allow it to work properly.

 

This seems a little contradictory... What exactly did the pop up say (what program name)? If it listed the program by its name in the popup alert, and you clicked to allow it, then that same program should be listed in the Programs list now. If it isn't listed, then we come back again to the possibility of corruption in the zone alarm database.

Since this is a new installation, it might just be best to refresh the ZAP database and configure everything fresh just to be sure something isn't messed up. The refresh operation will remove all previous configurations and set you back to a default installation, which is probably what we need to try first.

Basically, to refresh the ZAP database you: 1. shutdown ZAP; 2. delete all files from the \Windows\Internet Logs\ folder (that's a Zone Alarm folder and the ZAP logs and databases are stored in there); 3. Start up ZAP again and reenter all custom settings (like sites listed in the Trusted Zone); and 4. run each Internet accessing program and approve them one by one.

See these instructions from Zone Labs on the refresh operation:

http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/support/zapIssuesFAQ.jsp#10issues

 

Not every system is compatible with certain software... That's just the way it is sometimes. But, since you've posted in the Zone Alarm forum, that's probably the best place to look for an answer since this does not seem to be a typical problem.

Best of luck!