*NEW* ZoneAlarm 2012 product line released

instead they have included BB type of thing

 

Yes, it is called ZA OS firewall. ZA was actually one of the first tools to introduce HIPS back in version 5.

 

sounds good i may try it

 

I lost track of the versions coz they started naming their things like Ultimate Security etc etc. I was using zone alarm and Kaspersky internet security on two of my pcs when Virut showed its face. Kaspersky did it heur thing quarantine no os at reboot. Zone alarm died on me as well lol. But then 7 came out and they struggled a bit to get one working with 7 so I had to part ways from Zone Alarm. Love their firewall its very user friendly

 

Just installed after Avira started playing up on me.

A few questions:

• How does browser virtualisation work? I'm on FF4 using the menuless view. I cant see the white lining. Is there some way I can confirm it is virutalised? Further does the toolbar have to be on for the virualisation?
• How does the identity protection work? I have put a few things in myVault. How do I test if it will be alerted?
• Is there a manual?

 

The toolbar has not to be there for the web protection to work. You can even remove it but you will loose the more granual control. Check the MB counter under web security tab, If it stays at 0MB filtered than there is a problem.

Identity protection monitor standard non/SSL communications on common web and mail ports. You introduce the data, this is saved "hashed" and then monitored. To test? Send data via port 80 (browser). E.g. a non protected web form.

Manual is online, from the main ZA GUI, click on help (right top corner) and then again help. And you get here.

If you have used any previous betas it may be useful to run the ZA removal tool to ensure any left over is removed before installing the retails release:
http://download.zonealarm.com/bin/free/support/download/clean.exe

Hope this helps

Cheers,
Fax

 

Thanks Fax. I'm going to uninstall it in safemode using the exe you mentioned. There is a conflict and it prevents me from logging in to my account.

Always wanted to like ZA but it just does not like my computer.

 

You're welcome! No need to use the removal tool if you can remove ZA from the normal control panel uninstall. The removal tool is only for emergencies in case normal uninstall don't work.

 

I don't understand why the GUI of the ZA Pro firewall and the av/firewall need to resemble freebie products. It's one thing to use a freebie and have the GUI with grayed out portions of what would be available if a person upgraded to a paid version. But to market ZA Pro, for example, for $39.95 and have so many grayed out features really cheapens the appearance of the product.

 

It would be great if ForceField support Google Chrome...

 

Yeah, that really makes the final product no matter what version of it seem cheap.




-yonton228

 

Part of the reason why I thinking of transitioning from the "Extreme" version to just the firewall/AV.



-yonton228

 

Yeap, I agree. I don't know you but I would never by a firewall at $39 or cheaper. And right now with the same price you can by the firewall + the AV. So it looks like the policy is not really towards selling the firewall. On top of that IMO I would never buy a single firewall, too limited scope and high chance of conflicts when you will start to pile up security tools to cover the other security gaps. The firewall alone market is slowly disappearing.

 

True. Probably the benefit of covering 10% of the market is too little compared to the cost of development and support.

 

Fax, I have no problems running ZAES v9.3.037 except for sometimes when it updates the AV...it stalls/freezes my computer when I am working on it for up to fifteen seconds...but I just wait a bit and its back to normal. I turned down the frequency of AV updates because of this.

I don't mean to bombard you with questions but I have a few of them...

1)...Does ZAES (or ZAX) 2012 have all the firewall customization functionality of v9.3.x?

2)...Does the Spam blocking program still support Outlook Express 6?...and does it have the same or similar functionality as v9.3.x?

3) Does the browser virtualization feature work basically the same as v9.3.x and can you flush the browser cash or schedule the virtual browser cache to be flushed?

4) From what you have heard and seen yourself so far does the new ZAES 2012 play well with Windows XP SP3?

5) I am running the most recent releases of the full featured paid versions of SuperAntispyware and Malwarebytes...with real time protection enabled for both programs...and it has worked fine for me along with ZAES v9.3.x. Do you know if the new ZAES 2012 was tested for compatibility with these antimalware products?

6) Do I need to uninstall v9.3.x before upgrading or can I just turn off autostart on v9.3.x...reboot and then run the ZAES 2012 installation executable and choose upgrade option for the 2012 install? What is your recommendation?

I know I asked a lot of questions and don't feel like you have to answer all of them...(a link to the answers would be fine too). You always have been extremely knowledgeable about the new versions and the info is kind of critical before decide on whether I can properly update my systems running ZAES v9.3.x . Thanks Fax...

..and if anyone else who has been using the new ZAES 2012 has any answers to these questions please feel free to reply also...Thanks.

 

A long shopping list
The updates are much faster and lighter, it should improve your situation tough no guarantee especially if the system is dated.

1) Yes, basically the same. But a completely different GUI. You need to get used to it. it takes sometime but after its very easy.

Do you have any specific feature you use?

I have noticed that "stop all internet activity" has been removed and the "remember this action" is defaulted. The firewall pop-up windows have been simplified/condensed but they give the same type of information. Finally the flashing red/green icon has been removed.

Aside of the above the firewall feature are the same. So far I have noticed a more solid logging and very smooth overall operations.

2.) Yes, the same.
3.) Yes, the same
4.) Yes, I have not seen any report about specific issue related to XP
5.) Don't know sorry. I have used only the free of both.
6.) You can install over the top but what I have noticed is that all the new features will be OFF and some recommended settings in 10 are not the same in 9. So I would recommend to start fresh.

If you want a safe move to 10 I would recommend to wait for the automatic update to notify you. This is normally turned ON when is pretty safe to upgrade. This may mean to wait for a build or two.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Fax

 

Thanks for the info Fax. One my main concerns was whether the antispam module still supported Outlook Express 6...because the ZoneAlarm information link about ZAES 2012 only had the Outlook 2003 and later Outlook programs listed as supported but it did say POP was supported...so there was some confusion.

I noticed in the ZA forum that there was no affirmation of compatibility for Malwarebytes Pro OR SuperAntispyware Pro ...running in real time.

For installation...What I will have to do is manually write down the special firewall configurations and then do a CLEAN installation of ZAES 2012. I will wait for the official program update popup before doing the upgrade.

I really like ZAES v9.3.x . Except for the AV update temporary freeze issue it has worked almost flawlessly. The only bummer has been the lack of Forcefield/Browser Security support for Firefox 4.x.

It would be nice if they had the "flush virtual cache" scheduling option. I didn't even see the option to flush the virtual browser cache at all from the images of ZAES 2012.

 

Yeap I understand, what was always suggested by ZA is that you don't really need to flush the virtual cache unless something is not working correctly. What they did in ZA2012 is to put it more upfront (under the web protection main section) rather than having it hidden in the lowest level of the web protection advanced settings.

 

Good Evening ! Currently using the Z/A Firewall-Anti-Virus 2012...got it for $29.95 from Best PCUtilities.com at 35% off. Pleasantly surprised it's light and nimble and impressed at the configuration of settings. It's GUI is different and might take getting accustomed to by new users...but I enjoy it's simplicity. The firewall is as usual highly configurable and not as intrusive as past versions. Overall I'm impressed,surfing is very responsive no lagging and the loading of web pages is instantaneous . It's still to early to pass a critique regarding the effectiveness of it's integrated anti-virus anti-malware engine. Check out the 30 day trial period at CNET. Sincerely...Securon

 

Fax, I hear you about not having to flush the virtual cache unless there are major problems but I have to admit that I sleep better at night knowing it has been flushed.

At least they kept the ability to flush the virtual cache option and from what you are telling me it might be easier to access from the web protection menu instead of digging through the hidden browser protection advanced settings sub menus.

 

I uninstalled ZAES v9.3.x and ran the install program for ZAES v10.0.241.

First impressions:

The installation seemed to run smoother and was much easier than previous installations.

The program seems to be more efficient. Web browsing seems to be noticeably quicker even with all the web protection features enabled such as browser virtualization. The AV/antispyware updating seems to run quicker and smoother. The previous ZAES v9.x updates always seemed to temporarily freeze my system and while I could move the pointer around I couldn't click on anything for about ten to thirty seconds while it updated the AV/antimalware but so far that hasn't happened with ZAES v10.

I don't yet have an opinion about the new ZA toolbar. At first I was taken back by it but after taking a second look it seems to be very customizable. I actually think it might have some really nice options while not taking up much more real estate than the old ZA web browser security bar.

I previously read that the ZA red and green activity monitor had been removed. Instead of removing it I wish that there had been an option in the new version to enable or disable it. It also would have been nice to keep the instantaneous internet lock feature.

I was looking for the old automatic internet lock feature where you can enable to lock all incoming and outgoing internet activity after a set period of time or when the screen saver is activated and allow pass lock programs if you want. I don't know if this feature was removed also but it is too bad if it was because it really allowed for enhanced program customization.

From what I have seen so far there are some nice improvements Checkpoint has made to this program. The improved performance is noteworthy. Long time ZA users might be disappointed that a few traditional features have been removed like the red and green activity monitor and the instant internet lock feature.

Although it is a bit disappointing not to have every older feature in the new program most of the important features still allow for traditional customization of internet zones, addresses and rules for program access. The simplified user interface, quicker and smoother overall program operation and more efficient updating appear to offset the lack of some of those older features.

One other important note is that one my Windows XP SP3 (32bit) system I am running the full pro versions of Malwarebytes and SuperAntispyware with all real time features enabled along with ZAES v10 and I don't seem to be having any compatibility issues running all three of them together in real time.

These were just my first impressions. We will find out how more about how the new ZAES v10 works in the coming weeks and months.

 

I installed the trial version of the latest ZAES a few days ago. I agree that as far as performance is concerned, it definitely felt faster than when I ran it about a year-and-a-half ago.

But I also ran into a couple of problems. When I turned on "Browswer Virtualization," there was no "glowing border" surrounding the browser window. I have no idea if it was working or not. I'd hate to find out the hard way that it was not.

Also, regarding the toolbar, in both IE9 and FF4, several of the toolbar components simply would not show up, even though I had them checked (site-checker being one of them - pretty important security measures). No matter what I tried, I could not get them to appear.

So, a mixed-bag for me so far. They do seem to be trying to improve the product, and that's good. I may come back and try it again at a later date.

 

Supposedly from what was indicated in the ZA forum the bright band around the browser is only a cosmetic thing and if it isn't there it is not an indicator of whether the web security and browser virtualization are active.

My biggest concern right is with the accelerated release schedule for new versions of Firefox. FF 4 was just released in the past few months. Now FF 5 is out. FF 6 will be released in September. FF 7 maybe in December and FF 8 early next year.

I don't know how Checkpoint and other companies developing security software are supposed to be able to test the compatibility their security products and have them available with that kind of release schedule for Firefox browsers. We just gained ZAES 2012 compatibility for FF 4 and now FF 4 is considered obsolete? You can't blame Checkpoint for that. If this Firefox release madness doesn't stop I may move back to IE for my main browser and until then I have turned off the FF browser update notifications and will continue to use FF 3.6.x.

 

I saw that as well. I also saw where the Forum Moderator recommended not running the virtualization all the time, but only selectively. To me, that's just not acceptable. If I pay for ZAES instead of ZASS, the one feature I'm after is the virtualtization. If I can't use that any and every time I browse the net, what's the point? I'll just keep Sandboxie and use another security program.

 

I run the browser virtualization all the time. Why wouldn't we want to do that? I hope we aren't witnessing the "dumbing down" of ZA products for the sake of Checkpoint not having to support as many advanced security features. This is the opposite of bloatware. Call it ghostware...Useful important features are vanishing like a ghost into thin air with each new version release and its not just happening with ZA. After a decade of non stop bloatware the "efficiency first" bandwagon seems to be an industry wide trend for security software. At least the basic ZA firewall and most of its customizable features are still intact. They should have the the browser glow bar working since it is suppose to be a feature but as long as the browser virtualization is still active that is what is important to me.

I really do like the improved efficiency but if all the extra useful features keep disappearing the time might come for us to ditch the paid security apps altogether and just use Windows firewall and MS Security Essentials, MBAM pro and SAS pro, and a virtualization program like Sandboxie. I hope to be able to continue to use ZAES 2012 or later until the features I need aren't offered or don't work but these disappearing and non-working features aren't a good sign. Better yet I may just install a good Linux offering like Ubuntu and do away once and for all with Windows security issues.