ZoneAlarm Pro 70_337_000

Hi,

Please post your feedback on ZoneAlarm Pro 70_337_000

Any user of ZoneAlarm Pro 70_337_000 !!!

 

Hello,
Have tested it. Works rather OK.
Friendly enough as always.
Mrk

 

Hi, folks: I have upgaded and moved over to ZA Pro 7.0.337 from ZASS 6.5 737. I waited this long to make my move, just want to be certain that this one is ONE I can trust. ZA Pro is the only one (correct me, if you will) in ZA 7's family that will NOT make your cybertime miserable. The others, due to foreign body part of KAV, IMO, you might as well push them into archive for now. ZA pro works like a charm, feeling the ZA of old days has returned. An improvement, indeed. A significant compliment among many negative finger-pointings. If you are in market of a decent FW, just give a spin. Good luck.

 

Works great, but im having some problems with the cookie blocker.
If I turn it on, some images won't load, and youtube.com doesnt load at all.

 

Hi, folks: I have turned off AD and Cookier blocker, they are not that good, just some sort of plug-ins.

 

Sometimes you do need to lower Cookie control for images to load. You can always block cookies through your browser while doing that if you wish.

Pages sometimes need the 'referer' in order to load, and you will block the referer with the cookie slider set at medium or above.

I prefer to leave the cookie control at medium, only lowering when required.

The Privacy section of ZAP/ZASS is one of the most useful features for blotting out exploit attempts (ie via Mobile Code Control) but you do need to understand what it is doing and be prepared to switch on/off certain sections for downloading and enhanced functionality on safe sites.

Some people get frustrated and don't use Privacy section - that is their loss! The plain fact is that with Mobile Code Control set to block everything (including java script) you are unlikely to suffer from a drive-by download. In my opinion it is simpler blocking via the FW than fiddling with browser settings to achieve the same result. You can easily allow java script etc at safe sites.

As far as ZAP 7.0.337.000 is concerned, the operating system FW is a very nice feature protecting from the activities of malware should it ever get on your system. I really don't know how good the AS scanner is, but I guess it's at least as good as Spybot/AdAware.

 

ZAP v7.0.337.000 is an excellent FW and very user-friendly, but fwiw, it has a 'heavy footprint' (33MB).

 

Mine is on medium, but I have problems like this:



And if I reload the page 4 times or something, all the images appear again..?

 

I'Ve never experienced a bunch of smilies!

If an image doesn't load you usually get a red cross, refreshing once (after putting the cookie slider to off) should bring the image back, if not then use the 'Back' button of your browser and re-enter the site fresh.

Other reasons for pages not loading could be the ad-blocker, java script blocked or perhaps it requires some other form of mobile code. However there are certain bad sites (porno etc) that deliberately set themselves not to load correctly unless you lower your browser or FW settings; and as soon as you do lower your defences you get hit! So I would only do that for a site I was confident was 'clean'.

 

I'm thinking of getting the newest version of ZA Pro myself. Do you guys recommend upgrading to the newest version every year, or do you generally recommend just sticking with a version that works well on your system and not worrying about always running the most recent version of ZA Pro ?

I don't mind paying for a decent product, but I hate managing (and paying for) a bunch of ongoing upgrades and subscription fees for various security softwares.

Thanks
John

 

I use FireFox with adblock plus and no-script, so need to worry about that
Because of that I switched the adblocker etc. off in ZA.

All the image etc. worked fine before the installation of ZA pro, and im sure the cookie blocker causes the problems..

But since I do not really fancy keep sliding with the cookie blocker level, I may just switch it off permanently.

 

Hi Again:

My most recent feedback on ZA Pro 7.0.337 is in the following thread dealing with increased scan times on other ASW like SS.

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=169175

If you are unsure about how it will work on your PC use it on 15 day trial before laying down your $.

I use ZA Pro ongoing but turn off ASW and email scaning since it duplicates what SS and BD does for me.

You run it in it's learning mode to let it learn your settings per application.

Still haven't switched on mobile code yet but will.

If you are moving from ZASS make sure you do a full uninstall on it!

 

Hi there.

ZA is an excellent firewall. Very secure and with bunch of additional (non-firewall) stuff. The thing with the latest version is that it has changed the owner recently, so everybody is a bit wary about it (this transactions more than occasionally prove to be a failure). I am not familiar with v7, I tried it briefly, but I was a satisfied user of series-6 a year ago or so. It is very user-friendly, but it also allows fine-tuning. A bit heavy on resources, but no other complaints whatsoever. I believe you can't go wrong with ZA firewall, just choose the dedicated version (Pro). BTW, regarding the choice of version, everybody likes to use the new one, it's a matter of prestige, not quality or protection... (just look at the ESS board - so many 'beta-testers')

Cheers.

 

If you buy a licence for ZAP it is good for ugrades and support until the licence expires. If a new version comes out you will be informed (so long as you have ZAP set to check for updates) and can install the new version without charge if you wish (generally I don't hurry to install the 'latest', I prefer to wait until the dust settles in case of bugs etc).

When your licence expires you can renew (at a discount) or continue using your current version without renewing, in which case you will lose the entitlement to updates/upgrades/support etc. That means you will not get AS scanner definitions, will not be able to rely on 'Smart Defence' recommensations etc, but you can keep what you have bought, which is a good deal more than the free version offers.

 

Hi TopperID,

Thanks for your reply. Do you think that most people update to the next version of ZA PRO after their license expires, thus getting a new version each year or so, or do you think that most people just buy the product once and when their subscription expires, keep using what they have bought without worrying about having the most current version ?

Would I likely be better off buying the pro version once, and after the license expires, just keep what I have, without worrying about using the most current version, or keep using the most current versions of the free Zone Alarm as they come out ? With the free ZA, I would always have the current version, but it would have limitations being free. With the Pro, I would have a better product with the OS firewall, "but" I would likely want to let my license expire after a year and then just keep using what I had bought. Is a newer version of ZA free better than an older version of ZA pro, or is it the reverse ? I guess it depends on how old and how new the respective versions are

I understand the ideal situation would be to keep buying new versions and subscriptions of ZA Pro forever, I'm sure that's what Zone Labs would recommend but with all the bills nowadays, I don't want to pay for something I don't really need. In general, can most people just settle on a version of ZA pro that works for them and just leave it at that, or from a standpoint of protection, do most people need to always use the most current version of ZA ?

Thanks again,
John

 

New versions are being released every few months, often they are not major upgrades and it will be a matter of choice whether to constantly uninstall/reinstall every time. I only bother if I think the new version has improvements sufficient to make it worthwhile.

You can keep track of the changes here:-

http://download.zonelabs.com/bin/free/information/zap/releaseHistory.html

It's cheaper to renew a licence than it is to buy one in the first place and I'm sure most people would prefer to keep their licence current so as to continue getting upgrades and Spyware definitions etc.

The free version is a different product, it is just a basic FW without all the extras, such as the Operating System FW etc which helps keep out spyware.

The product is constantly evolving to meet the latest threats; the current version is altogether more powerful than older versions.

I think most people would either choose the free version or else get the pro version and keep it up to date, unless they decide to change FW for whatever reason. But it is up to you, you have the choice.

 

Personal comment.
I have never had any problems(from view of conflicts) with the installation of this firewall. I think ZA can give very good protection, with many options, from simple application internet access, to the advanced rules. My only problem if with the inability to place rules on vsmon(ZA own process). If this control was given, then I would use this firewall myself.

 

Just to complicate your decision a little further...

I'm presently halfway thru a 15 day trial of ZAPro 7.0.337 and it is working pretty well alongside Spysweeper 5.3 and Nod32 2.7. But after reading this thread and checking the status of various modules in ZAPro, I find that I have the AS module turned off (using SS), the AV monitoring module off, the e-mail protection off (using Nod32's emon and imon), the privacy features off (cookie control, ad blocking, and mobile control) and the identity protection module off.

If you go to the ZA site, you can find a comparison page with the various packages and what features each contain. With all these ZAPro features turned off on my machine, it makes sense for me to purchase the ZA Antispyware package which is $20 cheaper. Just thought you might want to take a look.

Oldshep

 

Hi, folks: You are probably right on the mooney. I have read someone has mentioned before either here or elsewhere. And ZAAS is lighter than Pro.

 

Hi again:

Your configuration is identical to mine with the exception of BD 10 instead of Nod32.

Do you see your choice then as ZA pro being dumped and getting ZAASW package? Where is the detection data on that product?

I'm confused again. I use the ZA Pro as a good FW and turn off it's add ons either as I don't use them or to avoid clashes.

With Nod32 or BD 10 I would doubt we need to spend the $20. We could run any number of proven online scanners including KAV or BD!

 

While trialing ZAP 70.737 I tried to plug my system directly into a cable modem rather than through the router, as I had been having a problem with the router. ZAP crashed and could not be brought back without a reboot. I went back to Comodo.

 

Hello Escalader,

ZAAS is just a less expensive version of ZAPro (at least that's the way I think of it). I would turn the AS function off in ZAAS like I do in ZAPro and just use the firewall. The difference between the packages (according to ZA website) is ZAAS does not have the "privacy protection" and "Identity theft protection" features. I currently have those off in ZAPro now anyway. Everything else is supposed to be the same.

I've got a trial download of ZAAS and will be installing in the next week or so. I'll let you know how it works.

Oldshep

 

Hi Oldshep:

I've got it! Never having looked at ZAAS before my feeble brain probably thought ZA Suite! That is not what you are talking about!

I am very interested in your view of ZASS!

What needs to be learned is what is the future of ZAAS and ZA Pro wrt Vista. I would hate to renew or go the way you are (maybe) only to find it doesn't work on a new PC should I get that!

I owe you some updated scan times but will have to wait til after tax time is done

 

I have a license for ZoneAlarm AV and the firewall works very well, no problems encountered. Although I sometimes get annoyed by the frequent popups of "ZoneAlarm has blocked infiltration of your computer from blah blah"

It is very efficient as a firewall, and I would definitely recommend it as long as you live in the western part of the world. There's a gap of support and customer service for those living in eastern countries, but that is just my experience.

 

Hi Diver:

As everybody here knows I'm not popular at ZA since I ask nasty questions, so let me ask you, did you just do that direct to the cable bit while on line?

I had ZA pro working via cable direct during a test and ZAP stayed up. It would never have occurred to me to even try that physical an action while connected! I logged off, changed the connections to cable and then booted up.

Try the same thing with Comodo and tell us what happens. It's very interesting!