Zonealarm question.

I just want to know if I can install the latest version with Windows XP without
any serious problems. The reviews at download.com were mixed wth some people
saying not to install it.

I'll be using it with a dial-up connection. I don't know if that matters. The
description at downloads.com said it's a firewall for high-speed connections or
something to that effect.

I use an old version and don't have any experience with the newer versions.

Thanks.

 

I've been running ZApro on 2 XPpro systems for a couple years with no
problems. Runs much better than back in 98SE days when the truevector
service would hang the system about 40% of the time - that has never
happened to me on XP yet. I recommend it to friends and family (along
with Eset Nod32 antivirus).

There are some good newsgroups on the news.grc.com news server that
are good to read over, especially the grc.security.software ng.

 

are you installing winxp sp2?

are you installing it over winxp, winxpsp1, winme, win98, etc?

i am assuming you are currently running WinXP or WinXP SP1 and you
want to upgrade to WinXP SP2. i would not attempt to do that via a
dial-up connection. MS will send you a free WinXP SP2 upgrade CD.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/sp2/cdorder/en_us/default.mspx

73,
rich, n9dko

 

Although some earlier versions of ZoneAlarm caused some problems, the
newest (current) version works quite well.

 

Thanks. It's not the latest version of XP that I want.

I want to know if the latest version of _Zonealarm_ works reasonably well with
XP. I'm planning to install Zonealarm on a new PC with the XP Media Center OS.
By reasonable well I mean can I install Zonealarm without worrying about whether
it will destroy the operating system. If I don't like the way it works I can
always uninstall it.

 

Thank you. That helps to know.

 

Thanks. I don't see much in grc.security.software, just a few spam posts.

alt.computer.security seems decent. I need to know the basics about using XP
without security problems.

 

sorry, i misunderstood.

which version of ZA? i use the free ZA and the most recent version
works just fine with WinXP SP2. before installing anything i highly
recommend performing an image backup of the drive or partition.

73,
rich, n9dko

 

I just reset that ng in my outlook express and there are over 96000
posts none of which are spam. Lots of good info in there. Plus, it
appears the Zone Alarm developers regularly read/post there, too.

 

That's odd, Easynews has a total of 18 posts in that group. Google groups shows
a total of 152 messages. That means 152 since they started saving messages for
this group. I don't know why I'd see a low total from two servers and you get
96000.

What does grc stand for? Maybe I'll have my ISP add the group.

Readfreenews doesn't carry it either.

Thanks.

 

Now I'm not sure if this is completely true. I've been looking in
alt.comp.security and some people say it doesn't uninstall too well. ;-)

That's okay. I should have mentioned Zonealarm in the message.

It's the free version. I think it's version 6.1.737. I don't see a version
number on their site. Filename is zlsSetup_61_737_000_en.exe.

That sounds like a good idea. Unfortunately I know nothing about it. I'll have
to do some research. Can it be done with one hard disk? That's all I've got.
I should probably pick another cheap one somewhere for emergencies.
Is there reliable free software around for this purpose?

Thanks.

 

GRC hosts their own newserver that is open to the public ... You need
to add the news.grc.com news server to your news client.

Gibson Research has been around a long time, their ShieldsUp is good
to check if your pc ports are properly firewalled and stealthed, etc.

http://www.grc.com/

..... there is a lot of stuff on his site so just go to the ShieldsUp
area first.

 

yes, but its always better to place the backup file (image or
otherwise) on another medium like a second hard drive, DVD, etc.
external hard drives are fairly inexpensive these days.

yup. norton ghost does image backups as does BootIT NG. of those two
current products i think the BootIt NG product is probably better, but
that's just a personal opinion.

i've been using a now out-of-production product called 'drive image'.
the company that published DI was bought by Symantec who then shelved
DI in favor of their Norton Ghost product. you can still find DI v7
on eBay.

WinXP has a couple of built-in processes that are similar to an image
backup...their internal backup process and the WinXP restore points.
the WinXP backup process is a file-by-file backup process that doesn't
really restore a hard drive to its previous condition. for restoring
specific files it is reasonably competent. the WinXP restore point
comes closer to an image backup but it may not capture all the needed
files.

a good drive/disk imaging tool will take a snapshot of the hard drive
(or partition if you have the hard drive sub-divided into smaller
partitions) and thus enable you to restore that drive or partition to
its previous state. the benefits of this are enormous. i always
perform an image backup of my operating system and programs partition
prior to upgrading or adding anything. if the upgrade or install
creates a problem i don't have to worry if the uninstall process
really uninstalled everything...i just restore the partition back to
the way it was before the upgrade or install. i couple the image
backup with a few other processes and utlilties such as a spyware
scan, virus scan, etc. the result is that i have a very clean system
that runs well.

how detailed you want to be is a personal choice but i strongly
recommend that at the minimum you perform an image backup before you
install or upgrade any software. don't just take my word for it...do
your own research and come to your own conclusions.

good luck,

73,
rich, n9dko

norton ghost:
<http://www.symantec.com/home_homeoffice/products/backup_recovery/ghost10/index.html>

booti ng:
<http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/>

 

I've been thinking about getting an enclosure and low cost hard disk to go with
it.

Thank you and thanks for the information. I'll definitely look into it. I think
it's worth a few dollars to have a quick easy way get your hard disk back to the
way it was.

Cool!

 

Thank you.

 

GRC = (Steve) Gibson Research Corp/Co