E-Mails about Zone Alarm
Interesting Comments
Name: Alan
E-Mail: (deleted by Webmaster)
Comments: I have read with interest the comments on Zone Alarm. Well, I used to swear by this programme.
I always thought it to be a very easy and stable firewall. I used to have a number of problems when I had Win.98/ME installed.
I have since got XP Pro and don't have these problems. I also use and recommend a firewall called
OUTPOST Personal Firewall. For home use it's free, or you can buy the pro version.
All the best. Alan.
Uninstalling ZA Pro 2.6
Name: Kenneth A Agnew
E-Mail: (deleted by Webmaster)
Comments: I too was having trouble removing zone alarm pro 2.6 from a win 98se computer.I used the instructions by Ken,
removed all items as per his advice and did not use the uninstall program. When done with that, I still could not access
the internet. I then removed all the items listed by the zone alarm web site except the registry data. I found one item
vsdata95.vxd in win system that it would not let me remove. I found vsdata95.vxd identified as zone alarm pro and being
loaded from the registry its title there is internet access control. I went to the registry searched for vsdata95.vxd found
three keys and deleted them. Now my internet access works great. I spent almost three days trying to get this done.the info
on your site was helpful.
ps: After the reg keys are removed vsdata95.vxd can be removed from win sys because it is no longer being used by windows.
pps: Look in Accessories/Sys Tools/Sys Information/Software Enviorment/Expand Drivers. Click Kernal Drivers to find
vsdata95.vxd running as internet access control. It also shows it loaded by the registry and as part of the zone alarm
vector sevice program. Thanks to all, ken.
Works fine on other Platforms
Name: Joshua Prentice
E-Mail: (deleted by Webmaster)
Comments: I was having problems with ZA on my home machine and decided to do a search on the Internet to see if any
one else had the same problem. I was surprised to find that ZA was so unstable on win98 but that would explain the problems
I have had, but I wouldn’t cross ZA off yet. I’ve been running ZA on a NT 4.0 box for quite some time and my boss has been
running ZA for years on his machine same OS, and I’ve never had any problems under NT or 2000.
NewNet Entry?
Name: Mike Bosse
E-Mail: (deleted by Webmaster)
Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, CA
Comments: I'm am an experienced user I've been running ZA pro for some time now version 2.6 on 98SE and do run across true
vector not initializing sometimes most of the problems i've read about seem to be with cable modems (i'm on high speed ASDL
phone line) my buddy went through this too we uninstalled ZA and problem persisted his problems due to "newnet" entry in
registry that messes up winsock2 deleting winsock2 and installing new copy got his computer going again. his cable company
had to come and install (their new software to seems they upgraded and told nobody) lol we had a few hours of BS to wade
through but can't blame ZA.
p.s. I have Norton 2000 running with it with no auto e-mail protection I do manual scans.
I've done leak test and port scans this computer is locked down (or so all this software tells me lol) thanks for the page
and info tho if i keep getting true vector errors i will be doing the uninstall to and go back to V.1.0
Refreshing
Name: José L. Torres
E-Mail: (deleted by Webmaster)
Location: Spain
Comments: On these times of hysteria about security in the net, it is refreshing to find a site which treat security
matters with a lot of confidence. I feel somehow reassured when I read sites like yours. You see, since I installed my
cable modem I've been scared about how many people have tried to enter my PC each time I turn it on (I only have to read
my Neowatch logs to realize). Pity that Neowatch fails on the Leaktest ordeal. And, yes, I've had to reinstall my Win ME
too, courtesy of Zone Alarm.
Newnet.dll?
Name: David Ellis
E-Mail: (deleted by Webmaster)
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Comments: This comment is in regards to ZoneAlarm. Having the nightmare of a life time when uninstalling ZA,
I found my problems were not connected to ZA at all, but a file called newnet. A program which runs as a .dll
To uninstall this program was easy and it fixed my inability to access the internet. Thought I would post this to
let people know what thier problem might well be after uninstalling ZA. OH, and thanks for letting me sign your
guest page and I do hope you post this comment for all to see. It might well save many the hassels of f-disking
their system.
Scrapped It !
Name: Paul Ledbury
E-Mail: (deleted by Webmaster)
Location: Wolverhampton, UK
Comments: I am a very experienced user/programmer who has (also) had problems with ZoneAlarm Pro v2.6.
I upgraded from v1 to v2.6 on a Win98SE server and immediately had massive TCP and UDP slowdowns and delays.
After the best part of a day re-configuring and re-installing with no improvement, I scrapped ZAv2.6 and reverted
to version 1 and everything was back to normal. I certainly wouldn't now recommend it to anyone, and I welcome the
suggestion of the Tiny Personal Firewall which I will try out. Thanks...
Monster !
Name: M.Garland
E-Mail: (deleted by Webmaster)
Location: Louisville, Kentucky
Comments: Just recovered from 2 grueling days of trying to get ZoneAlarm out of my system and cleaning up the
Registry. What a mess that was. I'm on W982ndEd. I uninstalled it and then was completely unable to access the
internet. People should be warned about this monster.
New Computer !
Name: Greg Molenaar
E-Mail: (deleted by Webmaster)
Location: New London, MN
Comments: Thanks for the notes about zzzone alarms... I am (WAS) running Windows ME on a Compaq when
I got an upgrade and POOF! blue screen of death with a VSDATA95.VXD message and SYSTEM HALTED.
I would still be working on it 32 hours later but I read your notes today. Time to buy a new pc !
Can cause E-Mail problems
I’m a local computer tech and after reading many good reviews I have been using Zone Alarm for home users connected to the internet via cable modem. I have been having problems however and cannot recommend the product. Today I removed the program from a new Dell with windows ME and NAV 2001. My customer was having problems replying to and forwarding email with Netscape messenger. I investigated the issues with both Zone Labs and Symantec, and followed all suggestions including adding pop and smtp servers to the local zone. I tried several configurations in NAV 2001 with email protection both enabled and disabled. Finally I uninstalled Zone Alarm. The problems disappeared.
Zone Alarm eats Registry !
Well I left you all a note last night July 3-2001 how Zone Alarm was behaving. "OH MY, WHAT A MESS NOW".
I am now running on a reinstall of windows. the dang thing ate up my registry. It mirror imaged itself all over
the place and quarantined itself in most cases to the hard drive. Lost all Internet connections and messed up my
Ethernet card, and this was just a simple uninstall from settings control panel. If you have it go to their web page
for instructions on how to get it out of your computer.I Can't Believe It... a Fire Wall that hacks your Computer
worse then a hacker can! "WHAT A MESS" I urge you to contact Zone Alarm and give them a piece of your mind, if you
had the same probs or are having probs.
Here is one of their (so called) SIMPLE FIX FOR UNINSTALL...
Shut Down Zone Alarm from task bar before uninstall.
Restart your computer in Safe Mode. Uninstall it there.
If you know how to use the registry, here is step 2 for Zone Alarm (NOT PRO)freeware==-
(-Key: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTz10) (-Key: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTZAMailsafe)
Delete the value for both.
Reboot computer.
There can be up to 60 mirror images of these apps stuck in your reg. forever causing probs here and there..
I spent 4 and a half hrs on the phone to Compaq and 2 hrs with Shaw cable services High Speed trying everything
to get the garbage out and reconnect me to the internet... no luck.I had to reinstall a full install of windows
98 2nd edition and back to factory levels (lost everything in docs.Email Addresses, briefcase.and music saved over
the year. I can't believe these people giving out a prgm, saying on all the great computer shows how great it was
and free for home use and knowing the uninstall probs it will cause and not telling people. I got Sucked in,
did YOU??
Negative report on Version 2.6
I downloaded ZA 2.6 and was thrilled with it's performance when I found that someone had tried to hack into my system. But then the problems started happening. My system would no longer boot correctly if I shut it down. ZA was pulling over 256 megs of RAM at start-up. I tried to change this and had to turn it off completely except when I was online. Then even more problems began. I wrote to Technical support about my problem and got a systematic response that wouldn't help a cat out of a paper bag. Anyway, I uninstalled the program and from that point on had nothing but more problems with my system. In the uninstall program it corrupted a file in my Network Control Panel that made me have to reformat my hard drive just so I could access the internet. THIS TOTALLY SUCKED!!! To have to go and copy everything of importance on my 40 gig HD to CD's and totally reinstall everything ticked me off beyond belief. Until they work out the bugs in v.2.6 I CANNOT with a clear conscience recommend this product.
Beware !
I'm an experienced user and this program causes serious problems with Win98SE. Wish I would have checked the newsgroups first. I experienced several system crashes..uninstalled and I think I'm looking at a reinstall of the OS. Apparently previous versions of this program were stable. I downloaded and installed on CNET's high recommendation of the program, hence I looked at other possible issues concerning the lack of stability of my system before zoning in on zone alarm..it was definitely the culprit. Be careful, I don't recommend for Win98SE unless you're a masochist!
I had to completely restore my system after using Zone Alarm
After downloading and intalling this program... I could not get on the internet as I usually do... I had just installed ie 5.5...I thought maybe it was damaged... ( I had just uninstalled ZoneAlarm so I did a whole computer restore to get rid of ie 5.5 and go back to ie 5.0.... I reinstalled ZoneAlarm with ie 5.0 and began having the same problems... access to the Internet interrupted, or non existent. My browser would freeze, my ram would consistently drop to extremely low levels, after uninstall the same thing continued to happen. My windows began working strangely. Shutdowns and restarts would hang as before after uninstalling ZoneAlarm. I began looking around and found trailer files left behind by ZoneAlarm. My register was filled up with ZoneAlarm applications. ZoneAlarm is a true vector program I found as I was looking through my registry and you know that that means. My downloader would hang and sometimes not get connection or wait endlessly for connection or reply. I feel ZoneAlarm was what affected my computer before and after uninstalling it. Twice with the same problems...and ZoneAlarm was the common denominator. I have just finished restoring my computer again ( the second time after ZoneAlarm ) which has been a 12 hour job to restore and tweak and load my programs, still have several to go. So if you want to restore your computer , then this download may cause you to! I do not recommend ZoneAlarm to anyone. I wish i had never downloaded it!
Program caused Major Problems
I installed ZoneAlarm and I have @home cable. First I noticed I could not connect to internet. Then once I ruled out everything else I began looking for info online about ZoneAlarm. I found information about people who could not get online after installing it or having VXD and DLL link errors. I uninstalled it and then got DLL and VXD errors when I rebooted. Finally once I removed the near 100 entries into the registry and all the files it put in my C:windows\system directory the errors finally went away and I rebooted and was able to connect to my internet. This would have been a nightmare for a non-experienced person, however I must note in this whole process I replaced my Ethernet card and called @home support 3 times to test my connections. A lot of time wasted and frustration. In other words... BEWARE!
Hosed up my System
have a lot of respect for Steve Gibson and his grc.com website, but this version of Zone Alarm caused problems for me and 2 of my friends. It screwed up my PC so much I had to reinstall the operating system. I am not a novice user (and hence was well-prepared for my OS reinstall) and know my way around Windows 9x and 2K Pro. There's something seriously wrong with this program, perhaps it only effects certain system configurations, but I wouldn't risk it.
A bit of a Disaster
Everytime I download it I got an error message, but it worked. It continued to work throughout the day, THEN the problems start, it constantly caused crashes when I tried to turn my system off. It also affected my connection to Internet Explorer, wouldn't let me on the Net, but strangely had no affect on Outlook express, so I could use Email. ZoneAlarm Tech' Support don't seem interested in replying to Emails either.
