http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/ZoneAlarm_Free/1023831973/1

The reviews on that page don't look very good.

The first review was from someone who did not install it,said he just doesn't like ZA.the others were reviews of an earlier BETA version.

LilJoe

There is not one review there for the new version. I will install it happily. People who install beta versions of important programs invite problems and should not complain when they have them.

Shelly

Oh dear! Sorry about that, the reviews appear to have changed since I first looked at them so can't say now which version they were referring to. However since reading the rest of this thread I'm staying with my present version of free ZA for a while.

Shelly, how did your install go?

I checked with Zone Labs and there is no new version available. I'm certainly not crazy enough to install a beta version of anything as important as a firewall! The latest final version is 5.5.094.000.

Shelly

Actually, Shelly, version 6.0.631.003 is NOT beta. If you go to Zonelabs website, the reason the update isn't available from the updater in the ZoneAlarm interface is to help relieve stress on the servers as people who download manually get the file before the rest of the people download it using the ZA update in the interface. The version 6.0.631.003 is the latest official version. It is not beta. They wouldn't proudly display it as available for all if it was beta. Even Download.com has it and it is NOT listed as 'beta'.

ZA offers updates to registered users on a schedule to avoid server overload, but if you click on Check for Updates from within the program I have always been been able to get updated immediately. When I click there now I am told that my version of ZA Pro is up to date. When they offer the upgrade I will install it.

Shelly

I just downloaded and installed ver 6.0.632.003 without incident, per Crockett's post. Two updates within a week seem to be a response to the difficulties that some have described in earlier posts in this thread.

I think I will wait until others have installed before I risk it.

It's running fine for me with no problems at all.

I set ZA to check for updates automatically. When I see the notification I'll get it.

>I checked with Zone Labs and there is no new version
>available. I'm certainly not crazy enough to install a beta
>version of anything as important as a firewall! The latest
>final version is 5.5.094.000.

Ummm...no it's not. 6.0.632.003 is the latest final version.
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/home.jsp



http://download.zonelabs.com/bin/free/1012_zl/zlsSetup_60_631_003.exe

http://download.zonelabs.com/bin/free/information/znalm/zaReleaseHistory.html

Who wants to be a guinea pig?

OK. I was just the guinea pig. I did a clean uninstall with the /clean switch. I rebooted and ran the uninstaller for the new ZoneAlarm. Rebooted and checked things out. Didn't have any internet. Rebooted again. Ahh...internet works. I played around with Mozilla. Everything was fine. Tried IE. Won't connect to MSN. Hmmm. Tried opening MSN browser. Won't connect. Tried MSN Messenger 6.2. Nothing. Won't connect. I panic and remove ZoneAlarm. Same thing. I now decided to do something smart and booted into Linux. Gee...no MSN. Can anyone here connect with MSN.com? I think they happened to go down as I was trying out a new firewall and I just got freaked out and removed it. Other than this, it acted and looked the same as the old ZoneAlarm.

Terry

MSN popped right up when I tried it. The sites alive.

Oh brother. I don't know what to think. I can access anything else, it seems, even hotmail. Maybe my ISP is burping. Thanks Bob. It doesn't make sense that I can't even access it in Linux. Guess I will fire up the laptop and see if it works from there.

Terry

OK. Laptop doesn't get MSN either. It has got to be something else happening here. I found I can't log in to Hotmail either. But I'm thinking it has nothing to do with ZoneAlarm. I don't see anything on their forums either.

Terry

I've had 5 new computers in 7 years and none of them ever ran Zone Alarm with out a connection severing at some point during surfing. Went to their forums..Nothing ever worked on any of these machines.







Dell Dimension 4550,Win XP Home SP2, 2.4 GHZ P4, 512MB DDR PC2700 Ram, ATI Rage 128(32MB),Cable
Dell Inspiron 5160,Win XP Home SP2,2.8 GHZ,512MB Ram,32MB Vide

Well, I've found out over at dslreports that no one from my area can connect to msn. I feel better about that. But I gotta say, the internet is certainly faster for me using just the Windows firewall.

Terry

I've used ZoneAlarm for years without any connection problems. However, I am careful and wait to install new versions until I am reasonably sure it is running for the majority of people.

I've used ZA for years, but I'm still not gonna try a beta version.

"The great object is, that every man be armed. Everyone who is able may have a gun." - Patrick Henry

This is not beta. It's a public release.

I have been using the beta version (629) with no problems. I am not happy that it will not monitor AVG antivirus.

Correction. I posted the link to the free version. I am actually using the Pro version. Link here:
http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/ZoneAlarm_Pro/1023831973/3

I'd like to hear from Marti on this one.

Edit: Went ahead and installed anyway (after imaging my system). Seems to run pretty much like the previous version, except that I notice that there are a lot of listings under Program Control that are completely blocked. I expect that if I need to access a web site that is blocked I can unblock it.

I have updated one unit so far with no problems.
I'm not sure if Marti is still on ZA team,since her last several postings do not have it in her signature.
---------------------------------------------
oops,I'm using the Pro version

LilJoe

Thanks. I'm running Windows Firewall on MORPH here, but MEL and MURPHY both use ZA.

I have ZAP with XP-SP2.
I did a "clean" install and had problems. I tried 3 times.
During installation I got an error message something about not being able to make changes unless logged in as Administrator (but I am and always am)
True Vector never loaded or installed as a service. In red writing inside ZAP it said "System error".

Went back to 5.5.094.000 after another clean install and everything was well again.

OK....an update....I re-installed 5.5 then tried an over the top install of 6.0 and this time it worked, BUT:
1. it ended up blocking all of my programs already listed....



...so I restored my settings to fix that and then...
2. It doubled all of my Site Lists entries under Privacy.

This is really messed up!
At least it is now working, but I'm not a happy camper.

Hmm... I think I'll hold off for now with installing the new version. I prefer to go with an upgrade path so that I don't have to redo all of the settings for the programs and networks.

It gets worse again....

Update #2.....

I always use the screensaver and power save options of turning off the monitor and harddrive after some time has gone by.
This morning I turn the corner and I can still see my desktop?????
Go to the computer and nothing is working. Mouse isn't frozen but there is absolutely nothing to click on and keyboard shortcuts don't work either.
I had to do a bad shutdown.
Reboot and open up ZAP to find a bunch of new entries in my Programs list (usually found under running processes) that probably needed permission to work during the above phase for this new TRUST LEVEL crap in ZAP.... like Windows NT Session Manager (smss.exe) and Windows User Driver Mode Manager(wdfmgr.exe).

Last night I got rid of all my double entries of Sites under my Privacy section. This morning that section was blank????? WTF!!!

Not sure if any of this has to do with the free version, but I would not recommend Zone Alarm Pro being updated.
This is supposed to be a final version....LOL

Crockett, my adventure last night was with the free version. I had enough quirks left over even after a clean uninstall that I did a system restore and all is back to normal. I think I will wait for this release to iron out some problems and just run with the Windows firewall for now. I'm behind a router and I run as a limited user, so no big deal.

Terry

Everyone should be online with a limited user accounted and save the Admin account for when you need to do system tasks.

Bit the bullet and installed it - kinda wish I hadn't.

It installed fine and upgraded seeemingly keeping my settings in tact as far as I can see but if I log off and log on again it gives me a "System Error: Please Reboot" because the True Vector Service has puked. Also seems to have added a little time to my boot but I'm not concrete about that yet.

Kinda stinks of the last major release that turned into a huge beta test

Installed the Free version on one computer so far.
Looks the same. Works the same.
Everything looks fine on my end.
(PS: This was a new install. Had no prior version of ZA installed).

In my case, I installed over the top of the previous version (free) and have had no problems at all. It's running the same as before.

Try logging off your account and back onto it - the only really problem I have is that doing that screws up the Vector service and I have to reboot. Shouldn't do that as the last version didn't.

Judging from some posts on the ZA forum there are some issues with this build which hopefully will be ironed out before ZA opens up the update servers with it next week.
Guru's are suggesting NOT upgrading if you run a network.

"Try logging off your account and back onto it"


Right you are.
Did just that, & ZA pops up & says,

"System Error: Please Reboot"

Now, ain't that something !

When you get that error like I did, you'll see a big red X through the ZA icon in your System Tray. It means The True Vector Service isn't running.
Rebooting didn't help. Going back to 5.5 did.

Yup - I'm back on 5 and I'll be waiting for this extended beta test to be finished with before upgrading again.

I'm not about to try this version until things are sorted out, but I'm running Free 6.0.631.002 with nary a problem.

"The great object is, that every man be armed. Everyone who is able may have a gun." - Patrick Henry

Same as Bobbo...no problems

DavyWavy -

From what I could tell on their website, there doesn't seem to be any differences for the FREE version of 5.5 and 6.

The Free version still has the basic firewall. All other paid versions get the new Triple Defense Firewall and the Anti-Spyware.

Someone know if there are any changes to the FREE version at all?

You mean other then it is not working properly .
I noticed no differences between v5 & v6 free's.
Nor v4, v5, v6 for that matter.
Though I'm sure there have been improvements added over time.
And now bugs.

Isn't there a place to backup your settings? Mine is in Overview>Preferences. I use that. I work hard to get the privacy settings just right and don't want to do those over everytime I reinstall or upgrade.

Maggie, when you install over the existing ZA, all of your settings will be saved. At least that is my experience.

I've uninstalled and put betas on mine, uninstalled those and upgraded also. It is easier to use the backup and restore just in case.

>Isn't there a place to backup your settings? Mine is in
>Overview>Preferences. I use that. I work hard to get the
>privacy settings just right and don't want to do those over
>everytime I reinstall or upgrade.
>

Yes, and I have and used the backup, but with ZAP, it still messed them up, and that new section regarding the Triple Defense Firewall is something not included nor can one disable it. Using Power Save mode, it made me do a hard shutdown.
I use Process Guard so I do not need all that extra crap. We should at least be able to disable it like we can for AntiVirus monitoring.

Looks like they are trying to cover every level or your computing and surfing. You should be able to disable features you don't want or need.
I'm using Etrust Firewall 5.5.109.05 Beta, it is a ZA Pro clone. Computer Associates are beta testing Suites with everything included, but the Firewall hasn't been compromised yet.
I got the Firewall cheap 24.95 because I had some of their software already.

A couple things.

First the version number.

The current version seems to be v6.0.631.003.
The subject says 6.0.632.002 (& perhaps can be changed).
The 002 has now been updated to 003, but AFAIK there is no 632, only 631.

Second.

The error that Steve pointed out (#26 above), "System Error: Please Reboot", that existed with v6.0.631.002, still exists with v6.0.631.003. So if you were to upgrade for that reason, don't.

>The error that Steve pointed out (#26 above), "System Error:
>Please Reboot", that existed with v6.0.631.002, still exists
>with v6.0.631.003. So if you were to upgrade for that reason,
>don't.

Exactly!
If one reads the changelog for these twop versions, they only fixed the Network Connection issue?
All the problems I had mentioned already in this thread still exist.
1. System Error message...meaning there is no True Vector Service is installed.
2. Double entries listed in the Privacy section of ZAP, which would only happen if you escaped problem #1
3. They messed up all program permissions and blocked everything.
4. Importing my backup was messed up with problem #2 occurring and also it not remembering my answers.
5. Their new feature of "Triple Defense Firewall" cannot be disabled and I ran into a problem of having to use a hard shutdown when I was using Power Save modes and screensaver mode.

>The error that Steve pointed out (#26 above), "System Error:
>Please Reboot", that existed with v6.0.631.002, still exists
>with v6.0.631.003. So if you were to upgrade for that reason,
>don't.


I was hoping someone would guineau pig that for me - Looks like I'm waiting .
Cheers Steven

I downloaded it yesterday and installed on top of what I had (6.0.631.002). No problems whatsoever so far.

"The great object is, that every man be armed. Everyone who is able may have a gun." - Patrick Henry

That doesn't mean a lot to me though unless you can verify that logging off and logging back on has been fixed - which according to therube is still an issue.

It also changed any programs set to ASK to BLOCK - Did it do that with you?

No, it didn't change any of my program permissions. As I said, I've had no problems whatsoever.

"The great object is, that every man be armed. Everyone who is able may have a gun." - Patrick Henry

Perhaps you missed this post:
http://www.pcqanda.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=2&topic_id=373713&mesg_id=373713&page=3