Zone Alarm is a joke.

[alfredodedarc]

I was under the impression that Email scanning was an imporrtant function of any antivirus program. ZoneAlarm Free does not do that task, making it a pretty lame entry in the free market.

I tried it for a short while- before their shortcoming was common knowledge- and the popups urging me to buy their program was the final straw for me.

I don't like free programs that are hobbled- and I definitely don't like programs with nag popups!

[_neutrino Veteran]

I remember back in the day when ZoneAlarm was the GoTo for email and firewall protection however, these days they are rather poor.

[Brian Miller]

They lost the plot after 2002.

[LaP]

Bridgers used to love ZoneAlarm when i was playing Halo.

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

I remember them blocking anything. Until you enable every app. Plus, I remember them to be resource hogs.

[Anibal P]

Just use MSE, it does a great job, ZoneAlarm has been garbage for quite a while

[Crisp]

Damn, I haven't heard that name in ages!

[Copernic Reporter]

Perhaps someone didn't noticed that the latest version of ZA offers Kaspersky Antivirus for free?

[HawkMan]

I was under the impression that Email scanning was an imporrtant function of any antivirus program. ZoneAlarm Free does not do that task, making it a pretty lame entry in the free market.

I tried it for a short while- before their shortcoming was common knowledge- and the popups urging me to buy their program was the final straw for me.

I don't like free programs that are hobbled- and I definitely don't like programs with nag popups!

Email scanning is kind of redundant.

With modern virus programs that have network/Internet traffic modules, e-mails first get scanned as they get downloaded, then the email module scans them, then the real time scanner scans the same data when you open the mail or attachment.

But yeah, zone alarm is crap and always was.

If you just want a virus scanner, get MSE want full security, get norton.

[francescob]

MSE doesn't scan the emails while they're downloaded (acting like an email proxy like Norton and other AVs do), it scans the attachments when you open/save them.

[sc302 Veteran]

when was it not a joke? my first iteration with software firewalls was zonealarm, the fker blocked gmail, windows updates and a bunch of other crap....even when it was "disabled". the only way to unblock was to uninstall the program. It was the best at stopping you from doing what you want or need to do. Never loaded that garbage on any windows OS ever and everytime that a client had issues with it loaded on, I recommended that they remove it, walked them through the disable process first though just so they could see how great it was at disabling itself and allowing you access.

[remixedcat]

what sc302 says and then some.... its a bonzibuddy of AV software

[Obi-Wan Kenobi]

what sc302 says and then some.... its a bonzibuddy of AV software

I'm not even religious, and I throw an a-men in the air! ^THIS^

[Growled Member]

I agree, they are indeed a joke. I stopped using them in 2005 when it blew up a computer I was working on and then the next week blew up another one.

[JJ_]

ZoneAlarm FW has been unfit for purpose for a long while now. If you want a decent FW, use Comodo which is free. I have it set up in custom mode to stop anything I don't want calling home from accessing the network. Kaspersky Anti-Virus scans e-mails in real-time and does a good job at it too. Been using both Comodo and KAV in harmony for over 2 years

[spaceelf]

Comodo firewall is super annoying. I picked up Panda Cloud AV Pro just now, could've probably stuck with MSE though.

[JJ_]

It takes Getting used to and with many different modes. Cant go wrong with custom mode though

[+LogicalApex MVC]

Honestly, what is the need for a client side software firewall when you already have a decent AV application? It would only serve to cause annoyance to the user and add overhead to the networking stack with very little benefit.

Especially with the idiotic "Do you want to allow xyz.exe to access the internet?" as if the vast majority if users are going to be able to accurately ascertain the validity of the program requesting access. It becomes an impediment to their daily routine and ends up asking this question so often that they user resorts to constantly clicking allow to get it out of their way.

Unless you are siting naked on the web, which few users are since most have a gateway in the middle, I can't see the benefit.

[francescob]

Why would anybody need a third party firewall when Windows 7's one (even Vista's) can also be set to monitor outgoing connections?

[Denis W. Veteran]

Why would anybody need a third party firewall when Windows 7's one (even Vista's) can also be set to monitor outgoing connections?

This. And these are the days of multiple computers behind routers, which would prevent most direct connections to computers that were a problem in the past decade with PCs directly connected to the DSL/cable modem. Besides, the Windows Firewall since Vista sets settings based on your network type.

[-T- Member]

I remember back in the day having to fix a ton of internet issues caused by folk installing ZoneAlarm. Crazy thing blocked everything even when uninstalled sometimes.

[PGHammer]

Just use MSE, it does a great job, ZoneAlarm has been garbage for quite a while

When MSE gained the code of Giant Anti-Spyware, ZA's days were numbered - I remember using it as an alternative to the even porkier Norton Internet Security (pre-Norton 360).

Between Norton 360's launch, NIS cleaning up their act, and the steady improvements in MSE (and the inclusion as Windows Defender in Windows 8), most users need ZA (any version) *why*?

[MtnDewCodeRedFreak]

Lol at this thread. I remember installing a trial version of ZoneAlarm on Win 98SE a long time ago. The nagging was horrible, so I uninstalled it.

Looking back, I'd pick Vista and 7's UAC over ZoneAlarm!

[torrentthief]

I have windows firewall enabled but that doesn't allow you to block applications from calling home (as far as i'm aware) so i have zonealarm too. I use avast antivirus as MSE is awful, it misses so many viruses, can't remove viruses and has loads of false detections, can't believe others don't hate MSE too.

I may try a different firewall app soon though.

[devHead]

ZoneAlarm is a joke? Bro, 2001 called; they want their obvious truth back.