ZoneAlarm

[Guest Weasel526]

Would it be a goos idea to install ZoneAlarm Pro on WinXP 2600?

I heard that it doesn't work very well with XP, is this true?

[aco Veteran]

You could always use the built in firewall for windows XP

[Jon]

....or as I keep saying, just use an up to date virus checker, because it will do the job a dam site better than a 'personal firewall'.

The only thing they protect u against are trojans, CERTAINLY not any kinda DoS attack (try it. pc will die, as the packets of data still have to be blocked + logged, taking cpu cycles), but something like McAfee Virus Scan 4.5.1 will pick up all trojans the momant it places its self on your hdd, no matter if its operating or not.

And they detect harmful active X code, dodgy web sites etc (such as the embeded code a while back that could allow a website to run commands on ur machine, the example used cmd dir /s I think. AV picked up on that code).

Stop going crazy about personal firewalls people, you dont need to be logging 8 megs of scans a day, then crapping urself thinking your being hacked!

(PS. Port scans arn't harm full if you've got no trojan installed, AV will make sure you dont, so they are nothing to worry about. )

Jon

(And yeah, this points been argued by me and some friends on every bbs/ng possible, hell I even got quoted by WEN on the IWAR news letter, and NO ONE can give a truely good reason to use personal firewalls)

[Firebird]

.............virus checker is "better" than firewall,..... come on jon...u cant be for real...thats like comparing apples with oranges..

a firewall canvasses network traffic..ie a filter...

but i do agree that a lot of people freak out when the firewall alerts them to uninvited network traffic........most of the time it is just innocent/essential traffic from your isp,.... or site/service you are using...

however,.... one needs only to be bitten once, and the reality of being "attacked" will make u paranoid forever...

I have seen people, mostly families, stop using the net becuase they were attacked...to me this is sad and unneccesary as i believe we should all have the pleasure of utilising this magnificent technology......:)

[Jon]

Fair comment, AV is not better than a firewall.

The 'personal firewall' included with winxp is NOT A FIREWALL.

'a firewall canvasses network traffic..ie a filter... '

No. A firewall performs statefull inspection, NAT, a great many things. A firewall is a clever beast, that needs a hell of a lot of setting up.

The thing that comes with winXP is a girly little port blocker, that doesnt do much good.

Ok you say people got hacked....

It ALWAYS comes back to the same question (which does get me mad, some ppl just dont listen).

***If the AV software picks up the trojan the instant it is installed, where is the opertunity for a 'hacker' to connect to it, and cause trouble??***

The trouble they cause, the amount of worry, just isnt worth bothering with.

Your average computer user doesnt need to be wasting time on NG's wondering what upd ports icq use, or even just asking wat a upd port is! They dont need to know.

Surely It would make MORE sense to haev AV software as a core+default part of an OS, than a pathetic attempt at a firewall?

Jon

[CodeByte]

Using XP 2600 and ZoneAlarm 2.6.231 for two weeks. Works like a charm. No problems, no crashes.

[PabUK Veteran]

Used Zonealarm in XP at first and had too many problems. Couldn't get internet connection sharing working at all, was blocking all traffic to other computer. Then it started blocking all traffic to my own computer! So I uninstalled reinstalled but the same things happened again. It was the latest version (231) so I gave up on it for now. I am currently using Tiny Personal Firewall which I still cannot set up for ICS either but at least it lets me use the internet!

[Jon]

What OS machine are you trying to use ICS with?

Double check you've actually got the default gateway and dns server set on the client machine, and ICS is actually enabled on the dial up adapted.

Try killing the firewall service, and seeing if NAT starts to work.

If it does, start>run>cmd netstat -a , and check which ports its running on. Then in Tiny Personal Firewall, specifically make allow rules on the correct adapters for this comms.

Normally problems with ICS relate to trying to perform NAT on the wrong interface, or incorrectly including the hosting machines ip in translations. (Personally I think this is the problem)

I've tested Tiny firewall with ICS in win2k, and there were no problems what so ever. (I may hate personal firewalls, but I also like to know my enemy, hence my arguements are generally valid and well researched!).

I am using ICS in XP RTM, but not with any kind of firewall.

If you dont figure it out by tonight (say 5 hrs), i'll slap tiny personal firewall on and work out the correct port mappings.

Good luck!

Jon

[PabUK Veteran]

Thanks Jon I will look into all that and see if I can sort it out. As far as I remember ICS was working fine without a firewall so I think it is just the firewall that needs configuring. I had better check though first because there have been other network problems as well recently.

[Baigley]

Hey,

Im using Zone Alarm PRO and it works fine, I have always used Zone Alarm on all my computers, and tell all my friends to use it also.

i really didnt like XP's firewall that much, it seemed not to work as good as Z.A.

I am also running System Works 2002..

It has all the bells and whistles that ya need :)

[Jon]

I would so love to see you zonealarm guys get DoS'd, then try and say personal firewalls are good.

Big log files, filling up your hdd with port scans, icmp pings, proxy requests, god knows wat, and no added protection over an upto date virus scanner.

/me chants *waste* *of* *time*

*sigh*

Jon

[Ironguy]

One nice thing about ZoneAlarm is that it makes your computer invisible on the Web. That is, your ports don't show up as even being there. Also, turn off logging. It's just another level of protection...just in case.

[Jon]

It doesnt matter if your ports ping or not (trust me it isnt completely invisible) , hackers / script kiddies only care wat services are running on ports.

The ignore a port unless it gives them a specific reply to a probe.

Jon

[PabUK Veteran]

Thought I had better give an update...

I just went back through the home networking wizard in XP on both systems, connected to the internet on my computer and ICS was working (the other computer could use the internet connection as well). Then I ran Tiny on my system expecting it to stop traffic to the other computer, but it hasn't. The other computer is still using the connection, even though I haven't to my knowledge set it up to do so. Unless I gave it permission before when it still didn't work.

So I have no explanation for this and I am still unsure as to whether or not it will continue to work after restarts and reconnections but we'll see.

Thanks again for your help Jon, I know who to turn to if it goes off again!

[Jon]

Heh, I'm pretty sure that equates to the following:

The machine that isnt connected directly to the net wasn't setup with a default gateway, and a dns server. So no matter how much tiny firewall was letting through, the 'client' machine simply wouldnt know where to look to see the internet. Now it does, its happy :)

IF I had to choose a personal firewall, (at pain of death etc) I would choose tiny personal firewall.

Zone alarm is SH*T, and not the effort it takes to double click on install.exe

However, I dont think they should be called personal firewalls.

More like personal saftey blanket or sumfin....

Glad your ics is working tho ;)

Jon

[PabUK Veteran]

I have never met anyone with such a hatred of firewalls, it is quite funny!

And I am even more glad my ICS is working! :D

[Redmak Administrators]

Originally posted by PabUK

I have never met anyone with such a hatred of firewalls, it is quite funny!

Yeah same here lol :)

I use Sygate as a firewall, mainly because I want to know what comes in and what goes out. I install a lot of software on my pc and a lot of it tries to reach the internet. I just want to know about these things.

And it keeps me safe while I'm online half the day. It does block stuff you know.

Oh and until yesterday I never used anti virus software and never had any problems (installed it because of nimda).

[Jon]

All it blocks are attempts to access trojans which you dont have.

So erm wats the point? :)

I dont normally run AV software, generally speaking it slows a machine down too much for my liking (I go with common sense + reading bugtraq etc everyday).

[Jon]

Check out some of the friends myself and Richard Whitcombe have 'participated' in, on btinternet.support NG.

And I made #1 news article on the IWAR newsletter (read by the likes of the fbi), coz I have a dam valid point.

Jon

[Jon]

How come my number of posts didnt go up then!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jon

[Jon]

Oh it did. Ignore me. being cornish :)

Jon

[Jon]

Oh and whilst i'm here...

** I DONT HATE FIREWALLS **

I hate personal firewalls.

A firewalls place is on a single box, with no other processes running, in a corporate environment (where its needed).

That kinda firewall is v.v.v.v.v.v.v.good

The instant another process is run along side a firewall, it becomes insecure. Which is kinda why personal firewalls are such a joke.

A few years back, a mate was running an early incarnation of these things, portgrabber or sumfin , cant remember the name.

I used to have great fun with him, all I had to do was telnet to his port 139 and send crap, and the 'firewall' crashed fataly.

Handy firewall. :)

Jon

[PabUK Veteran]

Are 5 posts in a row really necessary? :evil:

[Jon]

Err not really, sorry.

Was trying to do too many things at once..

Jon

[Yellow911GT2]

I installed zone alarm a couple of days ago and it blocked off my connection to the net. I messed around with it but couldnt figure it out so I uninstalled it. When I restarted the computer it said error could not load profile. I couldnt boot in safe mode either so I had to format my comp. so that sucked :(