Comments on: ZoneAlarm for Windows Vista? Don’t do it

By: ed

ed — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:44:20 +0000

when my za finished installing it asked me to restert the computer when it got to the ‘welcome’ my computer just crashed does anyone know what it mite of done to my vista home premium sp1 laptop

By: Antivirus

Antivirus — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:22:01 +0000

ZoneAlarm for Vista causing troubles!! I can’t say this surprises me much. I have never been much of a fan of their products because of these very reasons. The searches can take forever, they hog up your whole system, and even when you shut them down and uninstall, your computer never seems to recover. I wonder what, exactly, they are doing to the data to corrupt it so heavily and completely.

By: Security Sofware

Security Sofware — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:59:22 +0000

Freezing your internet connection is just a minor setback compared to what I have seen happen to some systems. I have lost GBs of files because I had to do a complete OS reinstall due to faulty Spyware and Firewall software. It is sadly ironic that these programs that are supposed to save our data, are directly responsible for the loss of that very data.

By: av

av — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:51:22 +0000

I gotta take back my comment. Zonealarm does suck for Vista. Definitely will “freeze” your Internet connection, even with the latest version. An uninstall and reboot did the trick.

By: Antivirus

Antivirus — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:42:58 +0000

A friend of mine gave me a great suggestion upon my recent purchase of a Vista equipped laptop – do an immediate OS reinstall. It is amazing to me how programs like ZoneAlarm and some of the included software in new laptops have that amazing ability to just absolutely cripple even a powerhouse of a system. Still, the OS reinstall is always a good idea. It makes your computer new again..or, in my case, better than new.

By: ZoneAlarm Pro Firewall 2010 gratis por tiempo limitado « La red en candela!

ZoneAlarm Pro Firewall 2010 gratis por tiempo limitado « La red en candela! — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:20:50 +0000

[...] una aplicación que se ha convertido extremadamente popular con el pasar de los años y aunque les causó problemas a muchas personas con Vista, esta última versión supuestamente es compatible con todos los [...]

By: howard

howard — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 22:25:08 +0000

Like many others, I used ZA w/XP. Like many others, I found out that ZA (Security Suite and free firewall) and Vista (Home Basic) do not work together. I downloaded the latest version of ZA available today. Vista Home Basic was pre-installed on a new laptop I bought yesterday. Pity. I really did like the ZA + XP combo.

By: Krystal

Krystal — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:54:51 +0000

Don’t use ZoneAlarm. I downloaded it in April of 2009. After three months of service, it was de-activated. Technical support couldn’t help me. What a rip off. I paid for one year of service and got three months! I asked for a refund or at least a partial one and I was told that they only guarantee up to 30 days! Oh, well, live and learn, right??

This is how to remove it from your computer. I was told to save this to your computer before using it. http://download.zonealarm.com/bin/free/support/cpes_clean.exe

I did this and it is off my computer. Thank goodness!

By: geekgrrl

geekgrrl — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 01:24:17 +0000

Finally SOLVED after working on my friend’s pc for 3 days & reading as many forums as possible.

My friend is running Vista SP1. His web connection crashed after he tried to download an update for ZoneAlarm. He removed the program, but still no web connection in IE or Firefox.

I also got a message from Windows diagnostics that said VSWFP_LAYER-ALE_AUTH_CONNECT_V4 Vista problem. Said Policy Settings might need adjusting.

I discovered ZoneAlarm leaves many embedded files which are impossible to remove, and cause program crashes. ZA’s related files include, TrueVector Internet Monitor, and VSMON.exe. Conflict seems to be ZoneAlarm using TrueVector as VPN which conflicts with Windows firewall.

I tried to remove each component bit by bit (ZoneLabs and ZoneAlarm files remain in c:\windows\system32, among other spots). Could not remove the files, got the message: Access Denied, Permission Needed to Perform this Action.

I opened a command prompt and typed msconfig. Under services, I saw TrueVector Internet Monitor running, but it would not allow disable. I tried unchecking it, but it kept re-checking itself!

I tried to stop VSMON.exe process from Task Manager, but permission was denied.

I rebooted into safe mode (f8), and ran msconfig again. This time, I was able to uncheck (disable) TrueVector Internet Monitor Service. Then, I rebooted.

FINALLY – I achieved web access again! I’m going to try to get rid of TrueVector from the system, but at least it’s disabled at the moment. I wish there was a ZoneAlarm removal tool similar to Norton’s Removal Tool.

By: Colin Stapp

Colin Stapp — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:19:14 +0000

I also have to say that removing the Vista version of the free Zonealarm has now stabilised my 2 Vista PC’s.

I now no longer get the Internet session going AWOL (fixed only by a re-boot) plus i have now got back the use of the ‘Restart’ and ‘Shut down’ buttons rather that the fat finger route of the power button to close my PC’s down.

Shame as i use Zonealarm with no problems on my XP PC’s