Can't Connect To Internet (ZoneAlarm)

[Sake]

Well, my new computer just arrived last night (hell yeah! ). Of course, the first thing I did was download and install all the firewalls, anti-viruses, etc. Well, after I installed ZoneAlarm, I noticed that I wasn't able to connect to the internet anymore! I even disabled it and still wasn't able to connect. It was after I uninstalled ZoneAlarm that I was able to connect to the internet again. I've also been experiencing a few problems like this with my old computer while using ZoneAlarm. Well, I'm using Vista Home now, so what firewall would you recommend? I want to use ZoneAlarm, since it IS a good firewall, but how do I configure it to allow me to use the internet?

Thanks!

 

[DelJo63]

Internet access requires ports:

53 (dns)
67 (dhcp)
80,443 (browser ports)
25,110,143 (email ports)
​

the rules look something like

allow tcp/udp in/out dest-ip=any port xxx (per the above)​

Print/File sharing require:

139,445,515,631​

BUT make sure the source/dest ip addresses are ONLY your LAN range

 

[Sake]

Uhmm... I have no clue what you just said, could you explain to me what to do step by step for a computer noob? Thanks.

 

[DelJo63]

all programs which use the Internet need access to some comon services (eg dns and dhcp).
some programs use specific ports (eg email and the browser)

the whole point of a firewall is to control which ports are allowed and which ones
are denied.

you need to find the documentation for ZoneAlarm and how to add rules
for the ports shown above.