Spyware, viruses, & security : ZoneAlarm vs. McAfee Personal Firewall Plus -- opinions?
Forget using the latest 6.x ver
by dirtnapper - 9/9/05 8:08 AM In reply to: ZoneAlarm vs. McAfee Personal Firewall Plus -- opinions? by Craig720Stay with what you got, and more so if it is free. Having just gone over to ZA with ver 5x this summer, which worked...but the latest two versions of 6 are a nightmare..Downloaded the latest yesterday, and was a mess..spent most of the day getting the system back and rolling back to ver 5x.. so long ZA if this is not resolved soon... I will not even wait for my subscription to end!
ZA is the way to go
by Kleet - 9/9/05 10:37 AM In reply to: Forget using the latest 6.x ver by dirtnapperI have bailed on Norton and use ZA Pro on my computers. It's easy, self updates and works without problems.
Good luck!
Zone Alarm Pro vs. 6.0.667.000 works fine for me...
by harmar - 9/9/05 2:10 PM In reply to: Forget using the latest 6.x ver by dirtnapperDownloaded and installed last night. Installation hung up until I completely UNinstalled previous vs. (Even the new version's uninstall couldn't get its own old version True Vector to stop!) All went well then. No conflicts or problems with it whatsoever. Years ago, I decided to pay for the Pro version to get the features and controls the free version lacked. I have not regretted that decision.
Needed to De-Install ZA Pro 6.0.631.003
by tonyny77 - 9/19/05 7:33 PM In reply to: Forget using the latest 6.x ver by dirtnapperYes, I more or less agree. I also needed to de-install the 6.x upgrade.
I didn't really have much of problem with my 5.x version of ZA Pro. Version 5.x didn't cause any system problems, but I'm the first to admit that I often don't fully understand what effect my modest changes will have, so I try to proceed with caution by noting my changes as I go along. In this way, if something stops working, I can trace my way back more easily. Occasionally, a desired function/operation that resembled an ad/pop-up attack might have been stopped, but I was managing fine with 5.x, I thought . . . . .
I was managing fine until I installed the upgrade to 6.0.631.003. WOW! I didn't have any system crashes, but this new version wouldn't let ANYthing (a slight exaggeration) function normally, it seemed.
I struggled with this new ZA Pro for a while, but no luck. Eventually I surrendered, de-installed the new version, and went back to my 5.x version.
I wish they'd have better on-screen tips/advice to help understand what's going on. Trying to fiddle with settings and referring to help at the same time is a bit of a struggle, sometimes. And the documentation, please, should be written for those of us that may be smart enough to know we need a firewall, but might not know a lot about networking and intrusion prevention.
Tony
I have Trend Micro Internet Security 2004
by FrenchyHey - 9/9/05 12:59 PM In reply to: ZoneAlarm vs. McAfee Personal Firewall Plus -- opinions? by Craig720Can't talk about McCafe but even Trend Micro did not let me work my network and online too as it did conflict for a long time with ZA Pro or the free one I guess (can't tell as I have the Pro) I decided that because I have XP Sp2 to let go Zone Alarm and disable the firewall in Trend Micro because it stop me to see workgroup network created by my router on my home network.
ZA did not have that problem but their upgrade price to their full suite is just plain ridiculous.
So XP does the job I have the free software of Spyboot Search & Destroy and not using anymore Firewall then XP untill someone offer real flexibility like ZA did before but not at the expense of my wallet or home network.
To get back to my Trend Micro it does not work well for my home network and ZA is too expensive to go as I have 4 computer and growing at my home.
So if you have a hardware router and XP SP2 that should be enough.
What I Recommend
by dgc49 - 9/9/05 5:03 PM In reply to: ZoneAlarm vs. McAfee Personal Firewall Plus -- opinions? by Craig720I have been using Zone Alarm Pro for 3 years now with little problems. Zone Labs has been having a few bugs once in while since coming out with version 5, but they usually get it fixed. I had minor problems with version 6 slowing down my computer, but with the new release, my system is back up to full speed and working just fine. I can't speak for the free versions as I have never used them.
Zone Alarm Recommendations
by dgc49 - 9/9/05 5:19 PM In reply to: ZoneAlarm vs. McAfee Personal Firewall Plus -- opinions? by Craig720I have been noticing that some users are claiming to still have problems with the newest update of Zone Alarm V6.0.667.000. Please note that Zone Labs recommends that you do a clean install. What I did was to disconnect from the LAN first. Then I disabled (turned off) Zone Alarm. Then I installed the new version of Zone Alarm telling it to do a clean install. Then I turned on my LAN again. I did that 24 hours ago and my computer and network are working just fine now.
ZoneAlarm
by hjarmitage - 9/9/05 6:18 PM In reply to: ZoneAlarm vs. McAfee Personal Firewall Plus -- opinions? by Craig720I have been using ZA Pro for almost 5 years. I had the free version at first but liked the features of the Pro version. I have had zero problems. Just remember free isn't always the best. XP has a firewall built in. I shut mine off to prevent conflicts. I used McAfee anti virus for a year but had so much trouble it soured my feelings toward McAfee. I strongly recommend ZoneAlarm Pro. It's worth it!
Difficult to Detect!
by kingdomofjones - 9/9/05 7:34 PM In reply to: ZoneAlarm vs. McAfee Personal Firewall Plus -- opinions? by Craig720I have invested in a Dell Inspiron 2200 Laptop Computer.It is about 4 to 5 months old and in part the ability to get to this point as far its age and good condition I owe more to Norton System Works-Premier Edition 2005-than to ZoneAlarms Wireless Firewall.I had gone to the Dell web site prior to the actual purchase of the Inspiron 2200 and had picked what kind of amenities I wanted to include or exclude as the case may be.Dell was promoting a defaulted security package from McAfee and though there is nothing and was nothing particularly wrong I knew what I wanted and I was already very familiar with both Norton Systemworks as well as ZoneAlarms-firewall and its Internet Security Package(The anti-virus should not be underestimated-It does a fine job)I opted out of the proposed default issue by Dell and instead I purchased Norton SystemWorks-Premier Edition-2005 and ZoneAlarms wireless firewall.The firewall worked and has worked well.It monitors my mail and a number of other things but one thing it did not do was detect and stop a number of attacks by suspected worm related malware.I was not certain how to greet this but it was Norton Anti-virus with it's new Early Worm Detection technology that saved the day not once,not twice but more often than I can here provide.There were as many as 4 separate attempts made by worm like malware that ZoneAlarm did not or was not designed to deter.The firewall did not respond but NAV did and I'am very very glad that it did.It simply was curious to note this kind of exception because as a rule there is much to praise not fault from ZoneLabs.Everything else being equal I have no complaints.I also learned first hand that the ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite is very capable with an excellent anti-virus utility.I still feel you can't go wrong with ZoneAlarm but you can look.
ZA is my preference by far!
by irish5dad - 9/9/05 8:51 PM In reply to: ZoneAlarm vs. McAfee Personal Firewall Plus -- opinions? by Craig720I also receive McAfee Personal Firewall Plus free from my ISP, however, I found that it was completely locking up both of my computers periodically. (one system was Win XP and the other one was Win 98; and I was using wireless networking, which may have contributed to the issue.) I called McAfee regarding this problem and they advised it is common. I dis-installed this and installed ZA free version and have been very happy.
FYI
Zone or McAfee
by chanchan - 9/9/05 10:26 PM In reply to: ZoneAlarm vs. McAfee Personal Firewall Plus -- opinions? by Craig720I've used both and they have failed me but now i got Trend Micro Internet Security. This one has got anti-virus and firewall and is working really well, it is not free but you can download a free trial version.
Good Luck
Re Trend Micro Suite
by FrenchyHey - 9/10/05 6:26 AM In reply to: Zone or McAfee by chanchanI would like to know the version ie: 2004, 2005 and build #.
Secondly are you on a home network? meaning you have more then one computer in a network sharing the internet with a router or other mean of access.
Please tell us
Opinion + A piece of advice
by MystGuy - 9/10/05 6:53 AM In reply to: ZoneAlarm vs. McAfee Personal Firewall Plus -- opinions? by Craig720Hi all,
My Opinion
Ok, I have used ZoneAlarm before but not for McAfee.
For ZoneAlarm, I am sure it is able to perform it's job as a Firewall, given that it's free, you couldn't ask for more. But it occurs to me that ZoneAlarm gave me a memory problem after using it for some time, it was memory leak problem and ZoneAlarm's 'eats' up my system memory.
For McAfee, I never use it before so I can't give a concrete comment on this but I have heard negative comments on McAfee products, so I wouldn't want to give it a shot and try it.
CAUTION: Some of these software Firewall will conflict with the use of some applications that uses the Internet(E.g. Bit-torrent software). Use them with caution.
My Advice
From my experience, there is no Firewall that is able keep your network completely secure and safe. But you can increase that safety level.
Although Software Firewall can't give a complete protection but at least it can give you some sort of basic protection against network viruses. Hardware Firewall would be better of with a stronger degree of protection. A combination of both would be the best you can achieve to protect your network.
Hope it helps
zone alarm suite
by sifularry - 9/10/05 6:34 PM In reply to: ZoneAlarm vs. McAfee Personal Firewall Plus -- opinions? by Craig720hey craig. zone alarm suite, you cant beat it it has everything, i have had it for years, and nothing gets past it, even pop ups, email viruses and so on, just wanted to share it with ya, later larry
had Zone and McAfee
by jrmcbm - 9/10/05 10:22 PM In reply to: ZoneAlarm vs. McAfee Personal Firewall Plus -- opinions? by Craig720ZoneAlarm was offered free with some software, so I downloaded it. A terrible experience, as I could not get on-line, could not use my ISP. It blocked a lot that I wanted access to. I had McAfee and it seemed to work fine, but ended up with viruses anyway. Had computer cleaned and upgraded to XP Professional. Downloaded AVG Free Addition and Spybot-SD, and all works well with viruses kept at bay. Also use Ad-Aware Free just to make sure I get everything.
| Forum legend: | |
 |
Locked thread |
 |
Moderator |
 |
CNET staff |
 |
Samsung staff |
 |
Norton Authorized Support team |
 |
AVG staff |
 |
Windows Outreach team |
 |
Dell staff |
 |
Intel staff |
