Zone Alarm Firewall

Is it redundant to use a standalone Firewall (e.g. Zone Alarm) on a Vista PC
in view of its built in "Internet Security'?

If you feel that I should install Zone Alarm, should I disable the VISTA
security program in any way?

Thanks

"Sitara Lal" <> wrote in message
news:%...
> Is it redundant to use a standalone Firewall (e.g. Zone Alarm) on a Vista
> PC in view of its built in "Internet Security'?
>
> If you feel that I should install Zone Alarm, should I disable the VISTA
> security program in any way?
>
> Thanks

You should never have two firewalls running at the same time. Pick one or
the other. Although Vista offers inbound AND outbound protection now (it
didn't in XP) some feel it's outbound protection is lacking. So I would
advise Zone Alarm. (I use Zone Alarm security suite)

"Sitara Lal" wrote:

> Is it redundant to use a standalone Firewall (e.g. Zone Alarm) on a Vista PC
> in view of its built in "Internet Security'?
>
> If you feel that I should install Zone Alarm, should I disable the VISTA
> security program in any way?
>

Sitara Lal,

You can create conflicts if you run more than one firewall at the same
time. I honestly feel that the Windows firewall is sufficient but I choose to
use Comodo firewall, which is free.

I would not use the ZoneAlarm firewall. I have determined, based upon
personal experience, that the ZoneAlarm firewall is incompatible with Vista,
regardless of what ZoneAlarm says to the contrary.

Have a nice day.

C.B.
> Thanks
>
>
>

"CB" <> wrote in message
news:B0DAE109-9863-47B0-A0F7-...
>
>
> "Sitara Lal" wrote:
>
>> Is it redundant to use a standalone Firewall (e.g. Zone Alarm) on a Vista
>> PC
>> in view of its built in "Internet Security'?
>>
>> If you feel that I should install Zone Alarm, should I disable the VISTA
>> security program in any way?
>>
>
> Sitara Lal,
>
> You can create conflicts if you run more than one firewall at the same
> time. I honestly feel that the Windows firewall is sufficient but I choose
> to
> use Comodo firewall, which is free.
>
> I would not use the ZoneAlarm firewall. I have determined, based upon
> personal experience, that the ZoneAlarm firewall is incompatible with
> Vista,
> regardless of what ZoneAlarm says to the contrary.
>
> Have a nice day.
>
> C.B.
>> Thanks

It's not just the folks at Zone Alarm saying that...*I* use Zone Alarm and
it works just fine, so my personal experience is different than yours I
guess.
>>
>>
>>

"Just.some.guy" <> wrote in message
news:MLuoj.11096$O9.5121@trnddc01...
>
> "CB" <> wrote in message
> news:B0DAE109-9863-47B0-A0F7-...
>>
>>
>> "Sitara Lal" wrote:
>>
>>> Is it redundant to use a standalone Firewall (e.g. Zone Alarm) on a
>>> Vista PC
>>> in view of its built in "Internet Security'?
>>>
>>> If you feel that I should install Zone Alarm, should I disable the VISTA
>>> security program in any way?
>>>
>>
>> Sitara Lal,
>>
>> You can create conflicts if you run more than one firewall at the
>> same
>> time. I honestly feel that the Windows firewall is sufficient but I
>> choose to
>> use Comodo firewall, which is free.
>>
>> I would not use the ZoneAlarm firewall. I have determined, based upon
>> personal experience, that the ZoneAlarm firewall is incompatible with
>> Vista,
>> regardless of what ZoneAlarm says to the contrary.
>>
>> Have a nice day.
>>
>> C.B.
>>> Thanks
>
> It's not just the folks at Zone Alarm saying that...*I* use Zone Alarm and
> it works just fine, so my personal experience is different than yours I
> guess.

I use ZoneAlarm and it also works fine for me. But I would like to take it
off and experiment with another firewall. My experience with uninstalling
ZoneAlarm leads me to recommend against installing it. I will never install
it again.

Sitara Lal wrote:
> Is it redundant to use a standalone Firewall (e.g. Zone Alarm) on a Vista PC
> in view of its built in "Internet Security'?
>
> If you feel that I should install Zone Alarm, should I disable the VISTA
> security program in any way?
>
> Thanks
>
>


My position is that running two or more software firewalls
simultaneously is generally unnecessary and can _sometimes_ cause
conflicts, potentially negating the protection of both. Even ig there
is no conflict, having two firewalls running simultaneously is most
certainly an unnecessary drain on system resources, without providing
any additional benefit.

As it is, Vista's built-in firewall solution is more than
adequate for most consumers' needs. While it's not quite up to the
ease-of-use standards of Kerio or ZoneAlarm, it has been noticeably
improved over WinXP's version.

There are two interfaces for Vistas built-in firewall:

1) A simplified one accessed through the Control Panel that is the only
one most people see. To further supplement this view, Sphinx's Vista
Firewall Control http://sphinx-soft.com/Vista/) is a piece of freeware
that makes the Vista Firewall much more useful to the average user.

2) And the more advanced "Windows Firewall with Advanced Security
(WF.msc), accessed via the Start Menu's Administrative Tools folder, for
the experienced user who wants more granular control.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

>> Is it redundant to use a standalone Firewall (e.g. Zone Alarm) on a Vista
>> PC
in view of its built in "Internet Security'?
If you feel that I should install Zone Alarm, should I disable the VISTA
security program in any way?


S Lai:

I run ZA free along with Vista's f/w.
ZA provides easier outbound control than Vista's f/w.

> You should never have two firewalls running at the same time.

Why? Have you had problems doing it?

I have run two f/ws together for years w/o problems

On Thu, 31 Jan 2008 16:28:49 -0800, Sitara Lal wrote:

> Is it redundant to use a standalone Firewall (e.g. Zone Alarm) on a Vista PC
> in view of its built in "Internet Security'?
>
> If you feel that I should install Zone Alarm,

No, do not proceed with installing ZA!!!

> should I disable the VISTA security program in any way?

No, you are not going to find anything better than the Vista FW and Vista
in itself due to the advanced features the FW and Vista are using.

"Personal Firewalls" are mostly snake-oil.
http://www.samspade.org/d/firewalls.html

Jesper's Blogs-
At Least This Snake Oil Is Free.
http://msinfluentials.com/blogs/jesp...l-is-free.aspx
Windows Firewall: the best new security feature in Vista?
http://blogs.technet.com/jesper_joha...01/426921.aspx

Exploring The Windows Firewall.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/tec...l/default.aspx
"If you try to block outbound connections from a computer that’s already
compromised, how can you be sure that the computer is really doing what you
ask? The answer: you can’t. Outbound protection is security theater—it’s a
gimmick that only gives the impression of improving your security without
doing anything that actually does improve your security. This is why
outbound protection didn’t exist in the Windows XP firewall and why it
doesn’t exist in the Windows Vista™ firewall."

Vista Firewall Control.
Protects your applications from undesirable network incoming and outgoing
activity, controls applications internet access.
http://sphinx-soft.com/Vista/

"CZ" <> wrote in message
news:%...
>> You should never have two firewalls running at the same time.
>
> Why? Have you had problems doing it?
>
> I have run two f/ws together for years w/o problems

I've always been told that you add no extra protection by doing that, and
you open yourself up for software conflicts. That's probably why some
firewalls will actually try to turn windows firewalls *off** when you
install them.