Rating: 
Summary: absolutly the best!!!!
Review: i just installed zone alarm pro ver 3 and no more then 5 min. after installation there was a port scan on my computer and ther securety of my computer was not compromised thanks to zone alarm. a great feature of ZA v3 is ad blocking privacy advisor third party spying protection emergency stop program learning mode and much more. very easy to use. i had the free version zone alarms most basic soft ware and it [performed] so bad i got rid of it the first day but ver3 is far more superior to it and every other firewall i have seen. if your computer can run it get it. your computer and your personal info will thank you.
Rating:
Summary: Must Have!!
Review: I never thought about a firewall until I got a cable modem connection for the Internet. (Forgive me if I worded this wrong as I'm not a computer tech kind of person.) After reading an article in a PC magazine about keeping hackers out of your computer, I decided it was past time for a firewall. ZoneAlarm Pro 3 was recommended in the same PC magazine so I bought it. (I didn't download it from the Internet, I bought the boxed version.) I did worry if it would get along with my Norton Antivirus software and Norton Utilities that were already installed on my computer. No problem! They don't interfere with each other at all.I love this software! It is easy to install and easy to understand for us novices. It also works - very well. I can't begin to count the number of times I have been "pinged" every time I go online. It blocks all attempts and tells me, in a pop-up window, the type of access attempt and the originating IP. It tells me when a program on my computer is trying to access the Internet. It has pop-up ad blocking, cookie control, hacker tracing, zone-based blocking and more. Without a firewall, you might be amazed at all the info the outside world can get to on your computer. Install ZoneAlarm Pro 3, and notice the difference in the test. With ZoneAlarm Pro 3 I passed these tests with flying colors! Other reviews of this software listed here are less than complimentary and I don't understand why. I have never had any problems with ZoneAlarm Pro 3. Keep in mind, however, that I bought the boxed version, not the downloadable version; that may be the difference. This software comes with 1-year free online support. After that you have to pay for each additional year but you will need to do this in order to get the updates. Again, I recommend ZoneAlarm Pro 3 and please note that it is Windows XP compatible.
Rating: 
Summary: Ad Blocking, A Moot Point
Review: I purchased this product several weeks ago and have been only marginally happy with it thus far. As a firewall, it seems to perform just fine, only letting authorized programs out and keeping unauthorized outsiders from getting in. However, when it comes to ad blocking, a significant factor in my decision to purchase, it doesn't seem to fulfill its promises. After installation, I was excited to discover that the user has several options available when blocking ads. For example, there's a "Performance" option, meaning only large ads are blocked, but those that take less than X (user defined amount of time to load) time to load are allowed. I tried it, but ZA3 didn't really block anything. All ads continued to appear. Furthermore, pop-ups/unders are not prevented effectively when this option is checked. They still pop up. So, displeased with my progress thus far, I changed the option from "Performance" to "Always" (block ads), the only other option available. Unfortunately, this option also means that in addition to those pesky ads, images in general are to be blocked (very odd). When a page loads, such as Yahoo news headlines, not only do the ads go away (and only sometimes), but some of the images go away as well. My advice is to download the free version before making your purchase. You may have better luck than me...P>...I only mention it because I want you to know that there are working options out there.
Rating:
Summary: Customer Service stinks
Review: I purchased ZAPro in April of 02 and for some reason my 12 months subscription has expired. I don't know why this happened. I have emailed the ZA people four times about this problem, but I don't get any response.
Program seems to work great! But, you are more than likely not going to get much help for the service techs at Broderbund.
I will change to another program in a few months if I don't hear soon from ZAPro.
Rating: 
Summary: Caveat Emptor
Review: I purchased ZoneAlarm 3.0 and used it for approximately 1 month. It seemed to function OK at first but I soon began to experience frequent system lockups, loss of Web connection, and an inability to complete a shutdown. I suspect part of the problem lies with Windows ME and Internet Explorer. However, after undergoing the laborious uninstall process, including removing VSDATA95, the problems seem to have gone away. So I'm out [$] and still have no protection. Let the buyer beware indeed.
Rating: 
Summary: Buyer beware!
Review: I too bought Zone Alarm Pro after reading numerous reviews on how effective it was. Initially it was brilliant, it stopped roughly 50 "attacks" every time I logged on. Then it started to crumble -- right after the third update of the program. It seemed the online update to keep the system going had some bugs in it (its previous ability to stop popup ads suddenly ceased, and I was getting popups like crazy). And it was only after the downloads that my problems started materializing. Suddenly my DSL modem was going beserk; even after I had disconnected from being online the activity light was flashing like crazy. I called my service provider and they said that everything was OK on their end, so I went through logical processes of checking connections, network and software applications on my XP system to see if something had changed to cause this aberration. Zone alarm was recording a ridiculous amount of "attacks" -- something upwards in the 10,000 range. And the DSL activity light was still flashing and zonealarm was registering hits even with the modem shut off. Tech support with Zone Labs was useless too. You submit an email and they trouble shoot your problem. I submitted my problem -- this way nearly two weeks ago. I got an email yesterday saying they had finally created a status report -- but no solution -- only that the report had been initialized. The only thing left to check was zone alarm. After uninstalling it, my DSL modem went back to normal. I wound up buying Norton instead and haven't had any problems since. These days you no one should be online without a good firewall and virus protection if you have a fast internet connection (DSL or cable or T-1). Until zonelabs gets the bugs out of its product, find another solution. Zone Alarm Pro is a great program, initially, but the bugs in it caused me to uninstall.
Rating:
Summary: latest version is a bomb
Review: I used to love zone alarm. I first used the free version, then upgraded to ZA Plus. Program worked beautifully, no problems at all. Then came the notice that ZAPlus was being discontinued, and the company was providing a free upgrade to the latest version of ZA Pro. Like an idiot, I downloaded it, and have nothing but problems since doing so: very slow boot-up and shut-down, system hangs and crashes --ZA Pro even temporarily disabled my AV e-mail scan. Some advice for prospective zone alarm customers: DO NOT USE THE LATEST VERSION OF THIS PROGRAM (v.5) It is filled with bugs, and ZA tech support is not being of much help. (They advise you to uninstall and go back to a previous version, or disable various other programs to see if there's a compatibility issue. Don't know about you, but I have better things to do with my leisure time) It's really a shame. ZA used to be one of the best firewalls around.
Rating:
Summary: latest version is a bomb
Review: I used to love zone alarm. I first used the free version, then upgraded to ZA Plus. Program worked beautifully, no problems at all. Then came the notice that ZAPlus was being discontinued, and the company was providing a free upgrade to the latest version of ZA Pro. Like an idiot, I downloaded it, and have nothing but problems since doing so: very slow boot-up and shut-down, system hangs and crashes --ZA Pro even temporarily disabled my AV e-mail scan. Some advice for prospective zone alarm customers: DO NOT USE THE LATEST VERSION OF THIS PROGRAM (v.5) It is filled with bugs, and ZA tech support is not being of much help. (They advise you to uninstall and go back to a previous version, or disable various other programs to see if there's a compatibility issue. Don't know about you, but I have better things to do with my leisure time) It's really a shame. ZA used to be one of the best firewalls around.
Rating:
Summary: Sounded good, BUT...
Review: I'd heard a LOT of good things about ZoneAlarm, especial on Tech TV. So when it came time to renew my Norton Personal Firewall, I decided to purchase the latest ZoneAlarm instead. BIG MISTAKE. I found it VERY dificult to set up and use, And I found the manual and help files to be of NO help. I advise anyone looking for a software Firewall to look into Norton Personal Firewall. It's MUCH easier to set up and use, with MUCH better customer support.
Rating:
Summary: Never had any problems. Works great.
Review: I'd never considered getting a firewall cuz I'm still using a dialup connection, but when I began getting the pop-up SPAM ads (via IE messenger app) I decided it was time. I downloaded the Zone Alarm Pro 30day trial software & was quite happy with it. It was simple to configure, takes you through the controls step by step, so easy even a tech-challenged person like myself found it easy as pie. The firewall put my PC in "stealth" mode, and I basically forgot it was there, never even bothered to look at the hacker attempt logs, I only cared that my puter was protected. FIREWALL DRAWBACK:
The inability to access paid skill-game sites like (i.e. prizegames.com, iwin.com), I'd have to disable the firewall to enter the site, which kind of defeats the purpose, but on some sites I could raise the wall again once I'd logged in and I was still able to play the games, although, I did have problems with the sites logging me out sometimes if I raise it after entering, NOT ALWAYS, but sometimes. Don't know why its only sometimes, but the basic problem is that paid game sites need to be able to read & record your IP address for security reasons, if the IP is blocked by a firewall, you can't get in and if you do happen to make it in, somewhere along the line, the site will kick you. Its a problem but I don't think there's a fix for that, the game site and firewall are both protecting you, their purposes just happen conflict. My favorite feature was the cookie handling settings, you could set them for EACH & EVERY SITE , decide whether you wanted to allow session cookies, persistant cookies & third party cookies. You enable the Privacy Advisor & if a cookie tries to install, a little window pops at the bottom the screen to let you know whats being blocked, you can click on it and it'll tell you whether its the site you're visiting or some adware that's trying to install a cookie, you can make your choices and get back to surfing, takes about 2 seconds. However, you don't need to deal with that then and there, you can turn off the Privacy Advisor and know you're protected. The software logs cookie placement like it does hacker attempts, so, when you have the time, you can look at the logs & edit the cookie settings for the individual sites. But I found that if you turned it Privacy advisor there were problems getting sites to work probably cuz some require the placement of cookies, so for the 1st week, I recommend leaving it on & configuring the site settings as you surf, then you can look at the logs later to edit settings for adware. If you visit iwon.com, you'll need to do it that way cuz, lots of their pages require adware cookies to load porperly, in which case you'd need to allow them all, but Zone Alarm allows you to configure it so persistant cookies expire after a certain period of time, from 1 day til whenever. You use that same page to set whether you want web bugs (they track you from page to page within a site) disabled. On that page you can also set whether you want the page/site you're leaving to send header info (your network, username, work station, IP addy, etc) to the page/site you're trying to open. If you like to sure fairly anonymous, its a neat little tool. PRIVACY ADVISOR DRAWBACK:
You can block pop-up & banner ads, plus prevent mobile codes, java & active-X from running. But if you're on a site that uses pop-ups to relay info (such as clicking on a privacy policy link and having the info displayed in a pop-up box), you won't be able to get the info you're looking for. Some pop-ups are legit, so you need to be careful if you're blocking them. I don't use ad blocking at all cuz its a pain and slows me down.......All in all, I found the FREE TRIAL version to be a excellent, but the paid version is amother matter altogether. My problems began after plopping down 30 bucks and downloading the updates. All of a sudden, I was having problems getting pages to load, accessing sites and at times my PC would lock up and I'd need to log off and reboot. I also had problems with downloads, I had to lower the firewall and leave it off, even after the dowload completed, the paid version seemed to fight with my Norton 2003 anti-virus software, I'd try to scan something and the firewall would interfere and I'd get error messages. The software has this "internet lock" feature locks the PC down when the firewall senses an extremely high security risk. And trying to unlock it can be a pain, twice, I've had to completely uninstall Zone Alarm and re-download it cuz of the problem. The kicker is that even though you can disable the auto-lock feature, it still happens. Calling tech support is useless, they send auto-replies that may or may not help you and getting a live person to reply is the ultimate impossible dream. Calling on the phone doesn't help, you have to go through several menus before you can be put on hold to wait for a live tech and its hit or miss whether you'll be disconnected prior to speaking with anyone. I've had to call 6 times and experienced disconnects with 4. I've never gotten a live tech in lass that 15 minutes. And when you do get a tech, they tell you one of 2 things, either its a known issue thats being worked on OR they'll tell you to go to the site to get the latest update. The problem with that is I think its the updates that are causing the problems cuz none of that happened when I was using the trial software. But just try getting the techs to admit that. When it comes to customer service, only MSN is worse. I ended up uninstalling the paid version and re-downloading the free version, $30 bucks down the drain, but my PC is back to its old self and the problems disappeared.. When you pay for the software, you're basically buying the ability to send hacker reports, Privacy Advisor AND a subscription to the updates, but if the updates are bug-ridden, you're buying a headache and who needs that. You can always opt out of downloading the updates, but they drive you nuts with reminders to do it and you have to remember the subscription needs to be renewed every year, but you won't have full use of many features you're paying for, making it a waste of money..... ALL IN ALL, THE PAID VERSION IS GARBAGE!!!! I do miss the Privacy Advisor and individual cookie controls a small bit, but I simply set my IE cookie settings on "advanced" so that I can allow session cookies for all sites, persistant cookies for my favorite sites, but get prompted when 3rd party cookies try to install. Some will get through, but not that many and when I weigh that small thing with the hugh problems caused by the paid version of Zone Alarm, its a trade-off I'll take. So keep your money and take the free version, your computer will still have the same level of protection from hackers, which is really all you need from a firewall.
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