Issues......

dell_2

Right here goes - please forgive the lack of techie knowledge...

Running:

Window inc SP2, IE for Web, MS Office (legit), MSN, Norman & Zone Alarm Pro

Questions:

Any hints for optimising the settings on ZAP? - i.e. secure but "easy" browsing

ZAP does not recognise Norman as Anti virus software?

MSN crashes when I close it - comes up with "error message" which I report
Suspect this has got something to do with a "conflict" with Outlook as I only use this for my "proper" E-mail account - MSN/hotmail for junk/chatting


Oh final thing - have restored ZAP to default settings today - can no longer get my photobucket to open properly, nor will the extra smiles open here!

Would I be "better off" with alternative/more anti whatever stuff? - Don't mind spending money - but want "hassle free" browsing

Cheers in advance!


Oh last bit of info BB conection is via Blueyonder...apparently it's a 2mb connection....any way to "see" how fast it is?

nads

YOu certainyl would be a lot better off moving away from Zone Alarm, it is unbelivably complciated to setup.

Try Agnitum Outpost Firewall or Kerio Personal Firewall! (Both not free)
Antivirus wise try AVG Free (which is free)

TO check your speed try:
1. http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ Very nifty but is in the US so will a *bit inaccurate*
2. http://www.adslguide.org.uk/tools/speedtest.asp

Make sure you are not suing your bb connection whislt trying these out.

wolfman

Ok. Here's a few tips that may help:

Browser: Change from IE. It can be ok, but you need to know what you're doing. Opera (my preference) or Firefox work out of the box and are much less prone to spyware etc... Both are free.

Firewall: ZoneAlarm is good, I however prefer not to use it. I find Kerio Personal Firewall lighter on my system resources and a little easier to understand. It's Free.

Anti-Virus: Norton is ok, reasonable detection rate and it does get more bad press than it deserves. There are better though. One of the best around is Nod32 (£25), or you could go for a free av, such as AVG.

Anti-Spyware: You didn't mention if you were running any anti-spyware or not. I'm guessing something has probably got through IE. AdAware and Spybot are two free options, although very average by today's standards. Counterspy is a good buy (won a PC Pro lab test) and only costs £10-12.

Messenger: I'm no fan of MSN. If you want a decent alternative look up Trillian. It's skinnable and much cleaner looking. There are loads of cool plugins too. It's free, and there is also a paid for Pro version. The free one is more than adequate.

Email: Outlook is good, but often overkill for the average user. It's more business orientated I find. Try Thunderbird, it's very good and free. Alternatively, if you go for the Opera browser, it comes with an inbuilt mail client. That'd be my choice, much lighter than anything else and all built into one.

nads

cheers worlfman, didnt realised kerio was free, might have to try it, outpost is very funny with activesync.

Rex_Mundi

I'm amazed that you've been advised to remove Zonealarm Pro! This is a top firewall!!! Not only that, but this is a paid for version. Why would you uninstall very good paid for firewall, for a not so good free firewall? (the advanced functions on Zonealarm Pro are far superior to any of the free versions out there) This is not good advice!

Look in Program Control, then the Programs tab to see which permissions you've got set for individual programs. If the specific programs that you are having problems with are 'allowed' with Zonealarm, then I would suggest this program isn't causing the problems.

wolfman

Rex_Mundi wrote:

I'm amazed that you've been advised to remove Zonealarm Pro! This is a top firewall!!! Not only that, but this is a paid for version. Why would you uninstall very good paid for firewall, for a not so good free firewall? This is not good advice!

I said, and agree ZoneAlarm is good. Was just recommending a firewall I prefer. I've always found ZoneAlarm a little clunky.

Having said that, didn't notice at first, but yes if it's the paid for Pro version he may as well get his money's worth of usage from it.

dell_2

nads wrote:

YOu certainyl would be a lot better off moving away from Zone Alarm, it is unbelivably complciated to setup.

Try Agnitum Outpost Firewall or Kerio Personal Firewall! (Both not free)
Antivirus wise try AVG Free (which is free)

TO check your speed try:
1. http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ Very nifty but is in the US so will a *bit inaccurate*
2. http://www.adslguide.org.uk/tools/speedtest.asp

Make sure you are not suing your bb connection whislt trying these out.

Thanks for that!

ZAP - I bought it last year on the recommendation of my old companies IT manager - said it was very good - hence my question re "optimising" the settings - it either "kills" everything or to my novice eyes is wide open - i.e firewall nearly off

You suggest two other firewall's - any chance on you coming down on one side or the other? or are trials available before I spend £££

The speed thing - what I wanted to know was how fast is my BB connection really....not sure how I can do that withwhilst not using it?

Please bare with me!

wolfman

dell wrote:

You suggest two other firewall's - any chance on you coming down on one side or the other? or are trials available before I spend £££

Kerio Personal Firewall is free. I don't think Outpost is.

Stick with ZoneAlarm. Maybe re-install it and start afresh if you're having problems.

Rex_Mundi

Sorry Wolfman........I wasn't on about your post.

dell_2

wolfman wrote:

Ok. Here's a few tips that may help:

Browser: Change from IE. It can be ok, but you need to know what you're doing. Opera (my preference) or Firefox work out of the box and are much less prone to spyware etc... Both are free.

Firewall: ZoneAlarm is good, I however prefer not to use it. I find Kerio Personal Firewall lighter on my system resources and a little easier to understand. It's Free.

Anti-Virus: Norton is ok, reasonable detection rate and it does get more bad press than it deserves. There are better though. One of the best around is Nod32 (£25), or you could go for a free av, such as AVG.

Anti-Spyware: You didn't mention if you were running any anti-spyware or not. I'm guessing something has probably got through IE. AdAware and Spybot are two free options, although very average by today's standards. Counterspy is a good buy (won a PC Pro lab test) and only costs £10-12.

Messenger: I'm no fan of MSN. If you want a decent alternative look up Trillian. It's skinnable and much cleaner looking. There are loads of cool plugins too. It's free, and there is also a paid for Pro version. The free one is more than adequate.

Email: Outlook is good, but often overkill for the average user. It's more business orientated I find. Try Thunderbird, it's very good and free. Alternatively, if you go for the Opera browser, it comes with an inbuilt mail client. That'd be my choice, much lighter than anything else and all built into one.

Again thanks for your quick response!

Questions (cause I've always got more of these than answers)


Browser: I like to stick with IE cause I do a lot of online banking - last time I tried Firefox I had issues with both FD & Egg sites - not good

Firewall: Well I've paid for it - should I really think about changing? Or is it a case of I need to learn (be told!) how to use it properly

No specific anti-spyware - although ZAP runs daily and tells me that it's deleted a load of stuff (is that the same?!) - shows level of IT knowledge!

MSN - well if these guys on this site would stop using it I'd be fine! (LOL), no seriously I'm just thinking about the error message - if someone can tell me how to post the exact details of it then I can do so

Outlook - yip I've used it for years so very comfortable with it - would rather not change.

Hope that helps you to help me even more!

dell_2

Rex_Mundi wrote:

I'm amazed that you've been advised to remove Zonealarm Pro! This is a top firewall!!! Not only that, but this is a paid for version. Why would you uninstall very good paid for firewall, for a not so good free firewall? (the advanced functions on Zonealarm Pro are far superior to any of the free versions out there) This is not good advice!

Look in Program Control, then the Programs tab to see which permissions you've got set for individual programs. If the specific programs that you are having problems with are 'allowed' with Zonealarm, then I would suggest this program isn't causing the problems.

Cheer "chap" (in a non-gender specific way)!

Must admit this is my "gut" instinct too.

It's currently at default settings (having scared the life out of myself earlier - but that's another story!)

Any hints as to how to make it "easier" yet still be safe?

Currenty virtually everything is blocked - including the "extra smileies" on this this site!