Warning about Zone Alarm

[begoodbebad]

I found this thread (http://forum.emule-project.net/index.php?showtopic=42106&st=0&#entry276669) on emule forums.

Basically Zone Alarm (vsmon.exe) leaks memory horribly when used on a machine running p2p application, in this case eMule ( I've experienced this myself when I've tried it). The user got in touch with Zone Labs tech support who offered this amazing reply:

Its NOT designed to run days on end. Sounds like your using your computer as a server of some sort and we do not support our software on servers or server pplications, like a web server.

Our software is designed for workstation use only and a workstation is shutdown and rebooted on a daily basis.
It was not designed for 15 days straight use at all.

Yeah that's right, they think we're all going to reboot every day! Like we're all running Win98 and have to reboot twice a day so it doesn't go into suspended animation followed by a long drawn out death....and to think that Zone Alarm used to be the one effective personal firewall out there....they are a long way behind the field now.

[PhR34x0r]

hey, this is what people get if they think they "need" a firewall...

[The Hunter]

Hence one of the reasons I use sygate instead.

[begoodbebad]

Hence one of the reasons I use sygate instead.

Me too.

It's bad enough that Zone Labs software has a bug but for them to blame the way the customer uses their PC amazes me. They claim in effect that they don't know that millions of people are running servers, many without even realising it, when they install and use p2p. And these are exactly the people it targets with its free firewall. Anyway one thing is cleared up.... it's the memory leak that's been making the terrible sucking noise you hear whenever you go near a Zone Alarm firewall.

[rainbowdemon]

I'm on dail-up. And I only have one phone line. I reboot more than every day. I turn my comp completly off when I'm not using it. But still, McAfee is my chosen firewall.

[ducttapeBigSexy]

Mneah - if you want an OS that runs all the time, use Linux. Plus the fact that it has a built in firewall only makes it sweeter :)

[shawners]

Its crazy. as many good people their are on the net putting great things on here to download, cracks, hacks, seriels.. zip programs, exe.. and folders of music.. Their are bad ones that want to come in and destroy it =(

[hawkburn]

I think they should have to tell people that it's not designed to do that. Hell, with all the newbs using Kazaa all the time, leaving it on in the background when theyre gone, and never restarting, you'd think they'd try to support stuff..

Anyway.. I switched from ZoneAlarm along time ago.. use Outpost 2.1 now :D

[Sk8er Boi]

I used to use Sygate, until I ran SheildsUp! and found that I wasn' totally being protected so thats when I switched to ZoneAlarm. However, I do find it annoying that I have to unload the service just to run Overnet though. But, what can I do.

[matrix2003]

If you are not happy with ZoneAlarm... buy a firewall ffs i use Norton, and also its good for your computer to be rebooted atleast every 3 days.

[nasrules]

I haven't had this problem and I've been using ZoneLabs software for years.

I don't leave my PC on all the time - I turn it off when I'm at school or overnight if I've not got anything big downloading.

EDIT: I just remembered about this 'leak'. I recently left my PC on for nine days straight to see if I did have any such problems, and none occured.

[SanDiegoKid]

I've been a Zone Alarm pro user for a while now, and used to use Norton Internet Security. I guess I'm happy with the performance of both, but Zone Alarm seems to use fewer system resources on my XP Pro box (checking using the task manager). My machine runs for days on end usually with no noticeable slowdown. I'm going to start monitoring closer to see if there is anything to the leak though. I've been meaning to try Sygate just to get experience with it... maybe now's the time.

[begoodbebad]

mmm humble pie, another portion for me please.....

it's still true that sucky ZA leaks memory but I just started having exactly this problem with my favoured Sygate Personal Firewall Pro 5.0 (5.5 crashes ...only itself,not the OS... check these user reviews (http://download.com.com/3302-2092_4-10247416.html?pn=1&fb=2) )I used Sygate for a long time but on fairly powerful PCs where you wouldn't even notice a little extra load. Now I aquired a PII 350 Mhz with 192MB RAM (this PC is for p2p only) and installed Sygate....it leaks and sucks just the same as ZA. Initially it uses 7 - 15 % of CPU, after 2 days it is over 25 and after 3 days it is between 35 and 45. On a low end system this is a real killer and requires a reboot...not what you want to be doing with eMule as your p2p client. BTW this is on a cleanly installed fully updated XP Pro OS with all the crap stripped out of it(XPLite).

So now I am trying the dreaded Norton...I heard so much bad about their products (particularly systemworks 2002) but I've been using Sytemworks Pro 2003 and pcAnywhere and they are excellent and trouble free. I installed Norton Internet Security Pro 2004 on my underpowered PII, worrying quite a lot about the vast amount of resources this "corporate bloatware" might want to steal from the mule.....and after running it overnight it barely registers any load on the CPU or Memory....Apart from pcAnywhere which is greedy when active, the Symantec/Norton applications use less system resources than Explorer! Total CPU usage is averaging about 30%, maybe less, this while eMule is busy with an average of 164 connections via my NIC connected cable modem.
So right now the Norton package seems far better than Sygate and ZA. Also it is much much better at handling Internet Connection Sharing. If it leaks and turns out to be a resource hog after 3 days I'll post again but it looks very promising.

[begoodbebad]

After 3 days and half an hour of constant filesharing on eMule all my Norton utilities are still using minimal resources..about the same as Task Manager and my XP Uptime utility combined. At this point ZA or Sygate would have been hogging 40% of CPU and forced a reboot. I'm not going to reboot until I have to or the power fails. Whats the record uptime for XP?

[MP3Pr0]

I've tried just about every firewall app out there and definetely recommend Agnatum Outpost. Stay away from "Armor2Net" as it rendered my network configuration useless even after uninstalling it!

[«°¤§téålth§t®îk餰»]

I use ZApro. I've been using it for years, and I constantly hear ppl talking it down. Norton seems to be the next best pick. Anyone suggest I change?

[waqasr]

i feel you bro
i have ZA pro and same thing
happened to me! my system would
slow down so much tht i had to
restart! for now i just take ZA down
and it gets back to normal speed
but iam also looking for an alternative which
doesnt leak memory while using p2p!

[flyingrhino]

I personally use sygate 5 and it works great for me on internet speeds upto 1.5 mbits. when i ftp files from my other computer across my lan i get 2mbyte/sec (sygate installed) and 8mbyte/sec (sygate disabled). This was done on s p3 600mhz. apart from this it works perfectly.

[begoodbebad]

i feel you bro
i have ZA pro and same thing
happened to me! my system would
slow down so much tht i had to
restart! for now i just take ZA down
and it gets back to normal speed
but iam also looking for an alternative which
doesnt leak memory while using p2p!

I have used the following:

ZA basic and Pro on Win98, on XP and on 2000. Yuk. Sucks in big and various ways. It doesn't even uninstall properly.

Kaspersky Anti Hacker: on 2000 & XP. OK but by default it left some ports open which showed up on GRC Shields UP.

Kerio: On Win98 but so long ago I don't remember but don't recall any problem.

Sygate Pro: On XP and 2000. Excellent on a reasonably powerful PC, leaks enough on a PII that needs a reboot every 2 or 3 days. Also if you use Internet Connection Sharing it leaves ports open by default making you visible to every moron with a port scanner. Some other firewalls do this too, see GRC for explanation. Its network neighbourhood settings don't work, you have to write the rules for yourself. The latest version (5.5) crashes regularly. Version 5.0 is better, just update the signature not the whole application. For all the criticism it would still be my first choice for a standalone PC PIII/Duron 750 or better because in these circumstances it is stable and secure and doesn't get in your way and gives you a lot of useful options (can block all traffic while not loaded, dll authentication is switchable for example). When I was using an AthlonXP 1800 based PC with Overnet and Sygate it would be up for weeks with no problems. I went on holiday for 2 weeks and came home and everything was ticking over nicely....and I had lots of new music and movies to watch :)

Norton: on XP. This is what I use now on my massive :tilted 2 PC network. It mostly configures itself, it automatically sets rules (that work!) for networked PCs and for Internet Connection Sharing, stealthing all ports. For all the automation, you can still take full control if you wish. It is informative (a little like ZA), It uses barely any resources and aside from the rather overblown GUI which you mostly don't use, it is inconspicuous. The only problem I found was with eMule. I let Norton auto configure a "permit all" rule which somehow blocked all my downloads...hmmm...I configured it manually with an identical set of rules and it was OK after that. Beats me. Apart from this Norton is the most user friendly and intelligently sorted Firewall I have found so far. Its auto configuration left me totally stealthed and my LAN and ICS working perfectly. It's the only one that managed this.

I know there are other good and bad and very bad firewalls out there but these are the ones I tried. I'm hoping I don't need to try any more.

[jujubeans]

I hate it when these businesses try to blame the customers when their product doesn't work right, I'm just glade I didn't pay for my version of ZApro but I think its about time I switched

[«°¤§téålth§t®îk餰»]

Thnx begoodbebad

Your post really helped. I think I'll give Norton a try not just because you say it's good but it's also because I've heard many good comments from it.

BUT, as I'm typing this I start to think about WinXP sp2, which has a BETTER built in firewall. Depending on the release date I might just wait for sp2 and then delete ZApro. Thnx for your time and effort into this thread!

[begoodbebad]

Thnx begoodbebad

Your post really helped. I think I'll give Norton a try not just because you say it's good but it's also because I've heard many good comments from it.

BUT, as I'm typing this I start to think about WinXP sp2, which has a BETTER built in firewall. Depending on the release date I might just wait for sp2 and then delete ZApro. Thnx for your time and effort into this thread!


Happy to help. :angel I may well be mistaken but I heard the improvement in the XP firewall is just that it will be on by default on installation of the OS. It is OK for blocking hostile incoming traffic but does nothing to control outgoing traffic...which is potentially much more important. The current one is handy when you have just installed XP and want to get updates from MS before you do anything else, soon as that's done I put a 3rd party firewall on and switch off the XP one.

Good luck uninstalling ZA :shoot

[waqasr]

I have used the following:

ZA basic and Pro on Win98, on XP and on 2000. Yuk. Sucks in big and various ways. It doesn't even uninstall properly.

Kaspersky Anti Hacker: on 2000 & XP. OK but by default it left some ports open which showed up on GRC Shields UP.

Kerio: On Win98 but so long ago I don't remember but don't recall any problem.

Sygate Pro: On XP and 2000. Excellent on a reasonably powerful PC, leaks enough on a PII that needs a reboot every 2 or 3 days. Also if you use Internet Connection Sharing it leaves ports open by default making you visible to every moron with a port scanner. Some other firewalls do this too, see GRC for explanation. Its network neighbourhood settings don't work, you have to write the rules for yourself. The latest version (5.5) crashes regularly. Version 5.0 is better, just update the signature not the whole application. For all the criticism it would still be my first choice for a standalone PC PIII/Duron 750 or better because in these circumstances it is stable and secure and doesn't get in your way and gives you a lot of useful options (can block all traffic while not loaded, dll authentication is switchable for example). When I was using an AthlonXP 1800 based PC with Overnet and Sygate it would be up for weeks with no problems. I went on holiday for 2 weeks and came home and everything was ticking over nicely....and I had lots of new music and movies to watch :)

Norton: on XP. This is what I use now on my massive :tilted 2 PC network. It mostly configures itself, it automatically sets rules (that work!) for networked PCs and for Internet Connection Sharing, stealthing all ports. For all the automation, you can still take full control if you wish. It is informative (a little like ZA), It uses barely any resources and aside from the rather overblown GUI which you mostly don't use, it is inconspicuous. The only problem I found was with eMule. I let Norton auto configure a "permit all" rule which somehow blocked all my downloads...hmmm...I configured it manually with an identical set of rules and it was OK after that. Beats me. Apart from this Norton is the most user friendly and intelligently sorted Firewall I have found so far. Its auto configuration left me totally stealthed and my LAN and ICS working perfectly. It's the only one that managed this.

I know there are other good and bad and very bad firewalls out there but these are the ones I tried. I'm hoping I don't need to try any more.

thanx alot for all
the useful information i will give
Norton FW a shot tell me one more thing bro does it slow down
the connection/speed?

[begoodbebad]

thanx alot for all
the useful information i will give
Norton FW a shot tell me one more thing bro does it slow down
the connection/speed?

On Overnet my connection was maxed out for days at a time. I don't know but probably there must be some fractional millisecond delay while the firewall checks the nature of your traffic/its origin but there is no way it affects the speed in any way you or I could notice. In effect it is transparent to permitted traffic. You'd have to ask someone with a lot more knowledge/experience than me to really get the fine details.