Zone Alarm Pro & ICS

Hi all,

I have two pc's on a peer to peer network and set up for ICS.

The one with the cable modem is Win 98SE and the client is win98FE.

The client pc was real sickly and had to be formatted and reinstalled.... I reset the network and ICS exactly as before ....BUT... now the firewal (ZoneAlarm Pro on the server) is showing all sorts of strange alerts to do with routed IP Protocols, and the client machine is having a real problem using MSN sites and game zones. Other internet traffic seems fine. I am really confused by this and can't work out how to keep the firewall happy and still allow the client to surf wherever it wants to.

I know that there is an answer to my problem because this network used to run perfectly and only since the client was formatted and reinstalled have I had this problem with Zone Alarm Pro.

Any ideas will be gratefully received :)

VP

You would save yourself some serious agony by purchasing a router with a hardware firewall....

Thanks Sarrkazztic ;) , my thoughts have been taking the same route too.....but ... will I need to uninstall ZoneAlarm pro to use that set up? I've heard that it is difficult to get rid of once it is installed.

VP

I wouldn't purchase a router with firewall features over firewall software. I would use a combination of both. While using a hardware with firewall features has some advantages over firewall software, there are some things to keep in mind.

By default, routers with firewall capablities block all incoming traffic, and allow outbound traffic. Depending on the software you choose, firewall software can offer beyond the protection than a router firewall such as protecting you from outbound traffic, spyware, and trojans.

Have you tried totally uninstalling the Zone Alarm, and reinstalling it choosing to erase all previous settings? I have had to do it this way in the past so it clears everything out and allows you to essentially start over with the application.
That might work to let you start fressh and possibly correct the problems you are encountering.
You might even get away without having to by a Router too... :)

Hi again and thanks for the replies :)

I did try the uninstall and reinstall of za pro and chose the erase previous settings but unfortunaltely this didn't sort out the problem.

I have since uninstalled it again and followed Zone labs advice on removing registration entries and all sorts of stuff it left behind. I am about to see if a clean install of the program will sort out the original problem.

Wish me luck!

VP