Need Help to Completely Remove Zone Alarm please

Hi,
I started a new thread, because the title of my old thread doesn't pertain (I removed the vxd file Windows was looking for).
Here is my other thread:
http://discussions.virtualdr.com/For...ML/056600.html

Basically, I need to know how to follow this instruction:

2. Remove the following key entries from the Windows System Registry.

Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Zone Labs and all its subkeys and values

Can I just delete "Zone Labs" and will that remove all the subkeys and values? Or is it necessary for me to click on the + of Zone Labs and remove the items under it individually. And if I find a file to delete with a file on the right side, will deleting the file on the left be sufficient, or is it necessary to delete individually??
(As you can see, I don't understand the registry.)

Also, I did a Find in Windows and came up with:

I.E. HKLMZoneInfo in C\Program Files
IE HKCUZoneInfo in C\Program Files
Zonedoff.reg in c\Windows\System (reg entries)
Zonedon.reg (also reg entries)
Can I safely delete these files?

And, I have a folder called C:\Windows\Internet Logs. ZA instructions said to rename this file Internet Logs1 which I did. (But I'm wondering if those instructions are if you are reinstalling ZA)
So, is Internet Logs a Windows file, or a ZA folder - the only file inside I can't identify is backup.rdb. The other 3 are definitely Zone Alarm files. I'd like to delete Internet Logs if it's safe to do so.
I would appreciate any help you can give me on this.
Thank you.
Sincerely, Nancee

Just uninstall ZA in the Add/Remove Programs control panel; Restart your computer; Back at desktop navigate to the Program Files directory and delete the Zone Labs folder. Restart your machine. There's no need to be concerned about registry entries.

I wouldn't uninstall ZA permanently. Re-install it after your done imho. Or get another free one.

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"Freedom is man's capacity to take a hand in his own development. It is our capacity to mold ourselves."
- Rollo May

Hi Nancee - As you are not confident navigating in the registry it might be better if you used a good disk clean up tool to do the work for you. I can recommend this one jv16 Power Tools. Install then re-start your computer. Shut down everything in SYSTRAY that will close and make sure your browsers are closed and you're off the net.

When you open the program, click on 'Registry Tool'. It will give you a complete listing of the programs on your computer. Search that list VERY carefully and make SURE you put a checkmark in front of the ones you KNOW you don't have anymore (previously un-installed), then click 'Remove'. On the same screen, click 'Tools', then 'Registry Cleaner'. Make sure there are checkmarks in the top three options and the next to the last one and that the others AREN'T checked. Click 'Continue' and let it find everything it's going to. Click 'Select', 'All' and then 'Remove'. Close that screen.

Click on 'File Tools'. Where it says 'Search For' click in 'Zero Length Files' then click 'Start', let it find them, 'Select', 'All','Remove'. Then do the same thing for 'Temp Files' and 'Invalid Shortcuts'. (Don't use the other selections there unless you know what you're doing).

Cheers.

PS You dont have to run all of the above if you dont want to.


[This message has been edited by AnnMarie (edited 01-28-2002).]

Yes, that'll take the subkeys with it.

You can just delete the whole Internet Logs folder - it's strictly ZA.

The zonedoff and on reg files don't belong to ZA - they're IE'ish (actually belong to the VM but it's distributed with IE)- leave em.


[This message has been edited by IMM (edited 01-28-2002).]

Hello Nancee, if you right click a file and select properties you will see who the file belongs to; zonedon and off reg files are windows files, there properties do not reveal this. I have not deleted mine, I know what they can do (have done?) and see no reason to delete them or keep them. Actually I am still investigating ones purpose of existing at all (zonedon.reg), I won`t go into boring details here.

Right clicking a left pane key and deleting it will remove EVERYTHING (string, binary, DWORD) values in the right pane, if the *yellow folder in left pane *ie the-(Key)is called "Zone labs", then it is almost 100% that its subkey/s and value/s pertain only to this key.
I just delete the Key (left pane) in this PARTICULAR case.

The file called "Internet Logs" does not appear on my WIN98 se PC, and I believe it belongs to ZA. "I" would delete it.

"I.E. HKLMZoneInfo in C\Program Files
IE HKCUZoneInfo in C\Program Files"
these files are not part of Windows, what is there extension/s and properties, are they empty folders?, if so safe to delete, your call here.

If you right click a *.reg file and choose "edit" you can view the info in it and see exactly what and where it does its job.
While in registry if you highlight a Key (left pane, ie Zone Labs ) and then left click on "Registry" (top left menu) a drop down menu appears, now choose "export registry file" (put dot in "selected branch"), now you can save a COPY of the Zone Labs Key to your desktop or whatever, (it will not export and thus remove it, so do not worry).

Now with the above edit advice given above you can open it and copy and paste its contents here on this forum, if you want to know about its function.



[This message has been edited by lukeg (edited 01-28-2002).]

hi nanceel0...be very careful uninstalling ZA...is the 30 day trail of ZA?..i tried the 30 day version, uninstalled it using ZA uninstall and BOOM...the end of my hard drive, system froze..everything gone, blue screens galore..not pretty!!..had to reinstall W98...good luck

I'm at work right now so no time..
I just wanted to clear up one thing. I wanted you to backup one of those registry cab files as insurance. you really don't backup the registry from them,but if you had to you would have been able to copy back that backup to the sysbckup folder and use it in a scanreg /restore routine. It was just insurance.
Sorry I've got to go for now...work ya know.


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amthmi, oh now I see, that is a good idea as she may crash for 5 days but still be able to reboot (after corrupting registry), at this point no cabs are viable, and the one you saved to floppy could be restored via putting it back where it belongs.

Thats exactly right lukeg...just insurance. Mine are too big for floppy tho,
that's why I suggested another folder on the HD. Only problem is the longer
her problem continues and if other software is added like what AnnMarie
suggested then that insurance will be worthless just like Enron.
Not that the app. that annemarie suggested wouldn't help, its just adding something
else to the mix...so to speak.
The files and keys that need to be deleted should be done before
adding any new programs or restoring the registry back would cause
all new programs to malfunction.
I don't think a restore will be necessary tho.
It seems she's almost there, she just needed some clarification on
which files and keys to delete.

She mentioned that ZA and AOL don't get along very well..< cough > AOL doesn't
get along with alot of software.
I don't know anyone using ZA and AOL do you ?
Did they also have problems , I wonder.
Does anyone know why ?
Is this an issue with the Free version of ZA or just ZAPro ?
If someone ask whether they should install ZA should we ask
" do you have aol "
Any AOL and ZA users out there....your feedback please.

Back to you Nancee, please post back on your progress.


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Please remember to post back.

amthmi

I have AOL6 and have been using ZA for over a year and no problems. I wouldn't be without ZA.

Hi everyone!
Thanks so much for all of your advice. I appreciate it. I haven't gone back into the registry yet, because of the above things I wasn't clear about. I put that sysbckup file in C\Temporary and now I know to copy it back to C\Windows\Sysbckup. If I'm understanding this correctly I would put it on top of "sysbckup", click paste and tell it to overwrite the existing rb001.cab and then be able to restore with scanreg /restore.
Actually, after using ZoneAlarm's uninstall AND removing the vxd file Windows was looking for on loading up, my computer is running fine. I just feel I would like those other files out of my registry. I'll give it a try. There are a few instructions I may not be comfortable with, and may leave them. I'll get back to you as soon as I do this. I'll check those files in Windows too and discuss them.
AnnMarie, I printed up your letter and the address for that tool, but I don't want to mess with that right now (the less I do, the better https://discussions.virtualdr.com/) but thank you.
I appreciate everyone's help.
Sincerely,
Nancee

No don't put that cab file back in C:\Windows\Sysbckup.
It's my fault for making an assumption you knew what I was thinking.
It would have been used ONLY if your other backups weren't usable.
I was just thinking ahead and didn't mean to confuse the issue.

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I have aol6.0 & the free version of zonealarm. No problems. Now, if I could just get dsl or cable.........


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Youth is wasted on the young

Hi Nancee - you are welcome for the info - one day it might come in handy. I really like jv16 Power Tools - it does a great job of cleaning up your drive and makes backups as it goes. https://discussions.virtualdr.com/

Hi Everyone https://discussions.virtualdr.com/
I did it! It took an hour. There were only two things I wasn't comfortable with - those shared dlls - I didn't click on each to view them, so then I used the "Find" on a few and didn't find any. I think the uninstall may have removed them.
The other thing was the HKey_Classes_Root\ZAMailSafe. I deleted that key on the left but then I did the find and was shocked to see tons of them come on the right for z10, z11 etc. through zly. When I clicked F3 then Default would highlight with zaMailSafe next to it and I happened to notice a little folder open on the left. I deleted each default (on the right) but the little folder remained on the left. I left those (because this was making me nervous). But it seems to me that the free ZoneAlarm carries all the extension. I know people have questioned that.

Amthmi - if I would have had a problem, wouldn't copying that good reg backup back to the sysbckup file worked to use scanreg /restore? It's still in my temporary file. For extra insurance, I exported the registry to my desktop before I started also.

IMM - Thanks for your advice re the registry and those other files. I deleted the Internet Logs to my recycle bin.

Luteg - Thanks also for your advice re the registry. When I deleted the ZAmailsafe key I thought it took everything, but when I started doing the find all those extensions came up! Then I noticed the little folders for each in the left pane as I deleted the value (I think) on the right. I don't care about those folders.
I think these files
"I.E. HKLMZoneInfo in C\Program Files
IE HKCUZoneInfo in C\Program Files"
belong to my Internet Explorer. I'm basing this on the IE name and also the date created is the date I installed IE6, so I'm leaving them alone.
Well, this has been an experience and I appreciate everyone's help.
I don't know why ZA didn't get along with my pc - I am running AOL5. I went into an AOL chatroom and two people told me they were running ZA without problems. When I first installed it, I got online and was able to use my browsers. I was disillusioned when I tested at Shields Up and it showed Shields both stealth, but ports were all stealth and Port 25 SMTP OPEN!
I went online the next day and immediately got a box from ZA "The firewall has blocked internet access to 64.12.12xxx(aol) from your computer." I gave AOL server rights, undid the lock enable, and unchecked block server rights in both boxes. Didn't help. I then went to an AOL chatroom and got advice to set Internet security to medium. That worked, but when I tested at Shields Up all ports were "closed" - same as what I had prior to ZA. At this point https://discussions.virtualdr.com/, for insurance, I went to the ZA site and printed all the uninstall instructions.
Then I tried to update InnoculateIT with autodownload and it kept timing out (although I had given permission to ZA). I turned off ZA and it timed out again. When I tried to use my browser again I couldn't - and my setting was still at medium.
At this point I decided it was time to uninstall and that brings me here.
Again, I want to thank everyone. I couldn't have done this without you.
Sincerely, Nancee

When I clicked F3 then Default would highlight with zaMailSafe next to it and I happened to notice a little folder open on the left. I deleted each default (on the right) but the little folder remained on the left. I left those (because this was making me nervous). But it seems to me that the free ZoneAlarm carries all the extension. I know people have questioned that.

I can answer that question Nancee - Mailsafe in some versions of ZoneAlarm free version is only supposed to protect you against against two or three suspect attachments but in fact give the full protection of Zone Alarm Pro (37 file types). That was what you saw in your registry. Just checked the latest release, unless my browser is acting up, it seems that Zone Alarm free does not now offer MailSafe protection.

I got an email this morning with an attachment called; www.myparty.yahoo.com
it was obviously a command file, the icon proved it, I had last updated my virus defs 4 days ago, I scanned it and no result, I updated my defs and rescanned and this is what it was http://[email protected]

I emailed the sender as to confirm if valid email address and no rebound daemon yet, I pasted the URL www.myparty.yahoo.com into my browser while the com virus was still on my computer and hit enter, a blank ms-dos box appeared and dissapeared, no commands executed.
I ran the virus scan and deleted the virus and made sure everything was fine and it is. As I never executed it.
Now I try the URL again and it is All about this particular virus.
Fun but a tad simple.
Who on earth would open a com file thinking it is a URL?, well its spreading fast so a lot of people are just plain silly.

Hi AnnMarie!
I don't know how MailSafe works, well, actually I think it changes the extension of a bad extension so you can't open it. I don't use Outlook Express and I think it applies to that. So I also don't understand how using your browser would tell you if you have those extension protections. But, in my short-lived https://discussions.virtualdr.com/ history with ZA, I had version 2.6.362. And I had a box for mailsafe in the configure area.
In the registry when I used the "Find" at Classes_Roots z10 thru z18
(maybe 19) came up; then zla thru zlt; then z1, zlu, zlv, zlx, zly. Then they all came up again, it seemed with the little folders opening. That's why I thought all that protection is still in there.
Thanks again for all your help. That tool does sound good and I copied your instructions.

Luteg - Thanks for posting about that virus. It's my understanding it's going around fast.
Sincerely, Nancee

Sorry Nancee - I didnt make it very clear what I meant. I checked the ZA site and compared features in the latest release of Zone Alarm and Zone Alarm Pro to see how much protection MailSafe offered - I wasnt looking in the registry.

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Moderator at Suggest A Fix

That's okay AnnMarie https://discussions.virtualdr.com/
I just have the feeling (from what I saw - not that I understand much of it) that ZA is "saying" you get all those extensions only in ZAPro, but it seems it's also in the free version. Which if I'm right, is good for everyone with the free version.
Sincerely, Nancee

Thats because the difference between the 2 is minor, although you would need a hex editor and something like w32dasm to find and view the missing stuff, it is probably in the executable, rather than the registry.
Have you learn`t how to export a selected branch of the registry yet nancee?.
Nice to SEE what you are talking about.

Amthmi - if I would have had a problem, wouldn't copying that good reg backup back to the
sysbckup file worked to use scanreg /restore? It's still in my temporary file. For extra insurance, I
exported the registry to my desktop before I started also.

Yes Nancee it could have been used "but" there are many variables to consider first.
When scanreg /restore is used it is better if it's applied as soon as possible because
the registry is constantly changing and it's not just with software installs.
If things really went bad for you, although I thought that wouldn't happen, I wanted
you to have a known good copy of one of your registry cabs. The problem lies when
you wait to long to restore because whatever changes that were made to the registry
would be lost with a restore from a previous date.
Some people don't boot very often which I see as a problem because those backup cab files
could be dated too far back to do any good. Remember it's the 1st boot in a calendar day only.
It's not every boot. I also didn't know how often you boot , some people leave their pc on 24/7.
I boot every day that way I have 5 fresh copies of the cab files just in case I needed
a scanreg /restore routine.
What you could have done as soon as the uninstall went bad was to run the restore routine,
( especially if you boot every day and 5 days hadn't past ) to the date prior to the ZA install,
then you would not have had to go into the registry to clean up all the keys.
You would have just had to delete the files left behind.

My advice...boot every day if you can.
I'm glad you got your problem fixed !



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amthmi
I know this isn't my thread but you wanted to know whether anyone with AOL had problems with Zonealarm-
I have Compuserve (basically the same monster in different skin) and i had huge problems. I would get cut off repeatedly, my messengers and email alerts would not work correctly (if at all), and eventually i was unable to get a connection to the internet about 90% of the time i tried. When i uninstalled ZA, guess what, NO internet connection at all. So i had to follow the uninstall instructions including deleting things from the registry.
Some members on this site had walked me through a ton of things that they thought might be the cause, thinking it was a damaged global org, aol adapter, modem, anything you can think of. Turns out it was just ZA. I found out by coming across some posts about other people having the same problems. Go Figure. Hope you got it all worked out Nancee https://discussions.virtualdr.com/

Hi Luke,
I hope this worked (I first copied the whole key and tried to paste it here and the browser froze, so I just copied the extensions I think go with ZA) Here they are (they are from the classes_root key:

I want to mention that in the registry it didn't look like this, the first one looked like a little yellow folder with .z10, etc.

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zl0]
"Original Extension"="ADE"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.ADE]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zl1]
"Original Extension"="ADP"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.ADP]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zl2]
"Original Extension"="BAS"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.BAS]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zl3]
"Original Extension"="BAT"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zl4]
"Original Extension"="CHM"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zl5]
"Original Extension"="CMD"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.CMD]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zl6]
"Original Extension"="COM"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zl7]
"Original Extension"="CPL"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zl8]
"Original Extension"="CRT"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zl9]
"Original Extension"="EXE"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zla]
"Original Extension"="HLP"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zlb]
"Original Extension"="HTA"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zlc]
"Original Extension"="INF"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zld]
"Original Extension"="INS"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zle]
"Original Extension"="ISP"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.z0]
"Original Extension"="JS"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zlf]
"Original Extension"="JSE"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zlg]
"Original Extension"="LNK"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zlh]
"Original Extension"="MDB"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.MDB]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zli]
"Original Extension"="MDE"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.MDE]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zlj]
"Original Extension"="MSC"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.MSC]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zlk]
"Original Extension"="MSI"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zll]
"Original Extension"="MSP"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zlm]
"Original Extension"="MST"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.MST]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zln]
"Original Extension"="PCD"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zlo]
"Original Extension"="PIF"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zlp]
"Original Extension"="REG"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zlq]
"Original Extension"="SCR"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zlr]
"Original Extension"="SCT"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zls]
"Original Extension"="SHS"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zlt]
"Original Extension"="URL"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.z1]
"Original Extension"="VB"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.VB]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zlu]
"Original Extension"="VBE"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zlv]
"Original Extension"="VBS"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zlw]
"Original Extension"="WSC"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zlx]
"Original Extension"="WSF"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.zly]
"Original Extension"="WSH"

So since I went back there and you can look at them, can I delete them? And could I do it by editing that file and then right clicking merge - or just double clicking on the file? (If I can do this, how's the best way to edit that file? In other words, would I highlight ALL of the above and delete it?) Thanks.
Sincerely, Nancee



[This message has been edited by Nanceel0 (edited 01-30-2002).]

Hi Amthmi,
It seems that at the point of Windows asking for that vxd file I could have just used scanreg /restore and all that work in the registry would have been done for me.
Thank you for explaining how restoring an old registry file may not always work out well. I used to think restoring the registry restored EVERYTHING at that point and would be a total cure all.
While I was looking thru that key posted above, I was amazed to see so many references to the disabled extensions my NoScript disables - and now I know it disables a lot more than just WSH.

Hi Dala,
Thank you for your good thoughts, everything's worked out okay so far. https://discussions.virtualdr.com/ I think it's a bit of a mystery why ZA works with AOL sometimes and sometimes not. I had nothing checked in the subnet area, so I don't know if that could have contributed to my problems, but I don't think anything was checked when I first installed it and I was able to use my browsers. Then, next day, ZA was blocking AOL from my computer - I could only get the AOL welcome page. Well, it's been an experience.
Sincerely, Nancee