do zone alarm free firewall and avg free antivirus clash? wghat about having windows firewall with zone alarm

Question

Is it ok to have all these.

Will the constant security messages (protected/ wants access/ etc) lesson after a while. I put it on 5 minutes ago and got about 8 messages...does this go down after they first access if you allow them?

Answer 1

Jim round about said it all. However I disagree on his comments on AVG, I have seen too many computers running CA get infected, ok it may be users not updating their definition files. PC-cillin has failed on me in the past and malware slipped through while AVG stopped them in their tracks. AVG is one of the best tools for disinfecting malware infected PC's and their resident shield is one of the best I have seen so far for keeping the bad guys out. I haven't had the chance to work with CA yet, so I can't really comment on how good or bad it is.

If I'm not mistaking ZoneAlarm will automatically disable Windows Firewall, if it doesn't do that, disable Windows Firewall, do not run them at the same time, the two firewalls will clash. Avast has compatibility problems with ZoneAlarm, but AVG is OK with it.

If you are unsure of which applications to allow and which ones not, use the SmartDefence Advisor to tell you if you should allow the application in question.

http://www.cybertopcops.com/review-avg-anti-virus-free.php
http://www.cybertopcops.com/review-zonealarm-firewall-free.php

Answer 2

2

Answer 3

What you are experiencing is the normal learning process for ZoneAlarm. It only knows whether or not it should open the door for a program when you first give it permission. Once it knows a program is trusted, it remembers that, as long as you check the box to remember your decision before giving permission. The freqency of the security boxes popping up will go down as ZoneAlarm learns what you trust and what you don't trust.

There are far better antivirus options that AVG I'm afraid to say. Professionally, I'd rate it as worth exactly what you paid for it. However, there should be no conflict between AVG and ZoneAlarm. We have notice that AVG tends to change itself more often than it needs to. Each time a file version changes, ZoneAlarm has to ask permission all over again.

My professional recommendation is that you remove AVG and get something that works. I do this for a living. I evaluate and test security products for corporate clients where failure is not an option. I can have anything I want. The best products out there are CA 2007 from Computer Associates, BitDefender Pro, and PC-Cillin. I run CA on our workstations, and BitDefender Pro on our servers.

For your purposes, I'm going to suggest CA Antivirus 2007 since you obviously want a full-feature free solution. Thanks to Microsoft, Windows users get a free 1-year license for CA antivirus. I assume posting the link is acceptible since it is a free product. The link is here:
http://home3.ca.com/Microsoft/

The reason I use CA is because it is not only the most effective in general, it is the least intrusive, and uses the least amount of your computer's resources. Translation: It won't slow your computer down, and has minimal interaction with other software.

I'm suggesting it to you because it is stable, reliable, and you get it free for a year. Meanwhile, hang in there as the learning process for ZoneAlarm will wind down. Just be sure to check the "remember this decision" box each time.

Answer 4

AVG is the best free antivirus program out there, in my opinion. I'm soo glad you've got it, it really does work well!

Yeah, you'll get a few messages like that for a while, but they'll go down as the programs eventually sort themselves out.

Answer 5

avg should have a help file to let have the firewall let it get online. Don't use windows firewall it blows you only need 1 firewall.

Answer 6

2 firewalls cant work with each other.Before installing zone alarm or any other firewall you should first disable windows firewall or yours system may crash.

Answer 7

you will only get the messages as it gets permission for programs you have, once it has settled you will only get them for newly d/loaded programs or virus warnings.