Zone Alarm Firewall?

Question

I am looking for a third party firewall that offers solid protection & is user friendly, light on resources, etc.

My only hesitation is since I'm not very familiar with computers outside surfing the web, e-mail, basic programs, etc, I'm afraid that I will give access to bad "people" and programs. Like for instance, on the Zone Alarm and I'm sure other firewalls, the pop ups come up to ask if you want to accept or deny access. If they randomly come up, how do I be positive that the program is safe? If I said "ok" by accident, it's then possible for pretty bad things to happen to my computer, correct?

Any input for a beginner would be greatly appreciated. Also, if you can suggest a user friendly, solid firewall that's light on resources that would be great.

I have Windows XP SP2, IE 6, and I use the computer for surfing the web, e-mail, and realplayer, etc. I have 1 GB of RAM.

Answer 1

Zone Alarm is great
as far as those pop-ups they are pretty much straight foward
"xyz program wants to connect to the internet"/act as a server"
these will be programs that are installed on your computer
if you know what they are and what they want with the internet then tick the box that says "always perform this action" and click allow
that particular program won't bother to ask you any more
If you're not familiar with the program then click deny and it will be blocked until the next time you log-on
Zone-alarm blocks incoming attempts to get at your computer and gives you a pop-up for each one by default but you can turn of the notifications
Zone Alarm has blocked 214,734 attempted intrusions on my computer 310 of them have been high rated nope make that 214,891.
After Zone-Alarm is installed is has a very informative tutorial that will explain how to use the program

I highly recommend Zone-Alarm

Answer 2

i use zone alarm firewall and it is great and easy to use. And if you dont know what program is trying to get to the Internet just google the program and see what it is then chose to let it on or deny it. Mine is very light on sources.Also i have read that it is a very good firewall. I would say go ahead and get it and see if you like it. And dont forget to run only 1 firewall at a time so if you get zone alarm turn off any firewalls thats on including windows firewall.

Answer 3

zone alarm is best firewall.
Actually every firewall check all programs that is running in Ur computer and also the up & down internet transfer in ur computer to protect u from hacker.
when it shows some pop-up to confirm with u that it can get any programe run or close.that is depend on u.u can accept on deny this as ur requirement.
Zone alarm is best for every one.as it give u lifetime membership by a one registration.where other company do not give u this.and the firewall also a strong firewall according to pcworld.

Answer 4

If you don't mind spending the cash..I HIGHLY reccommend Trend Micro's PCCillin Security Suite. As for ZoneAlarm it is a great free firewall but not so light on resources (although your specs sound fine)
As far as worrying as to what to allow and to not allow...when in doubt....GOOGLE...the programs or application name. If you cant find anything on google or still arent sure deny access and do other research.

Answer 5

I use Zone Alarm and it's great.
If you have any questions about whether to deny or accept traffic just point & click. What I mean is, the window(s) that prompt you will have information regarding the program and details about the type of traffic or program that will execute. This is especially good for when you're downloading programs you're not too sure about.

Answer 6

Zonealarm is ok I have it anything that wants to go in or out will to the net will have a pop up unless you lower the settings also you you can configure to so anything on your pc that wants to access other files or acting weird will have a pop up if you don't know just deny, other than that emails get scanned before downloading so no worries there.

Answer 7

Go to www.filehippo.com and go to firewalls.