[wgreene]

I recently purchased Zone Alarm Security Suite and I've had a couple of problems already, both of which have happened twice.

1. I've gotten notices on two occasions that my system might be at risk because my ZA anti-virus program appears to have been turned off. Sure enough, I check and see that it really is off, so I have to turn it back on.

QUESTION: Is it unusual for an AV program to somehow turn itself off, or would it be more likely that there is something sinister going on with my system?

2. Twice I've gotten the following message:

Zone Alarm Security Suite -- New Network
New Network Found
IP Address: ************
Type: Public Network Detected

Zone Alarm Security Suite has found a connection between
your computer and the Internet or another computer.

QUESTION: Is this message harmless, or is it something I should be concerned about.

Thank you.

[masterjim]

Either you have a virus or Zone Alarm is conflicting with some other program. I had a virus completely disable my Zone Alarm firewall and AVG antivirus program back in my dial-up days. The "New Network" message is normal if you are on a network (wired or wireless).

[wgreene]

Is there an easy way to determine if I have either a virus or a program conflict? Recent ZA AV checks haven't detected any viruses. Maybe I should run TM's Housecall.

I am not on a network, so I don't know what could be causing me to get the "New Network" message.

[golferbob]

i myself don't like suites ,i just uninstalled my free year of mcafee a few months ago. but to your problem ,why don't you run a free scan with panda ,it does a nice job.

http://www.pandasecurity.com/homeuse...ACHEHINT=Guest

[pfurball]

Howdy whgreene,
A virus can definitely affect ZoneAlarm, take Bugbear for example, it disabled my AV,firewall and wouldn't let me do any online scans while it had control of my computer. My ZoneAlarm Security Suite picks up my adsl as a network connection and if your suite is fairly new, it takes a little while for it to get a snapshot of how you work your permissions and you will get fifty million alerts and permissions requests while it settles itself in. If in doubt, run a Panda or trend scan, can't hurt and elso contact ZoneAlarm online support as they are very helpful and quick to get back to you.
I am also wondering if you have been taken over by one of those things that makes your computer a bot for spamming etc.?
You might want to do a HiJackThis log and put it in the Malware Removal section, to be on the safe side.
Regards Paula

[masterjim]

Just get a second opinion from an online virus scan like TrendMicro's Housecall, Panda ActiveScan, Panda's Nanoscan (www.nanoscan.com) or PC Pit Stop (www.pcpitstop.com). Use one or all of them. You need to use IE for the Panda Scans because it requires Active X components.