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Zone alarm conflict

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drdrill's Avatar
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Join Date: Nov 2004
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31-May-2008, 05:19 PM #1
Zone alarm conflict
The last few days vsmon.exe has been using 100% of my cpu for a few seconds then normal for 20 seconds and then high again etc. I now know this to be a recognised conflict between the latest versions of Zone Alarm (free version) and Spyware Doctor. There does not appear to be a fix available at the moment. My question is would it be better to get a new firewall and keep Spyware Doctor or keep Zone Alarm and ditch Spyware Dr? I am using xp sp2 fully updated, 2.8 pentium 4, 1.5 gb ram. Any advice much appreciated.
TOGG's Avatar
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31-May-2008, 07:43 PM #2
Personally, I would have thought that a fully functional firewall was more important than anti-spyware software (if there was a recognised definition of exactly what is included under 'spyware'!) so I would sacrifice Spyware Doctor if I had no other choice. I don't actually have a dedicated, real time, anti-spyware program, but my AV (NOD32) includes antispyware definitions and I have SpywareBlaster installed. I also run BOClean which is supposed to stop just about everything!

If you are inclined to look for an alternative firewall, check the results at Matousec; http://www.matousec.com/projects/fir...ge/results.php (Note that only ZA Pro is listed, I believe that the free version got a fairly poor rating in the earlier lists). I have no idea how valid the Matousec tests are but I am, coincidentally, using Comodo. It can be fiddly to set up and I read somewhere that, if you don't have the Defense+ function enabled (which is the one that seems to cause most of the alerts), Comodo is only a fairly average performer..
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drdrill's Avatar
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01-Jun-2008, 04:25 AM #3
Thanks for the advice Togg. I am looking at other firewalls, Sunbelt Software - ex Kerio - seems popular but I'll check with the site you suggested.
drdrill's Avatar
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01-Jun-2008, 04:29 AM #4
Interesting reading on the firewall website. Sunbelt not recommended! Back to the drawing board.
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01-Jun-2008, 06:26 AM #5
Do you have the full version of spyware Doctor ??
drdrill's Avatar
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01-Jun-2008, 06:49 AM #6
Hi Blackmirror, I have the full version but spyware only, I do not have the anti virus. It is the latest version. I'm getting more confused with firewalls though. I couldn't configure Sunbelt to work with Outlook, so am now trying Comodo. Shields Up gives it a good report, but I have just visited another site which gives completely different results - www.firewallleaktester.com/tests.php - and also Spyware Dr is using a lot of cpu again. I guess it must depend on the threat levels with firewalls.
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