[Telstar]

Windows XP SP3
Firefox 3.0.5
IE6
NVIDIA GeForce2 MX400
1.60GHz Intel Pentium 4
ZoneAlarm Free v 8.0.065.000
Windows Firewall - OFF

I've been using ZoneAlarm Free Edition Firewalls for years and just upgraded to their latest version, 8.0.065, yesterday and noticed that I'm carrying many old program entries that I feel might be adding unnecessary time to the computer startup time during a reboot or restart.

So, my question is this...

What if...I deleted ALL the entries listed in "Programs" and rebooted/restarted my system?

Wouldn't ZA simply ask me permissions for the programs that would be starting and then as I open new programs/applications ZA would ask me permissions at that time thus creating a new Program list of ONLY active Programs I use?

Are there any listed Programs that I shouldn't delete?

To me it sounds logical and ZA would simply act as it would if I were installing it brand new but I'm just making sure no harm could come from doing this.

Thanks

[KLR]

I have done this with previous versions of zone alarm and it worked fine.
Sometimes there are new versions or updates of programs and ZA will show a new permission ask - and leave the old one there.
I think it is a good idea to refresh the permissions as you describe.
Ken

[KLR]

I have done this with previous versions of zone alarm and it worked fine.
Sometimes there are new versions or updates of programs and ZA will show a new permission ask - and leave the old one there.
I think it is a good idea to refresh the permissions as you describe.
Ken

[1002richards]

Hi,
Not sure about that issue but you may find this interesting:
http://www.techsupportalert.com/
They say:
"We no longer recommend the free version of the ZoneAlarm firewall. First, it is a very basic product compared to the commercial ZoneAlarm Pro version. The leak-test performance of the latest free version is extremely poor, whereas the Pro version is excellent. The download also includes the large commercial ZoneAlarm suite, so be careful not to install it. ZA free does have the advantage of working with Vista."

Their suggestions with reasons for other free firewalls:
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-firewall.htm

Richard.

[Telstar]

Richard and Ken, thank you for your replies.

I deleted literally hundreds of obsolete and duplicate entries from my ZoneAlarm, rebooted and, as expected, was prompted for new permissions for programs and applications needing Internet access that were started and (so far) there seems to be no negative side-effects.

I was warned by ZA during that deleting process that certain entries might be a bad thing and could cause harm to my computer (System requirements, etc.), so I left those alone.

I'm looking through the links at alternatives to ZA which Richard posted, though I must say I'm very comfortable with the job of protecting my computer that ZA has done for me for the past few years and I'm reluctant, albeit open-minded, when it comes to consideration of any change.

Write this off as similar to the "my car always seems to operate better after it's been washed" syndrome but, I do seem to detect my computer starting faster after reboot/restarts since trimming down all those ZA entries.

Thanks again.

[KLR]

I uninstalled Zone Alarm due to conflicts with Norton Antivirus 2009.
I now use Comodo Firewall and am pleased with it.
Some will say comodo is one of the best now.
Only using the Forewall - not Antivirus component in Comodo.
Ken

[1002richards]

Glad you found it intersting, and I've kept ZA on pc for similar reasons but gone for other prog on laptop 'cos of slow shutdown.

Richard