Opinions on Zone Alarm Free Firewall + Antivirus 2015?

[rienna]

Should I keep it?
So far it's lighter than WD and Baidu.
The two of which let malware slip in and destroy an install of Windows before I could react. And so far every firewall test I've ran has been superb vs. Windows Firewall.

I'm not all too worried about HTTP scanning or "the cloud" either. Since if need be I can just use Traffic Light or Avira Browser Safety in combination with Adguard. (I made the jump to chrome) just that it has better protection then Baidu or MSE/WD and will block something if it gets passed my browser be it on-access or when I run a scan.

I'm also curious because many testers elsewhere have given the Pro version which only adds 4 functions I really don't think there's much need for (at least in my usage case. I've only ever gotten infected from malvertisements) really high (on par with BD and the like, higher than AVG and Avira). (Score of 99%).

 

[Janl92l]

i would not use the av module. the firewall is fine but the av is realy mediumcore/bad. low detection rate and not up to date kasperskys signatures. if u get infected with top avs than its not the av fault,maybe u should learn abit what to install and what to click on the internet. i would uninstall zonealarm av/firewall and would go with something like Panda,avast,qihoo,avg or avira. all nice fee avs with decent protection. if u want a firewall u can try out comodo firewall,private firewall or online armor. all have hips modules so u will get pupops and need to understand them.

 

[rienna]

i would not use the av module. the firewall is fine but the av is realy mediumcore/bad. low detection rate and not up to date kasperskys signatures. if u get infected with top avs than its not the av fault,maybe u should learn abit what to install and what to click on the internet. i would uninstall zonealarm av/firewall and would go with something like Panda,avast,qihoo,avg or avira. all nice fee avs with decent protection. if u want a firewall u can try out comodo firewall,private firewall or online armor. all have hips modules so u will get pupops and need to understand them.

According to AV-Test the AV scores very high, even in zero-day protection. (Albeit for the "extreme edition").
Well the issue is I do pay attention.
I am VERY VERY careful about where I go. And as others have stated Baidu and WD are the worst of the worst at protection.
And I've tried those firewalls. They were way to heavy and annoying. Oh you want to download skyrim on steam? As soon as the download tried to start (I'm talking legit steam btw from store.steampowered.com) I would get the "Allow or Block" I clicked allow and what did each of them do when I tried them? KEPT BLOCKING IT even when I tried the steps others have listed for such an issue it still wanted to block steam. Tiny Firewall was also guilty of this.

 

[Janl92l]

According to AV-Test the AV scores very high, even in zero-day protection. (Albeit for the "extreme edition").
Well the issue is I do pay attention.
I am VERY VERY careful about where I go. And as others have stated Baidu and WD are the worst of the worst at protection.
And I've tried those firewalls. They were way to heavy and annoying. Oh you want to download skyrim on steam? As soon as the download tried to start (I'm talking legit steam btw from store.steampowered.com) I would get the "Allow or Block" I clicked allow and what did each of them do when I tried them? KEPT BLOCKING IT even when I tried the steps others have listed for such an issue it still wanted to block steam. Tiny Firewall was also guilty of this.

one example for comodo. U can add the whole Stream Folder to the trusted list so u will not get any popups,either for the hips modul,firewall or autosandbox. And Baidu is not the worst from the worst. The detection rate is quit nice. duo my own testing i can say that Zonealarm isnt that nice and weak against zeroday threads. they have not a single good behavourcomponent.

 

[Tinm]

You can use the firewall, its good. Though it tries to install a toolbar (can be avoided) and changes your default search engine.

 

[Ramona]

Very good, the downside it the high memory usage and the toolbar.

 

[jamescv7]

Firewall should be ok for you as its configuration and complexity can be use both novice and enthusiast, differ on the blend components from Comodo, well in my observation Kaspersky signature should be enough in such matter unless accepted its limitation that updates are every 24 hours.

 

[woomera]

Opinions on Zone Alarm Free Firewall + Antivirus 2015?

imo that is a useless product and a waste of disk space, and yes i have tried it personally.
the firewall is very basic and in fact has less options than default windows firewall so what is the point exactly!?
and the av even though it uses a good engine is easily disabled and bypassed but trojans and rootkits.
you'd be better off with well-known alternatives like avg and avast.

 

[Sr. Normal]

I used it a few months. The firewall, i love it , gives little warning and has a good reputation . According to PCMag is the best firewall free . The truth is that no HIPS or Sandbox , but it works excellently.

However, the suite do not recommend it because the antivirus is poor.

I recommend this firewall with Qihoo , Avira , Panda , AVG , Avast ... but not with it own antivirus .

Qihoo would be perfect with it , you configure it without the Bitdefender engine and it has a slightly reduced consumption and protect you still with three own engines + Avira engine . And you should HIPS and Sandbox that are characteristic of this antivirus

 

[aztony]

They were way to heavy and annoying.

It's been probably 7+ years since I've had anything ZoneAlarm on any of my systems. So all I know about their products and their related efficacy is what I gather from reviewers, pro and other. But if you find Comodo firewall and Privatefirewall heavy, both of which I am very familiar with, I'd like to understand your definition of 'heavy'. Perhaps knowing your hardware specs would also be helpful.

 

[rienna]

So I ran more tests and I agree. ZA is garbage.
It also started breaking sensitive system internals........had to do a system restore to fix everything.
Also it literally gets the same score in leak tests as Windows Firewall falling flat miserably, failing a critical test for rootkit protection and several more critical components of firewall protection. What's more is it thinks steam and skyrim are malware (And both are legit. Steam from store.steampowered.com. And legit legally purchased (by my brother for me on my 19th birthday during a steam sale) Skyrim legendary edition). All the nope.


Perhaps I should try PF again?
In combination with WD or another light-weight AV?

 

[jamescv7]

Perhaps I should try PF again?
In combination with WD or another light-weight AV?

Any AV may do, if you don't feel the protection as baseline of WD then go to alternatives that shouls not be the problem.

Yes you may try PF, the pop ups are tolerable enough and matter of few tweaks and good to go. (Based on my experience as used before)

 

[rienna]

Any AV may do, if you don't feel the protection as baseline of WD then go to alternatives that shouls not be the problem.

Yes you may try PF, the pop ups are tolerable enough and matter of few tweaks and good to go. (Based on my experience as used before)

I know. My problem with WD though (which I was hoping would go away) is it wants to pig out on resources.
Most notably during Windows update. and During boot time as well, hogging 50%-90% of the CPU ram usage isn't too terrible with my 6GB ram using only 98mb out of said 6GB but the CPU usage is completely intolerable. So gonna need to find something else for that.....sadly.
Maybe back to Baidu? I mean it was pretty light weight. blugh

I've only noticed 0.3% usage tops and 16.3mb ram used tops out of PF however. Hopefully it doesn't fight with steam like ZoneAlarm and of course Tinywall did.

 

[rienna]

It's been probably 7+ years since I've had anything ZoneAlarm on any of my systems. So all I know about their products and their related efficacy is what I gather from reviewers, pro and other. But if you find Comodo firewall and Privatefirewall heavy, both of which I am very familiar with, I'd like to understand your definition of 'heavy'. Perhaps knowing your hardware specs would also be helpful.

My issue was I tried them on my desktop (A6-3500 Liano, 4GB DDR3 @1866 (OC'd).
And before when I had a Dell D630. On those computers it ran like garbage. But now it seems PF works just fine on my laptop (which is running an A8-3500m and 6GB DDR3).

 

[Janl92l]

If u want a light av u can try qihoo 360 essential( http://www.360totalsecurity.com/features/360-total-security-essential/ ) Avast-costume install( https://www.avast.com/de-de/index ) Panda ( http://www.cloudantivirus.com/de/ ) bitdefender free ( http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/free.html ) avg ( http://www.avg.com/de-de/homepage )or avira ( http://www.avira.com/de/index/x-a-source/tvc ) all these avs are realy light on the system(my machine). U cant go wrong with all of them they have all a decent protection. i would not go with baidu.

 

[rienna]

If u want a light av u can try qihoo 360 essential( http://www.360totalsecurity.com/features/360-total-security-essential/ ) Avast-costume install( https://www.avast.com/de-de/index ) Panda ( http://www.cloudantivirus.com/de/ ) bitdefender free ( http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/free.html ) avg ( http://www.avg.com/de-de/homepage )or avira ( http://www.avira.com/de/index/x-a-source/tvc ) all these avs are realy light on the system(my machine). U cant go wrong with all of them they have all a decent protection. i would not go with baidu.

I see. I'm curious though for comparison sake what hardware are you using?
I've recently tried Panda and as soon as I got to the UI everything became a crawl.
Avast on the other hand worked fine on XP (x64 edition) but on 7 and 8.1 I get ntldr errors on reboot.
I might try Avira or AVG perhaps. idk I'm kinda tired.

And the links you provided are all in a foreign language that I do not understand. xD

 

[Janl92l]

I see. I'm curious though for comparison sake what hardware are you using?
I've recently tried Panda and as soon as I got to the UI everything became a crawl.
Avast on the other hand worked fine on XP (x64 edition) but on 7 and 8.1 I get ntldr errors on reboot.
I might try Avira or AVG perhaps. idk I'm kinda tired.

And the links you provided are all in a foreign language that I do not understand. xD

i have a gamer laptop with i7,ssd and 32gb ram. i can almost run any security suit. some have abit impact but at the end all are realtivly nice. u can try qihoo it has a outstanding detection rate and is realy light.

 

[rienna]

i have a gamer laptop with i7,ssd and 32gb ram. i can almost run any security suit. some have abit impact but at the end all are realtivly nice. u can try qihoo it has a outstanding detection rate and is realy light.

Ah I see. Well I can tell you one thing. My 160GB WD Blue and A8-3500m are nothing compared to your i7 and SSD.
Not by a long shot. xD Though 32GB ram for "gaming" is actually over-kill. XDDD

 

[aztony]

Interesting, I have an old Dell P4 w/1gb RAM that is still humming along. At one time, or other, I ran both PFW and Comodo fw on it without it bogged down. PFW is pretty much the lightest 3rd party firewall I ever used. That said, security programs behave differently on different systems due to any number of variables; your particular setup, what programs are you have. Also to avoid conflict add mutual exclusions for the AV and the firewall so that they don't run over each other. And lastly, bear in mind what works great on someone else's system could in fact be a disaster on yours. Always best to trial whatever you fancy on your own system to really know if it's a good fit. Good luck

 

[rienna]

Okie dokey.
Well I have PF and BitDefender Free on my laptop now and so far it's back to being snappy.