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Zone Alarm True Vector Crashes
Back again in latest patch - no explanation
If upon boot you're seeing Zone Alarm's True Vector Engine crash, you're not alone. For the second time this month, an update to the popular software firewall has resulted in the irritating (and oft-repeating) error: "The True Vector Internet Monitoring has shut down. Do you wish to restart it?" No official word yet from Zone Labs on the problem.
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HarleyYac
Lee
Premium Member
join:2001-10-13
Allendale, NJ

HarleyYac

Premium Member

Crashhhhhhhhhhhh

Happened twice here so far

BIGMIKE
Q
Premium Member
join:2002-06-07
Gainesville, FL

BIGMIKE

Premium Member

Re: Crashhhhhhhhhhhh

I use BlackICE PC Protection and hardware firewall, A hardware firewall is a wise investment

packetscan
Premium Member
join:2004-10-19
Bridgeport, CT

packetscan

Premium Member

Re: Crashhhhhhhhhhhh

Real men run PiX

Tech-2005
@dsl.irvnca.pacbell.n

Tech-2005 to HarleyYac

Anon

to HarleyYac
I use ZAP latest version on XP Pro SP2 and I have not had any ZAP issues but I did have some strange problems that required a machine reboot several times with each problem showing up immediately after installing one of the latest MS XP patch updates. This happened two times in the past week and once the month before. Each time after rebooting I experienced no more problems.
Scilicet (banned)
Spaced Out
join:2005-04-11
Aurora, CO

Scilicet (banned) to HarleyYac

Member

to HarleyYac
I never cared for Zone Alarm and now I feel justified, so I make the mistake of going to McAfee. Where to now? Norton has possibilities! Or do they?
Crematum
Premium Member
join:2005-01-10
Canton, CT

Crematum

Premium Member

Figures

Zone Alarm blows chunks. Why anyone would want to use this piece of junk is beyond me. Sounds like their software is taking a slow ride downhill.

tsifox
join:2000-06-12
There

tsifox

Member

Re: Figures

said by Crematum:

Zone Alarm blows chunks. Why anyone would want to use this piece of junk is beyond me. Sounds like their software is taking a slow ride downhill.
What do you use?

fegul
Premium Member
join:2004-08-23
united state

fegul

Premium Member

Re: Figures

I used to have Sygate free, then tried Kerio, and now have Outpost. Outpost seems to take a bit of system resources, but its very customizable and has a lot of handy features

Morfein
Lead Peon
Premium Member
join:2004-09-08
Brownsburg, IN

Morfein to Crematum

Premium Member

to Crematum
Because most the times it works quietly and efficiently in the background without any problems.

It is great for people that have very minimal skills. For them the help is very useful and the UI easy to figure out.

But it's easy to always jump on the bandwagon and say stuff sucks without giving viable alternatives and reasoning that they are better.

Does ZA have its downsides? Sure. I have tried several different firewalls being a geek type, but usually end up back at ZA for ease of use.
trox1971
join:2004-10-27

trox1971 to Crematum

Member

to Crematum
said by Crematum:

Zone Alarm blows chunks. Why anyone would want to use this piece of junk is beyond me. Sounds like their software is taking a slow ride downhill.
5 years running ZA Pro no unresolvable problem. Even my 8 and 7 year old know how to configure it.
TherapyChick
join:2003-09-19
Fayetteville, NC

TherapyChick to Crematum

Member

to Crematum
I've been using ZA free for many years, love it.

Use their Integrity Desktop Client in the corporate environment and it protects 60,000 desktops there just fine.

Along with a Cyberguard hardware firewall of course...
JerryTongue
join:2003-04-01
Auburn, WA

JerryTongue to Crematum

Member

to Crematum
Sorry but I have used ZoneAlarm for a few years now and I love it. I use the pro version so I don't know if that
makes a difference. I had ZoneAlarm shut off on me a couple times as well but hasn't done it in awhile and when
it did I was told so it wasn't any surprise.

NPGMBR
join:2001-03-28
Arlington, VA

NPGMBR

Member

Re: Figures

I'll chime in as well. I started with ZA when I got DSL years ago. Then about Two years ago switched to ZAPro. Then switched ot ZASS when its bugs got worked out.

Zone Labs builds a great firewall and suite. I don't plan on using anything else for quite sometime.

qdemn7
Smurf in My Loop
Premium Member
join:2003-09-16
Fort Worth, TX

qdemn7

Premium Member

Zone Alarm Has Gone into the Toilet

ZA Pro has gone into the crapper ever since 5.0 came out. I'm 2 versions back. The last time I tried the "latest" version, my system kept rebooting at the Login screen since it would not work with Style XP.

Also I have to keep killing my ZA after the computer has been idle for 30 minutes since ZA won't let me onto the 'net. I kill ZA (behind my router), and get on instantly. Then restart ZA and I'm fine.

When my subscription lapses, I'll be looking for a new firewall. ZA Pro is crap. What a shame, a once fine product ruined.

Jigsaw
Stardust We Are
Premium Member
join:2000-10-21
Cleveland, OH

Jigsaw

Premium Member

Re: Zone Alarm Has Gone into the Toilet

Is this problem with just ZA Pro?Im using ZA security suit and have not had that problem yet.

qdemn7
Smurf in My Loop
Premium Member
join:2003-09-16
Fort Worth, TX

qdemn7

Premium Member

Re: Zone Alarm Has Gone into the Toilet

Must be, and it's not my AV. I've had this problem with Norton AV Pro, and now with NOD32.

2kmaro
Think

join:2000-07-11
Oklahoma City, OK

2kmaro to Jigsaw

to Jigsaw
Sad to hear this - I basically had to give up ZA (or ZA Pro) in the midst of the slow-down problems that some of us experienced with 5.x. Yes, I know they didn't affect everyone, but they cut my download in half.

I've switched on most of my machines to Kaspersky's security suite (which includes their firewall) or the Cox HSI provided security suite which also includes a software firewall.

Meanwhile, out in front of it all is my trusty Netgear FVS318 firewalling router.

Jigsaw
Stardust We Are
Premium Member
join:2000-10-21
Cleveland, OH

Jigsaw

Premium Member

Re: Zone Alarm Has Gone into the Toilet

said by 2kmaro:

I've switched on most of my machines to Kaspersky's security suite (which includes their firewall) or the Cox HSI provided security suite which also includes a software firewall.

Yea Im thinking when my time expires on ZA im going to go to use the Cox security suite.

NPGMBR
join:2001-03-28
Arlington, VA

NPGMBR to Jigsaw

Member

to Jigsaw
Yes I belive ZASS is affected. I have it running at home and it did mysteriously shut down one day. Luckily I was at my PC when it happened, but I rebooted and it was fine after wards. I also have the Windows firewall running so I don't feel terribly vulnerable if something happens to ZA.
jp10558
Premium Member
join:2005-06-24
Willseyville, NY

jp10558

Premium Member

Re: Zone Alarm Has Gone into the Toilet

said by NPGMBR:

Yes I belive ZASS is affected. I have it running at home and it did mysteriously shut down one day. Luckily I was at my PC when it happened, but I rebooted and it was fine after wards. I also have the Windows firewall running so I don't feel terribly vulnerable if something happens to ZA.
Well, that might be a problem. It's usually far from recommended to run 2 software firewalls at once. I'd turn the windows one off.

NPGMBR
join:2001-03-28
Arlington, VA

NPGMBR

Member

Re: Zone Alarm Has Gone into the Toilet

Actually its posed no problem for me at all. I've been running both firwalls every since WinXP SP2.
RJ44
join:2001-10-19
Nashville, TN

RJ44 to Jigsaw

Member

to Jigsaw
said by Jigsaw:

Is this problem with just ZA Pro?Im using ZA security suit and have not had that problem yet.


No, I use ZASS and have it happen quite often. I have found that it's not usually necessary to shut it down and restart though, most times all I need to do is move the slide to "medium" security and I can instantly surf. Then I move it back to "high" and continue surfing.

Except sometimes I have to leave it at medium, high won't work until I restart it again.

Oh. And except some other times I have to shutdown ZASS entirely and restart. Maybe 10% of the time.

Come to think of it...it's kind of a pain in the *ss.

RJ

N3OGH
Yo Soy Col. "Bat" Guano
Premium Member
join:2003-11-11
Philly burbs

N3OGH to qdemn7

Premium Member

to qdemn7
said by qdemn7:

....What a shame, a once fine product ruined.....
I'll second that. ZA used to be one of, if not the best software firewall, and the basic version was freeware.
jp10558
Premium Member
join:2005-06-24
Willseyville, NY

jp10558 to qdemn7

Premium Member

to qdemn7
I have to agree. Sad really. Around v5 where it started messing with Opera(since resolved, but didn't help for the months where it did) and being slow etc, I switched to Sygate and never looked back.

Overall for me, Sygate has been a much better experiance. Not only does it give me far more information (like show ALL the programs hitting the net, not just the "top 4" - how did ZA ever choose which icons to show anyway? Has easily accessable logs, and it's Advanced rules actually overrule the GUI options (so when I'm setting up a local network or VPN, I'm not constantly searching for that one checkbox or whatever to get stuff to actually work, even though I did an allow all on that network adapter).

Anyway, ZA started to go downhill IMHO when they stopped being a software firewall, and tried to be a security/privacy/ etc suite.

Myself, I prefer separate programs that focus on one thing, and do it well. So I use Sygate for software firewall, NOD32 for AV, ProcessGuard for application control, etc. YMMV of course.

qdemn7
Smurf in My Loop
Premium Member
join:2003-09-16
Fort Worth, TX

qdemn7

Premium Member

Re: Zone Alarm Has Gone into the Toilet

Thnsk for the info. Looks like Sygate willl be my next firewall.

mr_slick
join:2003-05-22
Lynnwood, WA

mr_slick to jp10558

Member

to jp10558
does sygate have a free version?

qdemn7
Smurf in My Loop
Premium Member
join:2003-09-16
Fort Worth, TX

qdemn7

Premium Member

Re: Zone Alarm Has Gone into the Toilet

said by mr_slick:

does sygate have a free version?
Yes.

Nightshade
Premium Member
join:2002-05-26
Salem, OR

1 recommendation

Nightshade to qdemn7

Premium Member

to qdemn7
The first time I used ZoneAlarm it was at version 4.0. Since I was running a multiuser connection on my BB connection at the time I decided to purchase the pro version. I wanted two front hardware and software firewall protection so I upgraded my router to one with the best NAT protection that I could afford. I was happy with the LinkSys router that I purchased and still use it to this day.

However, ZoneAlarm was a different story. I purchased a two year subscription and all was well with my protection. But when version 5 was available I downloaded and upgraded from 4.5 to 5.0 since it was free as part of the subscription.

Then everything went to hell. Not only did I lose all my custom configrations and settings I had when I attempted to restore them it said the script file was incompatible with this version or is corrupted. Settings not restored. That made me extremely upset so I spent about four hours reconstructing all the custom setings and configurations. Luckily I kept notes of what I did.

Version 5.0 is a resource hog. I noticed about a 20 percent reduction of my overall system performance and a warm boot cycle took on average about 30 to 45 seconds longer when I upgraded. A 2 minute and 30 second warm boot cycle is unacceptable, especially when it was an average of a minute and a half to 45 seconds before I upgraded.

I was so upset and fustrated with dealing with 5.0 and all the issues it caused on my PC as well as the other PCs connected to my network that I completely purged it from my machine and emailed support, attaching the program log as well as explaining what happened in a straight, not so nice and frank way and concluded with my intention of not using the program ever again as well as telling others not to use it at all. Despite the fact I did not care my 2 year subscription had four months left.

When your subscription lapses and you go looking for a new firewall consider Tiny Firewall. I have Tiny Firewall Pro 2005 and it is an exellent software firewall. Extremely configurable with a light footprint.

qdemn7
Smurf in My Loop
Premium Member
join:2003-09-16
Fort Worth, TX

qdemn7

Premium Member

Re: Zone Alarm Has Gone into the Toilet

Thanks so much for all that info, it was most helpful. I have noticed quite a few people also recommend Tiny Firewall. I might have to take a look.

Tech-2005
@dsl.irvnca.pacbell.n

Tech-2005 to qdemn7

Anon

to qdemn7
I have used ZAP for years ever since version 2.6 on my systems and I have installed it on many different types of computers. Every computer I put ZAP on has stayed mostly virus free while others without it tend to attract viruses and other problems regardless of having an AV program. Version 5.x started out flaky but I have not seen many problems since the release of 5.5x but I don't doubt that they are experiencing glitches as of late. The version 5.x and above simplifies its use by allowing for the auto-approval of known registered programs to make it more user friendly. If you don't like that feature you can turn it off and go back the the way it worked with versions before. However, I like to turn off auto-update detection and instead opt for manual updating. In the end I am hesitant to switch to another firewall since I have had so much good luck on systems using ZAP.

Lou_n_Di
Everyone Needs A Hero
Premium Member
join:2001-01-18
Seymour, CT

1 edit

Lou_n_Di

Premium Member

Interesting....

WIN98SE machine here----No issues!
ZAPro 5.5.094.000

••••••••

Doctor Four
My other vehicle is a TARDIS
Premium Member
join:2000-09-05
Dallas, TX

Doctor Four

Premium Member

Why I switched to Sygate a long time ago

Because of True Vector crashes and other trouble (such
as long load times at bootup - though I think that is
by design and not a bug), I switched software firewalls
to Sygate Pro more than a year ago. Zone Alarm was a
good firewall back in the 2.xxx and 3.xxx version days,
but it has gotten too bloated and buggy lately for my
liking.

•••

sNaKeYeZ
Premium Member
join:2002-07-11
Chunky, MS

sNaKeYeZ

Premium Member

Better alternatives?

I myself am one of the few that has NEVER had any significant problems with ZA. Of course, I've only used the free versions, I don't know if that matters. I'm not taking up for ZA by any means with this post because everyone I know that uses/used ZA has had problems after problems. Each time I upgrade to a newer version I worry to myself "is this the version that will kill my system?" etc.

With that said, the only reason I use this software firewall AT ALL is just to control OUTBOUND connections. Is there such an app out there that I could download for free/cheap that allows you to control what programs get internet access? If so, I could ditch ZA, as could many other people that just want to control a few apps that want to phone home...

•••
B04
Premium Member
join:2000-10-28

B04

Premium Member

Yup, Here Too

I too have had confused and angry users reporting this ridiculous and PC-hijacking ZoneAlarm failure.

This continues to make a great argument for either

a) TURNING OFF ALL AUTOMATIC ZoneAlarm UPDATES

or

b) USING AN OLDER VERSION OF ZoneAlarm

The usual folks will complain about how this is not good security practice (which is about 97% baloney), but there's nothing wrong with ZoneAlarm 4.x, and I prefer using ZoneAlarm 2.x. I find it considerably faster and more stable than these current releases.

-- B

Rogue Wolf
An Easy Draw of a Sad Few
join:2003-08-12
Troy, NY

Rogue Wolf

Member

Re: Yup, Here Too

said by B04:

a) TURNING OFF ALL AUTOMATIC ZoneAlarm UPDATES
Precisely what I did. I love ZA, it's a program that works great for me, but I refuse to be their beta tester. I only upgrade to versions that others have proven to be rock-solid.

BriGuy89
Let's Go Orange
join:2001-05-08
Yorktown Heights, NY

BriGuy89

Member

Re: Yup, Here Too

said by Rogue Wolf:

said by B04:

I love ZA, it's a program that works great for me, but I refuse to be their beta tester. I only upgrade to versions that others have proven to be rock-solid.
This is my mantra as well ever since the acquisition by Check Point and subsequent post-acquisition rollouts (which started with v5.x).

Although I still think that ZA Pro is a good product, it's seemingly suffered as a result of being forced to adopt a parent company's clearly inferior QA practices and processes. And I'm not going to do that work for Check Point.

The software is back to the "prove-it-to-me" state -- a 180 degree switch from the 2.x to 4.x families, which I'd update with full faith because practically no problems were ever seen (and none were ever encountered by me).

As such, I manually check for updates and hang back until I see that others have cleared -- or barfed all over -- any incremental update. I'm still on ZAP 5.1.011 because I don't think anything added since was worth it.
raye
Premium Member
join:2000-08-14
Orange, CA

raye

Premium Member

Growing pains

Sounds like integration with Checkpoint is not going well

Or maybe M$ DEP (Data Execution Protection) is causing some issues...

I have been using ZoneAlarm since 1999 (pro since 2000) with very little trouble.

I know version 6 is in beta; I think I will wait for that one.
I have tried the betas of version 6 on XP SP2 and 2003 SP1 machines with no issues (yet)
BarneyBadAss
Badasses Fight For Freedom
Premium Member
join:2004-05-07
00001

BarneyBadAss

Premium Member

Um....

For the past several days, my W2K system has been misbehaving worse than a child on crack.

This machine experiecned a ton of issues; VSMON (TrueVector) crashed; would consume 100% of my CPU; have more threads open than it could ever handle and apparently it was lost in its context switching. So.. I wound up having to completely uninstall the bloody thing.

BTW; I began getting the errors after geting the M$ service (some 7-8 critical patches) that became available either in late May or the 1st part of June.

Yesterday; I installed the combined upgade patch from M$ for W2K (30+ Mb download); and after the install and requsite re-boot; I re-installed ZAP zapSetup_55_094_000.exe and the true vector crashes have gone away.

but that's what I'm seein' so far... and I have never, never, never let ZAP automatically update my system...

YMMV...

I'm not tryin' to pick a fight with anyone, I'm just reporting what I'm experincing. And, I'm not saying there's not a problem either, just I'm not seeing all the issues any more.

---Barney

hurleyp
join:2000-06-20
Ottawa, ON

hurleyp

Member

Seems OK here...

I have ZA Pro 5.5.094 on my XP Pro system. I've had to reboot a number of times over the past few days (not related to ZAP issues) and ZAP has started just fine. No dreaded TrueVector issues at all. Am I just lucky so far, or do I have some magic "do not crash" setting enabled?

Paul

Anti_Cyrix
Premium Member
join:2003-03-06
Sacramento, CA

Anti_Cyrix

Premium Member

Re: Seems OK here...

Same here.
I have version 5.5.094.000 and been lucky so far.

bugle533
join:2004-06-16
Schaumburg, IL

bugle533

Member

Smooth sailing

Smooth sailing with Zone Alarm. Windows XP (SP2). Never had a problem with the software. I still recommend it to my family and friends.
c33v33
join:2003-10-14
Chicago, IL

1 edit

c33v33

Member

I made the switch

I was using 4.5.594.000 for a long time before getting fed up with vsmon.exe memory bloat with P2P apps using UDP packets.

I would still definitely recommend ZA 4.5.594.000 to those who need an easy firewall to work with and to those who don't work with P2P.

But as of yesterday I am now with Look n Stop.
salan
join:2004-10-04
Canada

salan

Member

no need for firewall

You really dont need a firewall. As long as you have updated from windows update.. ur fine. ive been 3 years without a firewall and running good.

•••

Razgriz
Pandora rocks
Premium Member
join:2005-05-31
Fayetteville, NC

Razgriz

Premium Member

Works fine here

I got one message from True Vector about having to restart it. After that, everything seems to work just fine. I have had no problems. Should I be worried?

Portmonkey
My watch stopped
Premium Member
join:2004-04-09
Southern IL

Portmonkey

Premium Member

Happened a couple times in the past Month

The True Vector has shutdown twice now within the past month, and the last time was less than a week ago. I'm using a FVS318v3 router, but I hope Zone Labs fixes things soon. I don't pay much attention to the other software firewall products but it seems like Zone Alarm has had an awful lot of problems over the past year or so. I shall continue to stick with them, but perhaps they are trying to be too much.

Mr Peabody
join:2001-01-05
Ingleside, IL

1 edit

Mr Peabody

Member

Temporary fix???

I found something on the ZA Message Boards that seems to work on all my machines. Apparently ZA is choking on an updated 'Alert Advisor' config file. The workaround is to go to Zone Alarm/Program Control/Main and turn the Alert Advisor off until they release a better file.

Oops, forgot the link:
»forum.zonelabs.org/zonel ··· 2#M33722

Cool Dude
Don't Sweat The Small Stuff
join:2000-08-11
16505-3915

Cool Dude

Member

Happen to me also, but found some spyware also

Happen to me yesterday several times, found some spyware as well as two trojans and now all seems ok for now.

shrtckt1
Fried Rice
Premium Member
join:2005-05-18
Athens, GA

shrtckt1

Premium Member

installed 2 hrs ago...

I just downloaded & installed ZA v.5.5.094.000 about 2 hrs ago - just to see if I could join the party. I use WinXP SP2, Sophos v5.04/d.3.95 & no router or hard firewall. It seems to work fine & have not had any problems w/this version - yet. (no updates available yet). It works a heck of a lot better that just the standard SP2 firewall I was using - I think I'll keep ZA for a while & see what happens...

jollkid
@216.166.x.x

jollkid

Anon

fix

dunno if anyone else here actually read the forums @ ZL, but here's a couple of possible solutions...

solution 1: set password for ZA/ZAP/ZASS...some users have been working with that just fine...

solution 2: disable ALL communicats with the ZL servers...this includes setting the program advisor to "OFF"...this will make ZA not ask ZL for a recomendation on new proggies...it WILL ask everytime, unless u check the box to always do this or that...also, manual update...

i just reinstalled the latest build of ZAP (094, i believe), set the options in solution 2, and have been crash free all day....

this may not work for all users, so don't expect a miracle...if it works tho, it is just a temporary fix until ZL gets on the ball and releases a fix...

l8rs yall...

XBL2009
------
join:2001-01-03
Chicago, IL

1 edit

XBL2009

Member

It's a service..............set to restart if it

I recommend that everyone running it take the time to go into services and set it to restart if it crashes. I'm surprised that it's not setup this way by default.

It's a service..............set to restart

It's a service..............set to restart

It's a service..............set to restart

It's a service..............set to restart

It's a service..............set to restart

that is all
joe3joe
join:2005-09-17
Buffalo, NY

joe3joe

Member

Re: It's a service..............set to restart if

Windows XP version of ZoneAlarm is getting worse. It causes my programs aborting. It itself also a spyware. Its Windows 98SE version used to allow blocking any program to outbound access (i.e. Internet), including itself. So I blocked ZoneAlarm itself, prevented it from automatically accessing to its server. Now in Windows XP version, you cannot block ZoneAlarm itself. It accesses Internet at ease at any time. Who knows what kind of information it sends to its server. I have Internet traffic monitor and see it. So I use another Firewall to block nothing but ZoneAlarm. Two firewalls are needed.
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