ZoneAlarm warning

[PB]

Q. When is a bug not a bug?
A. When ZoneAlarm is running!

I just spent the last two weeks trying to nail down a "bug" in one of my
apps. This "bug" made my app "freeze" whenever I opened a HTML file
or used the ShellExecute API. I didn't have a clue what was causing it,
and thought it was a string problem with threads. But no. I eventually
realised it was v4.5.530.000 of ZoneAlarm causing the problem! This
particular version of ZA actually stops apps opening HTML pages without
prompting the user first! So my app was "frozen" because ZA was
intercepting the ShellExecute call to open the HTML doc and not letting
my app continue. As soon as I quit ZA, my app worked fine! I then
upgraded to the latest version of ZA (v4.5.538.000) and this problem no
longer occurs, so I assume the ZA authors have fixed this bad behaviour.

For your information.

[Berikco]

I just spent the last two weeks trying to nail down a "bug" ...

Congrats, you found it

[LarsG]

I just spent the last two weeks trying to nail down a "bug" ...

Congrats, you found it

ROFL! He did indeed...

[freedimension]

Why are you making jokes? Perhaps someone reading this had exactly the same problem. Thanks to this post, he's not left alone in the dark anymore.

[LarsG]

Sorry if it came out abit harmful.. I wasnt laughing at PB...
I know PB must've been very frustrated...

I just thought Berikco's comment was mildly comical.. that's all..

-Lars

[merendo]

Seems the ZA Coders are not using PureBasic yet ...

[TronDoc]

THAT would really be FRUSTRATING!
I have ZA on one of my PCs....
THANKS for the tip.
--jb

[PB]

I know you guys weren't laughing at me, but the situation. It was extremely
frustrating for ZoneAlarm to do that! Since when does a firewall decide to
start blocking HTML documents? Is the world really getting that dangerous?

[blueznl]

yes, the world is getting like that

(running za on all my machines, different versions and pro versions, but still running them, even though i know they leak memory sometimes, it's still worth it, wait until you get targeted by a script kiddy or another nasty trojan eats up your machine from inside out... i had both happening to me, i've learned my lessons by now...)

how to survive modern day computing...

1. apply the proper patches
2. backup data
3. (ghost) image your os (boot partition)
4. run a firewall (zonealarm, kerio)
5. run a virus scanner (eztrust or whatever)
6. run add / spyware checkers (spybot, definitely)

thanks for the info, pb, i'll check if i have that version anywhere and replace it!

[White Eagle]

Zone Alarm is rather famous for stuff like this. About 2 years ago, most of my software would not work on systems running Zone Alarm. I use Armadillo as protection for my software, and Zone Alarm started doing something they shouldn't and as a result, all software protected with Armadillo was not working with Zone Alarm for a while.

The best defense is to have an old clunker system and use it as an Internet Only system. Delete Outlook Express from the hard drive, Delete Internet Explorer, and delete Windows IM program. Use the web based mail system provided by your ISP or hosting service, and use a browser like Opera that is more resistant to the MS specific IE vulnerabilities. I also run Norton Firewall. But at least if somebody hacks this system, there is nothing on it for them to mess with. I only use it for the Internet and as a test machine.