need firewall help

[shake_n_bake]

can anyone help me plz this is my problem i know its long but its messing up my comp. i posted this in other places so im trying to get all the help i can.


so here it is :

Hi, I have been using the free version of ZoneAlarm for my computer for quite some time now and i have been very satisfied. Just recently though i have been starting to have a serious problem with it. I use my computer for gaming and whenever I play a game full screen, it will start up and ZoneAlarm will shortly give me an alert asking for internet permission for the program. For a second, i can see the alert window were i can choose to accept or deny the program internet connections, over my game. But then in a split second the game will minimize. ( I believe this is normal, and i like it better this way if it works) I assume the game minimizes so that i can choose one of the options in the alert window,(correct me if I'm wrong)but finally when im back to my desktop there is no alert window. On my desktop tool bar I can see my game minimized and also it appears that there is a zonealarm window minimized. But my computer is frozen. I cannot start up any programs and i cannot shut down any. I can right click on my game to try to shut it down, but it is frozen, and when i try to right click on the minimized zone alarm window, nothing even pops up when I click it. The only window that i can get up is the task manager, but even then i cannot shut down zone alarm or my game. The only thing i can do to get passed this problem is to restart my computer. I dont know why this is happening, it worked just fine for years, even a couple days ago, things would minimize and the alert window would show up on my desktop and work. The only things i did since i started having these problems is install nod 32 and defragment my computer. So i tried unistalling NOD32 and still it freezes, I also uninstalled zone alarm and downloaded the newest version, and still i have this problem. Can anyone please help me out that would be great, I have been using zonealarm for years and i plan on continuing to if i can get this fixed.

I am running windows xp. I have zoneAlarm version 7.0.483.000, and i have uninstalled my antivirus/ spyware programs to try to fix this.

 

[dunk182]

put ZA on gameing mode and it will say yes to every popup so that should fix it for you !

 

[Existence.]

NOD32 wouldn't affect it, you shouldn't remove it.
I believe theres a sort of game mode that allows all alerts until that mode is disabled, try that.

 

[shake_n_bake]

but what if something is allowed that i dont want to be while im playing >.<?

 

[Insurge]

ZA is a crappy firewall anyway, it blocks more stuff than it protects. Nod32 alone+windows firewall is sufficient to keeping you safe. Or try the full eset smart security suite or some other firewall. I heard comodo firewall is good.

 

[Spray]

i'm using commodo firewall pro, it;' highest rated among all firewalls, passed all the tests 100 % and IT's FREE!!

 

[Homie Q]

I would leave nod32 haha its like the ultimate protection. But typically firewalls are annoying the first few times you use it since it has to learn everything but if all else fails just try a new one some good free ones are online armor free or comodo pro. I've tried both and they are generally quite good when you are playing games and what not since you can put them in learning mode where it doesnt pop up or even game mode so that it doesnt bother you.

 

[^RabbiT^]

You don't realy need a firewall, a good newly updated antivir should just be fine, the windows firewall is not so much protection but it get 's amateurs and those "easy" ones... The exact brand of the antivir shouldn't matter too much, altho NEVER use norton 2005, when you stop paying for it it freezes the PC, trying to update...

it just goes like Trying to update, connection denied, retry, denied and so on...

 

[Homie Q]

agreed i hate norton worst bloatware crap ever included with pcs. But if you dont want to use a firewall try using comodo boclean or spyware blaster (takes no system resources) google to check them out, both freeware programs.