Group Policy controlling security in XP

[paulh7436]

I am trying to lend support using a remote connection to someone with a XP Home machine. They had MS One Care and Uniblue Registry Booster installed but were warned that the Windows Firewall was OFF. They also had a problem with the fake trojan virus. I have uninstalled One Care and Uniblue and removed the virus in Safe Mode. I installed Zone Alarm (free trial) so it now has a firewall. Eveything I have tried says the Windows Firewall is under Group Policy and cannot be started. I don't plan to buy Zone Alarm. How can I get control of the firewall when I uninstall ZA?
Thanks,
Paul H

[JoeP517]

I am trying to lend support using a remote connection to someone with a XP Home machine. They had MS One Care and Uniblue Registry Booster installed but were warned that the Windows Firewall was OFF. They also had a problem with the fake trojan virus. I have uninstalled One Care and Uniblue and removed the virus in Safe Mode. I installed Zone Alarm (free trial) so it now has a firewall. Eveything I have tried says the Windows Firewall is under Group Policy and cannot be started. I don't plan to buy Zone Alarm. How can I get control of the firewall when I uninstall ZA?

Why don't you just install the free version of ZA - ZoneAlarm - Reviews and free ZoneAlarm downloads at Download.com?

Joe

[paulh7436]

Excellent idea but will any other Windows functionality be limited by not having control? Any idea how I lost control of the firewall? Thanks!

[JoeP517]

Excellent idea but will any other Windows functionality be limited by not having control? Any idea how I lost control of the firewall? Thanks!

One Care had a firewall that took over for the Windows Firewall. ZA takes over from the Windows Firewall. That could be why it says that firewall is controlled by policy.

Joe

[paulh7436]

THANKS! I will use the ZA free firewall.

[paulh7436]

Regarding the continuing crisis.... I have MS Essential Security and the ZoneAlarm free firewall installed. The ZA works fine, it updates and is always in green status. The MS Essential Security does not always start at boot-up. I have to start it manually nearly every time I reboot. This is an XP Home with SP3 machine. I have not yet reinstalled Uniblue Registry Booster. I was thinking of uninstalling both ZA and MS Essentials, rebooting, install and scan with UniBlue RB, and then reinstalling ZA and MS Essentails. Any ideas on how to get these running without conflicts is greatly appreciated.

[JoeP517]

Regarding the continuing crisis.... I have MS Essential Security and the ZoneAlarm free firewall installed. The ZA works fine, it updates and is always in green status. The MS Essential Security does not always start at boot-up. I have to start it manually nearly every time I reboot. This is an XP Home with SP3 machine.

I don't have any problem with MSE starting on an XP Pro SP3 machine. Have you checked the event logs for errors?

Joe

[bobprimak]

Regarding the continuing crisis.... I have MS Essential Security and the ZoneAlarm free firewall installed. The ZA works fine, it updates and is always in green status. The MS Essential Security does not always start at boot-up. I have to start it manually nearly every time I reboot. This is an XP Home with SP3 machine. I have not yet reinstalled Uniblue Registry Booster. I was thinking of uninstalling both ZA and MS Essentials, rebooting, install and scan with UniBlue RB, and then reinstalling ZA and MS Essentials. Any ideas on how to get these running without conflicts is greatly appreciated.

Zone Alarm has a page available in the user interface which shows the permissions assigned to any programs which ZA restricts. Maybe MSE needs additional ZA permissions? I used to have that problem when mixing ZA with other security programs. That's why I switched to the Comodo Free Firewall. I like the way Commodo uses pre-configured rule sets. MSE would be a "Windows System Application" under Comodo. Then it could launch automatically with Windows just fine. ZA may allow similar adjustments. I don't use MSE, so I don't know exactly which permissions to adjust.

If switching to Comodo, make sure ZA is completely removed, using the Zone Alarm removal tool available at their web site. The ZA uninstaller in the program leaves some stuff behind. If selecting Comodo, when installing, select the Firewall only or the Firewall and Defense+ only. Do not run Comodo Internet Security alongside MSE, as they will conflict. And opt-out from the Toolbar in the Comodo install screen. (I think it's the Yahoo Toolbar.)

But if you like Zone Alarm, by all means stick with it, and try some permissions table adjustments.