Well, even if you leave SP2 firewall enabled you shouldn't have problems at all. It will never ever interfere with ZA or any other "normal" extra firewall you have instaledl on your system. It's little suspicious though, why would MS ever recommend disabling their firewall in situations like this... it is not the cause of these problems, I am sure.
In the Windows XP Help & Support Center files, it states:
"In Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), Windows Firewall is turned on by default. (However, some computer manufacturers and network administrators might turn it off.) You do not have to use Windows Firewall—you can install and run any firewall that you choose. Evaluate the features of other firewalls and then decide which firewall best meets your needs. If you choose to install and run another firewall,
turn off Windows Firewall." (emphasis added)
So I did. I figured they had a reason for saying that -- perhaps possible conflicts (similar to what we are encountering now) between programs. Besides which, everything I've read regarding SP2 firewall indicates it's a lightweight that doesn't provide much protection, just "better than nothing".
Thanks both Lukas and Sasha for trying your best to help.
I've never used a proxy server and so I have no idea how to set one up. I barely understand the concept of what a proxy
is, even (just from discussion context). I've noticed that various programs (i.e., AOL Instant Messenger) have referred to proxies in their troubleshooting help files as a source of potential problems when trying to get things connected/working.
I noticed your post at ZA's forum earlier this month, Lukas, and although I'm disappointed the techs there haven't responded, I'm not surprised. They have their own AV software they wish to promote and Avast! is taking away from that; so they're probably not all that concerned about program compatibility problems.
I could be wrong though -- I hope so.
About the forum login, yes, I did notice that you could set the time to expire (cookies) whenever you wanted. I think I set it at 6 hrs. the first login and then to remain logged on subsequent sign-ins; but it doesn't matter. I'm still having to disable Avast to get in here.
I noticed the webshield was set on High though....would it help to set it back to Normal? If it's set on Custom and is changed (temporarily), will it still retain the custom option settings if moved back to Custom? (because I don't remember what they were).
You wrote "something like that" (re cookies blocker) and so I thought I'd mention the pop-up blocker *just in case* it was even remotely connected....Remember, I'm not a 'techie' here -- I just know how to dowload/install things and work with basic user config options.
But speaking of configuration options, I don't think there's that many controls in ZA Basic. I did have the cookie privacy feature (whatever it was) enabled during the 2-week pro trial; but wouldn't that feature have been automatically nullified when the program reverted back to basic?
