Can't backup settings + gibberish ZoneAlarm entries

[REDACTED]

Hello,

I installed the latest version of Avast Free Antivirus 2016 (Nitro) and am having two severe issues with it:

• I can't for the love of it backup my settings! I am constantly getting the "Access denied" error. And yes, I already uninstalled Avast several times using the avastclean.exe tool in Safe Mode, then let CCleaner check if there were any traces left.
• This new version of Avast (12.1.2272) is causing gibberish entries in ZoneAlarm Free Firewall. After each system startup, I need to clean all entries manually, which is a pain in the behind! And yes, I can confirm it's Avast causing this issue, as everything worked fine after I has uninstalled Avast (then it started again once I reinstalled it).

Any quick help? Or do I have to go back to a pre-Nitro version of Avast? 

[Be Secure]

Already reported.  Avast! 12.1.2272 Backup Settings function broken might be fix in next version.
https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=187676.0

[Eddy]

ZA needs to go.
It is not just a firewall anymore and even if you only install the firewall part, parts of the av are also installed and are likely to cause problems.

[REDACTED]

Already reported.  Avast! 12.1.2272 Backup Settings function broken might be fix in next version.
https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=187676.0

Okay, thanks for the heads up. I was worried it was a system issue. Just uninstalled and reinstalled the pre-Nitro version. It's better anyway as this new version is totally laggy on Windows startup.

ZA needs to go.
It is not just a firewall anymore and even if you only install the firewall part, parts of the av are also installed and are likely to cause problems.

ZA Free Firewall is a slim program and doesn't contain any extra parts, thank you. It's the best free firewall out there, and I am not willing to part with it.

[Eddy]

Yes it does install parts of the av.
The best firewall is never a software one but a hardware one.

[REDACTED]

The best firewall is never a software one but a hardware one.

That is true, but it's a pain in the behind to configure, because one updates one's software quite frequently. I love how simple ZA's functionality is and how quick you can configure each inbound and outbound permission for trusted zones as well as the internet and receive notification for everything, thus have more insight on what is happening communication-wise. Besides, it has been protecting me since 2001 and I'm a satisfied customer.