Windows patch KB951748 VS Zone Alarm VS avast!

[Keith Warner]

When I installed the Microsoft updates yesterday I thought that even though the problem update, KB951748, was not included I may as well get the new Zone Alarm version.

But when I rebooted, avast! threw up a box saying Zone Alarm is not compatible! It offered the option to disable a "transparency module" until the problem is resolved. Okay...


Not good enough! Open browser...... home page "Not Found"..... slide the Zone Alarm thingy to Medium..... Bingo! Then I found an Advanced ZA setting to a similar "transparency" disable, so I could get online with the slider moved back to High.


So where am I at? Both my anti-virus and my firewall partially disabled?

[olddog]

Keith,

You don't say what version of Windows you are using or exactly which type of Zone Alarm product (Free basic firewall, Pro version etc).

I can tell you that the free basic firewall 7.0.483.000 released to overcome the KB951748 problem does work properly with XP-Home SP2, XP-Home SP3 and XP-Pro SP3. It works fine with Avast free home version 4.8.1201 and also with the beta version 4.8.1218, also with Spybot 1.6 on each of these machines (and of course also with KB951748)

In all cases I had done an un-install of KB951748 to initially get around the problem. When the new version of Zone Alarm was released I did a complete uninstall of the original version of Zone Alarm, rebooted, then installed the new version. There were no problems encountered along the way. When it was all back running again, I reinstalled KB951748.

I hope this is some help. I don't understand your statement that the KB951748 was not included when you did your updates yesterday - it had been on the site for at least a couple of days. The only other thing I can add is that KB9051748 did not apparently cause any problems with Vista

 

[Keith Warner]

Sorry, I include system info in signature to avoid retyping.

I was forewarned of the KB951748 / Zone Alarm issue so by the time I installed the updates Thursday night  I knew the workaround if necessary.  (See why I don't auto-update?)  By then the new ZA version was available and I had downloaded it as well.  But by Thursday night KB951748 was not in the Windows update.  Others have reported this on other boards.  Perhaps Billy-Bob & the gang pulled it 'til the dust settles.  I have since installed KB951748 separately.

I have used avast! and Zone Alarm side by side for over two years with no issues, always updating the old version unless instructed otherwise.  I saw no reason to do any differently this time.  (Who wants to "train" their firewall after every update?)

I have never seen the message avast! displayed.  I think it said a "transparency module" could be disabled, but I didn't think to take a screenshot.

So what's up between avast! and Zone Alarm?

[olddog]

Keith,

You have my apologies, I should have looked at your signature for the details.

I first downloaded (manually) KB951748 amongst from memory 4 other updates late Thursday afternoon, but we may have a time zone issue here, I'm in Australia.

I have had a few problems over the years installing Zone Alarm updates over earlier versions, granted spread over quite a number of PC's. Clean installs fixed the problems then and I have continued that policy ever since. I appreciate that you are supposed to be able to install ZA updates over the top of previous versions, and I have no evidence that this might be part of the problem you had, I just releated what I had done on three individual PC's at the time. (it's now 5 PC's, all with Avast).

I didn't experience your problem on any of these, and I also haven't ever seen the avast error message you describe. Two points I did omit in my previous post were that when installing ZA 7.0.483.000 I did not install the toolbar, and I did not disable or turn off avast during the installation of Zone Alarm.
 
Sorry I couldn't be of more help. Perhaps one of the Avast team will recognise the "transparency module" and be able to shed some more light on it.   

[Keith Warner]

I never install the #$&@# toolbar either.  I didn't think to turn avast! off.

It's been fun.  Windoze Update put itself back on Auto (no surprise there), reset Control Panel files setting to "hidden" and deleted all my IE cookies!  I'm waiting to see what else....

And the Zone Alarm installer ignored my selection and treated it as a new install, so I have to train it anyway.

[DavidR]

I suggest a look at this from zone alarm.
http://download.zonealarm.com/bin/free/pressReleases/2008/LossOfInternetAccessIssue.html

Workaround to Sudden Loss of Internet Access Problem

Date Published : 8 July 2008

Date Last Revised : 9 July 2008

Overview : Microsoft Update KB951748 is known to cause loss of internet access for ZoneAlarm users on Windows XP/2000. Windows Vista users are not affected.

Impact : Sudden loss of internet access

Platforms Affected : ZoneAlarm Free, ZoneAlarm Pro, ZoneAlarm AntiVirus, ZoneAlarm Anti-Spyware, and ZoneAlarm Security Suite

[DavidR]

<delete>

[Keith Warner]

I installed the new Zone Alarm Free firewall without having KB951748 installed.  When I rebooted that is when avast! gave the incompatibility with Zone Alarm message.  KB951748 wasn't even in the picture yet.

[DavidR]

Although your ZA version is the free one, does it have a privacy function as that is what the avast Compatibility check is all about.

http://www.avast.com/eng/webshield_issues.html

- Zone Alarm - avast! Web Shield compatibility dialogue - Install/Update Question - YES or NO

If you are using ZoneAlarm Free you should click NO, because privacy features are not present in ZoneAlarm Free this will not turn off web shield transparent mode proxy (Note the avast check should now be able to differentiate between ZA and ZA Pro so you may not see this interface if using ZA free).
Use a text editor and edit the avast4.ini file, the default installation location is C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\DATA\avast4.ini (I would advise you copy avast4.ini before editing it, just in case).
If you answered incorrectly, Locate the line containing ZoneAlarmCompatibility= and delete that line (avast will ask again, answer NO) or change the value to =0.  Save the edited avast4.ini file.

[olddog]

DavidR,

I first installed Avast some time ago when it had just changed from 4.7 to 4.8 (I'm not sure what the full number was). At that stage a version of the Free Zone Alarm firewall was alreay installed. (I was simply changing from AVG antivirus to Avast). No privacy or compatibility question was asked that I can recall.

Since then Avast has been updated to the point where some of my PC's have 4.8.1201 and one has 4.8.1218. Again no privacy or compatability questions have been raised. The latest free Zone Alarm basic firewall release was done as a clean install and again in my case no questions were raised about privacy or compatibility.

So unlike Keith, I didn't experience any problems, however I have checked the Avast4.ini files on a couple of the PC's (and these have never been manually edited) and none of them contain the line you mention or indeed any reference to Zone Alarm at all.

I am confused.

[Keith Warner]

G'mornin' gents,

Thanks, David.  I found the line and changed the "1" to "0" easily enough. 

Old Dog, perhaps the difference is that you removed the old ZA before installing the new.  Since I installed on top of the old version maybe whatever triggers that message was still there, but if it isn't there the line doesn't even get created in the ini file???

[DavidR]

You're welcome.

There is something that my grey cells remember, alanrf mentioned some time ago that earlier versions of avast didn't make any differentiation in the ZA Home or ZA Pro versions and asked the compatibility question regardless (even when an avast update had been done).

So in this case, changing the 0 to 1 should now resolve any issue. Just ensure that the web shield is scanning your browsing traffic.