Firewall testing [Avast Hijacking]?

[Eddy]

ZA (pro) is not slowing down anything at all on my system. In the past I have tried Kerio and Outpost on the same system with the same things installed/running. No difference in speed at all. Not noticibly nor measured.

[bob3160]

Sorry Sasha
I have to disagree with you on that statement.
Just take a look:

[S.Z.Craftec]

But Bob, I still don't believe that's the only one service ran by ZoneAlarm in your task manager. There must be few others in there. I've heard some vsmon.exe process is taking up a whopping 90% of processor usage sometime, and that process comes from ZoneAlarm, not from some other firewall...

[Eddy]

Only zapro.exe and vsmon.exe running with my version of ZA. Both 0% cpu usage with vsmon.exe some times going to 2% when there is much traffic.

zapro.exe 3372Kb
vsmon.exe 5916Kb

[S.Z.Craftec]

Well, let's count:

- 3916 Kb by zlclient.exe
- 3372 Kb by zapro.exe
- 5916 Kb by vsmon.exe

Total: 13204 Kb

Much more than initial 3916 by zlclient.exe that Bob mentioned...

[Eddy]

Little correction Minus 3916Kb since it depends on the version of ZA. Mine doesn't have zlclient.exe

Besides that, taskmanager is not accurate when it comes to report the memory use.

And I am not sure, but I think that the latest ZA version isn't using vsmon.exe anymore. So substract that also.

[a61_a61]

Pigdog,

Sygate gives the Application Hijacking message whenever an application is launched by another application without the direct request of the user (if the launches application tries to access the net).  In almost every circumstance there is a legitimate reason for the situation as in this case, but I'd rather put up with these false warning messages than miss a real security risk.

You're right I found that out this morning when I clicked on a hot link in another program to go to their web site.

a61

[Lisandro]

My experience, in the past, is that ZA eats more RAM than Outpost...  

[a61_a61]

Technical, you must be using Outpost Pro.  I really liked the OP free version, but that puppy wouldn't work with the SP2 upgrade.  I did install the OP Pro and it worked great, but I just can't spend the money right now for it.

a61

[Eddy]

My experience, in the past, is that ZA eats more RAM than Outpost

Could be true, I don't know/haven't tried them all. But one thing is for sure. If you have used taskmanager to see the memory use, you are fooled. Not saying that you are wrong, but taskmanger isn't showing the actual amount of memory used.

The utils from eg. Sysinternals are much more accurate.

[S.Z.Craftec]

a61 wrote:

Technical, you must be using Outpost Pro.  I really liked the OP free version, but that puppy wouldn't work with the SP2 upgrade.  I did install the OP Pro and it worked great, but I just can't spend the money right now for it.

a61

Before Sygate, I was using Outpost freeware on my SP2. Worked flawlesly, no problems at all. I switched to Sygate just in testing purposes, and I really like new (5.6) Sygate freeware... Although, I may go back to Outpost some day in the future. Outpost is sooooo good... I can't forget it that easy...  

[S.Z.Craftec]

Could be true, I don't know/haven't tried them all. But one thing is for sure. If you have used taskmanager to see the memory use, you are fooled. Not saying that you are wrong, but taskmanger isn't showing the actual amount of memory used.

The utils from eg. Sysinternals are much more accurate.

That's true Eddy, but if those values in Task Manager are not accurate for ZA, then they are also lying the same amount for Outpost and Sygate. Still there is similar difference in memory usage.

Anyway, I've heard that if you decide to uninstall your ZA for any reason, it leaves many leftovers and you have to do it manually. We all know, it's very recommended to remove all those leftovers prior to installing other firewall (just like antiviruses)...

[bob3160]

Sasha
This again comes down to basically users choice just like the
browser controversy. Use what makes you happy. As long as the product
protects your system and you're comfortable using it, then it's a good
product.

[S.Z.Craftec]

Yes, that's true, and that's why no one should feel offended if someone said something that has been brought out many times before. I was happy ZoneAlarm user myself. I had no problems with ZoneAlarm at all. It's just, I wanted to try something new, and I choosed Outpost. Shortly after that, I've heard so many people complained about new version of ZoneAlarm... can't recall which one was that exactly, but by now, I'm sure everything is fixed... It's just I've seen so many people switched from ZoneAlarm to Sygate or Outpost lately... even ZA addict, our beloved Technical !!!  

[a61_a61]

Bob, I sure agree with you here.  Many people seem to think the software they use is the best. Not only with the browsers, antivirus, firewalls, backup programs, etc.  I have my favorites only because I like to try different ones out, the programs I like and don't cause problems I keep. In trying different programs out you learn their strengths and weaknesses.
a61