ZoneAlarm instability on Windows 7 x64.

In my ceaseless search for a more stable computer, I ran across a
thread talking about the latest version of ZoneAlarm Free, which
is *supposed* to run on Windows 7 x64. According to a Microsoft
tech, it causes a blue screen error -- specifically, a Bug Code 7f
error. Microsoft may be looking into the problem in a future patch
(but don't hold your breath). No, I don't have the link -- didn't
save it.

I've been getting irregular blue screen crashes every few days
since buying my new Dell computer, and indeed, one of the first
things I did with the computer was install the latest free version
of ZoneAlarm (version 9.1.007). Was that the cause of my blue
screens? I will know in a a week or two (or a lot less) because I
am now running Comodo.

Anyone running this version of ZoneAlarm Free on Windows 7 x64,
and getting blue screens and the "BCCode 7f" error, might want to
consider a different firewall.

-Al-

Al Smith <> wrote:

> Anyone running this version of ZoneAlarm Free on Windows 7 x64,
> and getting blue screens and the "BCCode 7f" error, might want to
> consider a different firewall.


Did you disable the Win7 firewall control panel?

Andy

In article <%o8bn.64741$PH1.14248@edtnps82>, Al Smith says...

> Anyone running this version of ZoneAlarm Free on Windows 7 x64,
> and getting blue screens and the "BCCode 7f" error, might want to
> consider a different firewall.
>
There is no point running a third party firewall anymore. Windows 7
Firewall blocks incoming and outgoing and has an advanced configuration
panel which gives you all the control you'll ever need.



--
Conor

I'm not prejudiced. I hate everybody equally.

In article <hkjt9n$sjk$>, Alias says...
>
> Conor wrote:
> > In article <%o8bn.64741$PH1.14248@edtnps82>, Al Smith says...
> >
> >> Anyone running this version of ZoneAlarm Free on Windows 7 x64,
> >> and getting blue screens and the "BCCode 7f" error, might want to
> >> consider a different firewall.
> >>
> > There is no point running a third party firewall anymore. Windows 7
> > Firewall blocks incoming and outgoing and has an advanced configuration
> > panel which gives you all the control you'll ever need.
> >
> >
> >
>
> A router with a NAT firewall is something else you need besides a
> software firewall. If you don't have one, check out your ports here:
>
Good advice as all software firewalls can potentially be disabled.


--
Conor

I'm not prejudiced. I hate everybody equally.

Andy wrote:
> Al Smith<> wrote:
>
>> Anyone running this version of ZoneAlarm Free on Windows 7 x64,
>> and getting blue screens and the "BCCode 7f" error, might want to
>> consider a different firewall.
>
>
> Did you disable the Win7 firewall control panel?
>
> Andy


ZoneAlarm automatically disables the Internet part of the Windows
firewall, but I also tried disabling the other part (local? I'm
not sure what the distinction between these parts may be). It had
no effect -- my Windows 7 install still crashed with the "BCCode
7f" error. So far, after dumping ZoneAlarm and installing Comodo,
no blue screens, but it's only been two days. I won't know I'm out
of the woods for another week or two.

Just as a matter of interest, the crashes occurred most often when
I was watching video clips on-line, but I also experienced a
couple of blue screens while playing video games on my computer,
not on-line.

-Al-

Conor wrote:
> In article<%o8bn.64741$PH1.14248@edtnps82>, Al Smith says...
>
>> Anyone running this version of ZoneAlarm Free on Windows 7 x64,
>> and getting blue screens and the "BCCode 7f" error, might want to
>> consider a different firewall.
>>
> There is no point running a third party firewall anymore. Windows 7
> Firewall blocks incoming and outgoing and has an advanced configuration
> panel which gives you all the control you'll ever need.
>
>
>

That's is what many people say, but the advantage to running
ZoneAlarm is that it lets users know exactly what is trying to
access the Internet from the computer, and gives an easy method
for blocking or allowing access. That's why I've used ZoneAlarm
for so many years. I'm behind a router, so I probably don't even
need a firewall, but I want one to block outgoing events, not so
much incoming events. Comodo is not nearly as easy or clear in
this regard as ZoneAlarm, but I'm trying to get used to it.

-Al-

Frank wrote:
> Al Smith wrote:
>> In my ceaseless search for a more stable computer, I ran across a
>> thread talking about the latest version of ZoneAlarm Free, which is
>> *supposed* to run on Windows 7 x64. According to a Microsoft tech, it
>> causes a blue screen error -- specifically, a Bug Code 7f error.
>> Microsoft may be looking into the problem in a future patch (but don't
>> hold your breath).
>
> It is not up to Microsoft to fix a broken version of zonealarm...it is
> up to zonealarm.
>


True enough, but as I understood it from what I read, ZoneAlarm is
not the only program to produce this error in Windows 7 x64, and
the tech thought the reason might be that some parts of the
Windows 7 code had been changed to be "more aggressive" in some
regard -- I'm not a programmer, so I didn't follow exactly what he
was talking about. Something about stack overflow issues. Anyway,
it was this aggressive behavior that he suggested might be
modified in a future Windows 7 patch.

-Al-

Frank wrote:
> Al Smith wrote:
>> Andy wrote:
>>> Al Smith<> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Anyone running this version of ZoneAlarm Free on Windows 7 x64,
>>>> and getting blue screens and the "BCCode 7f" error, might want to
>>>> consider a different firewall.
>>>
>>>
>>> Did you disable the Win7 firewall control panel?
>>>
>>> Andy
>>
>>
>> ZoneAlarm automatically disables the Internet part of the Windows
>> firewall, but I also tried disabling the other part (local? I'm not
>> sure what the distinction between these parts may be). It had no
>> effect -- my Windows 7 install still crashed with the "BCCode 7f"
>> error. So far, after dumping ZoneAlarm and installing Comodo, no blue
>> screens, but it's only been two days. I won't know I'm out of the
>> woods for another week or two.
>>
>> Just as a matter of interest, the crashes occurred most often when I
>> was watching video clips on-line, but I also experienced a couple of
>> blue screens while playing video games on my computer, not on-line.
>>
>> -Al-
>
> Sounds like you have a buggy Nvidia video card driver.


The particular configuration of my Dell computer, coupled with
Windows 7 x64, produced a known and recognized problem with my
nVidia card (screen would go black for a few seconds after I
dragged or resized some windows), but an upgrade in the nVidia
driver cured it. I don't think the card itself is bad. I don't
really think I've got bad hardware -- my sense is that it's a
software issue. I'm hopeful that dumping the present version of
ZoneAlarm has cured it. I may try ZoneAlarm again when a new
version is issued ... although I didn't like the nag screen that
ZoneAlarm started to use with its latest version.

-Al-

On Sat, 6 Feb 2010 13:27:33 -0000, Conor <> wrote:

>In article <%o8bn.64741$PH1.14248@edtnps82>, Al Smith says...
>
>> Anyone running this version of ZoneAlarm Free on Windows 7 x64,
>> and getting blue screens and the "BCCode 7f" error, might want to
>> consider a different firewall.
>>
>There is no point running a third party firewall anymore. Windows 7
>Firewall blocks incoming and outgoing and has an advanced configuration
>panel which gives you all the control you'll ever need.

Agreed. Put me firmly in the camp of not running a third party
firewall. IMHO, it's a waste of time, adds unneeded complexity, and
apparently also causes instability. I won't be bothering. The Windows
firewall plus a NAT router plus sensible (safe hex) computing provide
the safety I need.

Frank wrote:
> Al Smith wrote:
>> Frank wrote:
>>> Al Smith wrote:
>>>> Andy wrote:
>>>>> Al Smith<> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Anyone running this version of ZoneAlarm Free on Windows 7 x64,
>>>>>> and getting blue screens and the "BCCode 7f" error, might want to
>>>>>> consider a different firewall.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Did you disable the Win7 firewall control panel?
>>>>>
>>>>> Andy
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ZoneAlarm automatically disables the Internet part of the Windows
>>>> firewall, but I also tried disabling the other part (local? I'm not
>>>> sure what the distinction between these parts may be). It had no
>>>> effect -- my Windows 7 install still crashed with the "BCCode 7f"
>>>> error. So far, after dumping ZoneAlarm and installing Comodo, no blue
>>>> screens, but it's only been two days. I won't know I'm out of the
>>>> woods for another week or two.
>>>>
>>>> Just as a matter of interest, the crashes occurred most often when I
>>>> was watching video clips on-line, but I also experienced a couple of
>>>> blue screens while playing video games on my computer, not on-line.
>>>>
>>>> -Al-
>>>
>>> Sounds like you have a buggy Nvidia video card driver.
>>
>>
>> The particular configuration of my Dell computer, coupled with Windows
>> 7 x64, produced a known and recognized problem with my nVidia card
>> (screen would go black for a few seconds after I dragged or resized
>> some windows), but an upgrade in the nVidia driver cured it. I don't
>> think the card itself is bad. I don't really think I've got bad
>> hardware -- my sense is that it's a software issue. I'm hopeful that
>> dumping the present version of ZoneAlarm has cured it. I may try
>> ZoneAlarm again when a new version is issued ... although I didn't
>> like the nag screen that ZoneAlarm started to use with its latest
>> version.
>>
>> -Al-
> The firewall in Window 7 is just as good, if not better than zonealarm
> and is totally compatible.


It doesn't make knowing what is trying to phone home, and blocking
those programs from phoneing home, as easy as ZoneAlarm does.

-Al-