I've been using ZoneAlarm for years. Did what I wanted: blocked stuff and asked me what I wanted to allow it to do, unless I had previously given a permanent answer for that program to be allowed or not allowed to do that thing. I'd built up a list of rules regarding what was allowed and what was not allowed, so I only got popups with new programs and the couple that I'd set to "always ask me". Perfect.
After the last update, that's all gone. ZA apparently now allows everything - even if I go into the program list and set it to ask me for that access for that program, it'll just be allowed anyway. Emptying the program list and rebooting resulted in nothing working - even Task Manager and Process Explorer were stopped from working. I don't mean accessing the net - I mean working at all. I had to reboot to safe mode and use an uninstaller to get rid of ZA.
I've temporarily gone to the Windows firewall, but I want a straightforward firewall that gives me control. I want any new program to be blocked while the firewall asks me what I want to allow it to do. I want to have the options of always allow, always deny, always ask me. I've been using ZA for so long that I've no idea about the available software firewalls, so I'm asking for recommendations.
After the last update, that's all gone. ZA apparently now allows everything - even if I go into the program list and set it to ask me for that access for that program, it'll just be allowed anyway. Emptying the program list and rebooting resulted in nothing working - even Task Manager and Process Explorer were stopped from working. I don't mean accessing the net - I mean working at all. I had to reboot to safe mode and use an uninstaller to get rid of ZA.
I've temporarily gone to the Windows firewall, but I want a straightforward firewall that gives me control. I want any new program to be blocked while the firewall asks me what I want to allow it to do. I want to have the options of always allow, always deny, always ask me. I've been using ZA for so long that I've no idea about the available software firewalls, so I'm asking for recommendations.
