by Joshua Zambrano

Created on: August 30, 2007

Although ZoneAlarm gets a lot of press as the best firewall product on the market, it has a long history of drawing criticism from computer users for problems such as over-zealous port blocking resulting in an inability to connect to the internet, computer slowdown even after uninstalling ZoneAlarm, and program compatibility issues.[1]

Just do a search on "ZoneAlarm problems" to see the 800,000 search results. While ZoneAlarm does have some good features, be aware that it is a very risky option. It is certainly secure, but you will have to decide for yourself whether it causes more problems than it fixes.

Personally, I think you'd be better off sticking with Comodo, another free firewall option. While Comodo also has been reported for problems, they seem to be far less serious and widespread than those associated with ZoneAlarm.

Here are some reviews comparing ZoneAlarm, Comodo, and other firewalls:

http://www.consumersearch.com/www/software /firewalls/index.html
http://www.all-internet-securit y.com/top_10_firewall_software.html

While most tech reviews agree ZoneAlarm is the best option, there are enough problems reported with it that you should be wary in making it your home firewall choice.

Bibliography:

http://www.pcanswers.co.uk/tips/default .asp?pagetypeid=2&articleid=36603&subsectionid=616
ht tp://www.adwarereport.com/mt/archives/zonealarm_prob lems.php
http://robinzblogger.blogspot.com/2005/01/ha d-zonealarm-problems-recently.html
http://www.trap17. com/index.php/zone-alarm-problem_t3476.html

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