Vista SP1 and VPN (with ZoneAlarm)

I installed SP1 on a Vista Business machine with ZoneAlarm Security Suite, and my VPN (Microsoft client) do not work anymore...

I contacted both Microsoft (SP1 upgrade helpdesk) and ZoneLabs and got two nice answers:

- according to both sources, SP1 and ZoneAlarm are not compatible with one another with respect to VPN connections.
- ZoneLabs says it is MS that disrupted their interface, and ...
- MS says that the changes they made were not sufficiently taken into account by ZoneLabs.

Does anyone has a workaround, apart from uninstalling ZoneAlarm (suggestion of MS) or uninstalling SP1 (suggestion of ZoneLabs) ?

Hello Ptulkens,

Welcome to Vista Forums.

Unfortunately there is not much you can do until ZoneAlarm updates their program to work properly with Vista SP1. While it is best for both Microsoft and ZoneAlarm to work together to make sure both programs are compatible, it is ultimately up to the 3rd party vendor (ZoneAlarm) to make sure that their programs work with Vista.

I'm not sure if you are using the ZoneAlarm firewall program or what, but until there is an update you might give the free Comodo Firewall Pro a try. It works just fine in Vista.

Free Firewall Protection Software Best Firewall Computer Security Free Personal Firewall

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Thank you.
I'm using ZoneAlarm Security Suite (ZASS). The reasons to stick with it are
- all my other computers (XP) use ZoneAlarm and I do not wish to play with different rules and different specifiications...
- ZASS has also a antivirus (a version of Kaspersky) and a anti-spyware. If I remove ZASS, I'll have to subscribe to additional softwares, which again will create time losses in fine tuning them and costs.

I'll stop using my Vista computer for connecting to my VPN server and use another lap-top in the meantime.

Hi Ptulkens,

If you have ADSL or a modem/router most of these come with built-in firewalls (Hardware Firewalls) that are way better and are already securing your PCs better than any software firewall, What type of router/modem are you using?

Steven

Thank you for the suggestion. You are right if speaking about a few computers staying behind a NAT router. However, this is not my case. My computers are in a large university network, all with public IP addresses. ZoneAlarm is essential to keep those computers protected from sometimes very close neighbors... The lap-top with Vista for which I have this problem of incompatibility between ZoneAlarm and SP1 is sometimes in that network but also often "en route" and connected to open wireless networks (such as in Airports, and so on ...). I also use this lap-top to connect to my home and work computers through VPN. For those reasons, protection is essential.

Since you mentioned you dont want to use another program Contact Zonealarm support about the issues, If you paid for your product they are legally bound to provide you with support and fixes to any problems you have

Steven