Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
133 of 136 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
As good as the rest.... maybe a little better., December 17, 2005
I've used them all... McAfee, Norton, Trend Micro and Zone Alarm. McAfee and Norton are expensive (now zone alarm is too), with little to no real customer support. They all (except Trend Micro which has excellent customer support) charge a fee for calling support.
A Caveat with ZA, If YOU don't read the begining tutorial, then when your PC doesn't connect to the internet don't blame ZA!!! There's a brief 3 minute tutorial that lets ZA know your level of computer experteise. If you're a novice, ZA will self-configure the firewall. If you're an expert, you get to control program access yourself.
Zone Alarm's Firewall is the best on the market. It is the only firewall to give you an alert WITH a recommended suggestion on what to do based upon it's knowledge of the program thats trying to access the internet, or trying to receive information from the internet for the first time.
ZA's firewall is also PC specific. It will alert you if a program is acting suspiciously on your PC and lets you know what to do. Sometimes it doesn't have a suggestion, so here's where some common sense comes in, as well as some PC experteise.
If you're installing a program, or uninstalling, or running a program, and ZA pops up, then it probably is something you want to allow, or it will block what you're trying to do.
McAfee is effective but slow, Norton doesn't pick up everything and sometimes can't delete things and you have to do it manually, Trend Micro also has failed in automatic deletion and has many 'manual' removal messages for various viruses and trojans (and we're paying for what?).
Zone Labs is one of the few that have caught, and automatically deleted most test viruses and trojans (and real) that I've run on my PC.
It wins out over the other 3 in that it gives the user super control over the PC. You get automatic deletion and/or quarantene You get to say what program gets access, which program does not, and how often. You can approve every attempt to access the internet by a program, or every time something from the internet tries to access your PC. So, its great for the intermediate and the expert user alike.
Cons: Its spyware isn't up to par with any other program. Ad-aware, spybot search and destroy and pest patrol are far supeior.
It takes a little PC adeptness to correctly use this program. If you block the wrong program, or deny the wrond network connection, you'll be blocked from accessing the internet, or sharing files or something you don't want. Hence the many people who complain about it. This is by far the best program on the market for your money, but you need to be adept and familir with networking, windows, ports that programs use to access the net, what every program is and why it is accessing the net, ETC. If you don't know, then get a different program. McAfee and Norton are effective but you don't get the control and ease of use. Trend Micro is the easiest of all, but you don't get firewall controll over outbound connections.
So, this is not a novice program, and should be used by the more experienced.
Overall, the speed and firewall coupled with an antivirus program that actually works led me to keep ZoneLabs my internet security suite for over 2 years now. (though I do run McAfee, AVG, Norton, and trend on other pc's), on my personal PC that I use the most, I trust ZA for the best security.
PC Geek tested and approved! A.
They only get 4 stars because they charge you for customer support (BOO 70 dollars isn't enough for the program AND support?). Otherwise, this is a must have for anyone truly concerned about PC and internet security.
|
|
|
237 of 271 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Caveat Emptor; be careful, be very careful!, October 2, 2005
Before you buy this product, check the comments from users on the ZoneAlarm User Forum.
For the past 6 years, I used McAfee and then Norton, but became increasingly irritated by the way they would beat me up for renewals and intrude to sell me more, over and over. Also, I was miffed because it was near impossible to reach a human being for help when needed.
I used the free version of ZoneAlarm (firewall only) for a couple of years and liked it, a lot.
First, I downloaded and installed ZAISS on my wife's VAIO computer, running, XP, and had some problems. I assumed it was me, the computer, or the previous Norton. Between me, a neighbor computer consultant and a few CSRs at our ISP and Sony (no help from ZA!) and $ 200 in fees, I got it running fine.
So, assuming the problem was mine, and ready to dump Norton, I bought ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite for my VAIO computer, running W2K, and at their recommendation, Steganos Security Suite, with a year download option, total $ 96.85, download direct from ZA. BIG mistake.
It made a huge mess, blocked access, ran at painfull slow speed, ran processor to 100% load, and did everything to keep me from fixing it. This time, I called ZA, and you CAN reach someone, for, as I recall, 3.95 per minute, but they insisted I did something wrong and could only suggest I wipe the drive and reinstall everything. OK, maybe it was me, so I wiped every trace of any security program from my backup computer, clean up everything, and installed ZAISS. Disaster. Again, no help from ZA. Finally went to the User Forum on the ZA website and found that hundreds of users had similar problems and got NO help from ZA. I finally, after at least 50 hours of work, stripped all remnants of ZAISS from my backup computer, went back to McAfee and am back on line.
For most people and most computers, it works fine. But for some, it's a major disaster, ZA is absolutely no help, and they disavow any problems or responsibility. They will NOT help and they will not refund. BEWARE.
By the way, I've been using computers extensively since 1984; I'm not an expert, but certainly not a novice either. Before you buy, check the ZA user forum or google for "ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite" + problems. Good luck.
Michael
|
|
|
26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best of what I've seen, November 6, 2005
If you want a good security progam that's not a resrouce hog this is the best of what I've seen.
I had a prior version Norton Internet Security and was very pleased with it. I ignored poor reviews and complaints about recent versions of NIS and upgraded when the older version was no longer supported. I should have heeded the reviews as all their problem became mine. It noticeably slows down your computer, your email, your web browsing...and has applicaiton errors when you shutdown/log off windows.
After one month I took a risk and purchased Zone Alarm 2006 and have been extremely pleased. No, it's not "perfect" but it works well, actually seems to catch things NIS didn't and it doesn't slow down the computer (noticeably better performance than NIS).
Like NIS it does occassionaly have some program errors when shutting down or logging off...but **much** fewer than NIS..and I think they only occur after the pc has hibernated (which seems to be a common issue with a lot of software).
The alerts that ZA pop up whenever a program first attempts to access the internet (or ZA when suspects it could compromise security) are probably excessive and somewhat cryptic for the average user....but you can tell ZA to not ask you again. And you get use to the alerts...and these days it's far better to have a security program have a few too many of these alerts than to just assume.
As a web programmer I have to use McAfee at work and it's such a hog I always have to commit the sin of turnning it off whenever I'm doing anything complex (big program builds, installs).
Everybody likes something different for different reasons. I mainly want a product to work..and to not cause grief to my computer, other programs or my work. ZA 2006 definitely meets all these requirements and has won me over.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
International Shipping: This title can be shipped to
select countries outside the U.S.
Explore the Software Available for International Shipping Store for a complete selection of software and games as well as shipping details.
