JeffBDVS

Join Date 12/2003

ZoneAlarm is at it again...

It seems that the latest version (5.5.062.000) of ZA Security Suite (and ZAPro, I would guess) has issues with ObjectBar.

Launching ZA at system start-up or launching the ZA Control Center causes all of the icons in an ObjectBar system tray to vanish. The clickable objects are still there because they highlight, provide tool tips and launch when you click on them. It's just that the icons are gone.

If I launch ZA manually after reboot and *don't* launch the Control Center, then the OB systray icons remain visible. As soon as the CC is launched, the icons go away again.

Can anyone else reproduce this?

Jeff

PS/FYI - the latest version of ZA solves an error message problem when exiting ExplorerPlus or PowerDesk after copying and deleting files within those programs. The on-exit error message started appearing after installing the 5.1.033.000 update.

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Does (or did) the default error message indicate 'wininet.dll'? What version of Powerdesk is installed?

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The error message reads: "The instruction at "0x50008f87" referenced memory at "0x00000004". The memory could not be "read".

The EXPlus and PD versions are 6.2 and 5.x, respectively. The error message occurred at random times in other apps (Premiere Pro and WMP, to name two) with the *exact same* instruction at the *exact same* address. However, the ExPlus and PD errors were easiest to reproduce and were reproducible 100% of the time. I also used them as examples because I know there is some interest in those apps in this community.

The only reference to this error message in a Google search is a forum topic about an RSS app called "FeedDemon".

Jeff

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You could try Sygate firewall. I find it runs pretty comparable to ZA.
http://majorgeeks.com/downloads34.html

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Thanks for the input. I switched from Sygate to ZA 2 years ago. Sygate had its own issues. But you are right: Sygate is an effective firewall. For me, it was a choice between usability and which set of issues I wanted to deal with.

Jeff

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OK...go into ZA panel /Privacy/Cache Cleaner and clean the cache file. After it's done, un-check everything in Cache Cleaner Panel. You must go into Custom at bottom and un-check everything in there. Re-boot.

Was this an upgrade or clean install?

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Thanks, yrag. The workaround fixes the issue with starting ZA manually and then launching the Control Center. But it doesn't fix the issue when ZA is set to load at start up. Is the CacheCleaner module off-limits for now?

Do you have any insight as to why this is happening? You came up with your fix pretty darn quickly.

BTW, this is an upgrade, not a clean install.

Jeff

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The cache cleaner is/has been an issue in the last few beta/released builds. I have submitted an Error log to ZA on this, so one way or the other, we'll get it fixed. I believe the problem is somewhere in the Locked Index or Temp files. We're testing a new one now.

You should always do a 'Clean' install..if you want to try that, let me know and I'll give the path to type in to un-install properly.

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You should always do a 'Clean' install..if you want to try that, let me know and I'll give the path to type in to un-install properly.

Sure, I'll give it a try. I've been avoiding clean installs because I've been afraid to lose all my carefully crafted program permissions.

Jeff

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You are going to lose your "carefully crafted program permissions".

Start/All Programs/Zone Labs/...Right click on 'Un-install Zone Labs Security'. Click Properties. In Target add a space and type "/clean" (w/o quotes). Here's a copy and paste if you want: "C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm\zauninst.exe" /clean. Click apply. Click un-install. On the prompt re-boot, but go into into safe mode. Install the new version there. The only thing it will retain is your license #. At the prompt re-boot into Windows normally.

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Join Date 03/2004

+24

Jeff - sorry to butt in but I had a similar worry a while ago - I had to backtrack to ZA4.5 and really didn't want to have to research all my permissions again. To cover my back I just took a screenshot or 2 of my Zone Alarm Program Control with all the necessary references so I'd have something to refer to after the install.

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Thanks yrag and TJ I appreciate the good info. I'll post back here with the results.

Jeff

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Update:

Did a clean uninstall and reinstall of the new version. Same results as the upgrade installation: Manual launch of ZA after start-up allows normal use of OB systray and ZA Control Center Auto-start on system start using CC preferences still produces invisible icons.

Here's the workaround if you are comfortable editing the registry or have a "startup manager" kind of utility available:

1) Delete the HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run entry for zlclient.exe
2) Add a shortcut to zlclient.exe in the C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup folder.

Moving the "load ZA at startup" command from the registry to the startup folder allows ObjectBar to show all icons in a systray object as long as CacheCleaner in ZA remains disabled. And the re-configuring of program permissions isn't as painful as I thought it would be, thanks to TJ's tip.

Thanks again for everyone's help,

Jeff

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Jeff: Look in Taskmanager and see if Trayserver.exe is running...

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I gave up on ZA awhile ago. It worked fine for me with 4.5, but no version of 5.x has worked right. I use Kerio now with no problems.

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yrag,

TM says that trayserver.exe is running.

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Jeff

Try one thing if you want to still play with this... check box for ZA to load on startup, re-boot and before you open ZA panel (or anything else in the tray), look in Taskmanager and see if Trayserver is running. If it is, open ZA and when you get the error look in TM and see if it has shutdown Trayserver.exe.

[Message Edited]

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Still playing...

When I unhide the OB tray with ZA having been "loaded at startup", trayserver.exe shuts down. I can restart it, but unhiding the tray shuts it down again, even if I subsequently shut down ZA.

Jeff

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Thanks for checking that out Jeff...for what it's worth, you're not alone with this problem. I'll submit a report to ZA beta and see if we can't come up with a cure or at the least, a workaround.

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yeah, i used to love ZA Pro, right up until 5.x, where they had that extremely irritating, long system hang... i reverted back to 4.5 a while ago, but then foolishly tried the newest version of ZA Pro again.
i gave up with it when even doing a clean uninstall and reinstall of 4.5 still resulted in the same hang.

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That's interesting. For me, the only issues I've encountered with ZAPro or ZASecurity are:

1. TrueVector interfering with a boot-time chkdsk of the system drive (fixed)
2. Non-fatal, on-exit error from ExplorerPlus et. al. (fixed)
3. Abnormal termination of trayserver.exe (in work)

I've tried competing products. Norton was the first to go because of its resource-hogginess and system intrusiveness once it was installed. Sygate was user-unfriendly and unintuitive. I always felt like I was leaving something undone when trying to configure it. It had minor conflicts with other programs, too, just like ZA. Panda was worthless and NOD32 was counter-intuitive and conflicted with some of the main apps in my core suite of mission-critical applications.

Even with the issues noted above, ZA has been the best overall antivirus and firewall solution for me.

Jeff

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hmmm... stopped using ZA a while ago and now use McAfee.

well, that has nothing to do with anything said here... I just thought I would write it anyway.

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