[KatieStar]

Hi,

I'm really new to looking after my laptop and so apologise if this is a really basic question but...

1) How do I know which zone alarm pop ups to allow or deny?

A friend, who put the programme on my laptop for me, said "deny things unless [I] know what they are" but recently on a few occassions I think that has meant that important things haven't downloaded eg upgrades for my vodafone internet dongle provision. Once I have clicked deny it seems that I cannot get the programmes to then download no matter how many times I click retry.

Any help/info for me?

[Advertisements]

1) As in so many other aspects of modern life, if in doubt, say no.
Somewhere in this program there is the ability (I forget where) to allow programs that you've previously denied and to deny programs you've previously allowed.

[Neil Jones]

1) As in so many other aspects of modern life, if in doubt, say no.
Somewhere in this program there is the ability (I forget where) to allow programs that you've previously denied and to deny programs you've previously allowed.

[KatieStar]

But I seem to then not be able to get simple upgrades!!

[Cold Titanium]

In the bottom right corner of your screen, in the bar you should see a small Z.

Right-Click it, then click "Restore ZoneAlarm Control Center"

On the left side click "Program Control" and under that click "Programs"

and it should give you a list of programs. Simply Left-Click the blue ?'s or the red X's or the green checkmarks and choose whether or not to deny or allow on the programs you want.

[Major Payne]

If in doubt, too. open the programs that require updates and find (usually under Help) "Find Updates". Click it and see what ZA pops up. Then you can check the ZA box to always remember the decision you made. Cold Titanium has given you the best way to re-set programs asking for Internet access. Just right-click (I think it's right ) and it will give you several options. Select the one that you feel comfortable with.

[KatieStar]

Thanks....this is helpful, but in my zone alarm control centre, very few things acrually have a green tick, almost everything has a blue ?. What does this atually mean? Should I be wary about changing things to ticks?

[NomDeKeyz]

I don't know how helpful I can be as I am as new to computer maintenance as you are...
I am also using Comodo instead of Zone Alarm for a firewall, but they sound similar?
What I do when I want to know if I should allow something: I do a google search on it.
I am becoming familiar with the names of things that run my computer and what they need
to do. If you need to update, try it, then write down the name of the program that your
firewall asks you to allow/disallow. Disallow it at first, then google the program name.
(I realize that one update/action may instigate several firewall queries to google.)
Does it show an association with the update/action that you were attempting to perform?
If so, it's probably a safe one to allow; if not, do more googling until you are sure of
allowing it/disallowing it/asking someone who knows more about it specifically. I don't
know if my way is a good way, or an advisable way of doing it, but it's what I have been
doing since I don't really have much else to go on. I hope that my post either helps you
or it encourages someone who knows more about this to give us both a better way to do it.

[KatieStar]

It often asks me about java or prevelance reporter wanting to access the internet trusted zone. I will start looking them up but any info on these two?

K

[KatieStar]

Thank you. This has been very helpful. A bit of light in a confusing world.