Pinecone, I have known people who just use the built-in Windows firewall, however the downside is it does not monitor outbound traffic. I would like to think that most, but not all, people would agree that a third party firewall that monitors both inbound and outbound traffic is the best way to go. Regardless of how careful some consider themselves to be on the internet there is always that chance of getting infected by malware one way or the other that may try to 'call home' with your personal information. http://netsecurity.about.com/od/firewalls/a/aa081804b.htm "Is there any way to know for sure what I am changing?? " As Luis stated Zone Alarm will present you with a pop-up window letting you know that an application or program wants to access the internet. It will give you the option of 'Yes' or 'No' and list the application that wants access, such as 'Internet Explorer' or whatever programs you have. There is also a 'More info' button in the alert. If the program is one you recognize and use all the time, you can click 'Yes' and select the box 'Remember this info_______' to keep from being bothered with the same request all the time. If it is a program you don't recognize I would click 'No', but not necessarily select 'Remember this info'. If the request keeps coming up and you don't recognize the program and the 'More info' button does not give you the info you need you may want to 'google' and see what it says. There are some 'Windows applications' that need internet access on occasion. Witz

I would try one of 3 options there perhaps. Someone else may come up with a simpler fix if you care to wait a while, you are in no danger. Reboot and try again. Or open Windows Explorer, find and delete the log file mentioned and try the install again. Failing that I would download the whole Zonealarm program (being sure to stay on the free version). Then remove your internet connection, use the Add/Remove to get rid the current Zonealarm and install the downloaded program. Here is a link that might be useful: Free Zonealarm download site

when you get the updated version for zone alarm you no longer have to keep it at medium you go back to high, moving the slider to medium was/ is only for those that have not updated their zone alarm to the latest updated fixed version. I use an old version of zone alarm pro the old versions were not affected. You will see on the page I linked to from zone alarm in the center it says recommended actions: Recommended Actions - Download and install the latest versions which solve the loss of internet access problem here (English only): then there are the links to the new versions of zone alarm you select the one that you have be it za free basic firewall or za suite. The other options listed below that are only for if you did not do this step. This is the version number you want to have it is the latest updated one. 7.0.483.000 ONLY get these from the zone alarm site to make sure you are getting the fixed version or by going into your zone alarm program and hitting the update button it will get the update for you.

unfortunately it is extremely important so some way some how we will all have to do this. Here are articles to help you get an understanding on this DNS vulnerbility which the patch is for. The DNS converts the words you type in the address bar into a numerical address thatÂs used to route all Internet traffic. Exploiting an error like that would make phishing scams simple  people would think they were at their bank website and happily type in personal details, which the criminals could then harvest. Internet flaw could let hackers take over the Web Deficiencies in the DNS protocol Major DNS flaw could disrupt the Internet this is the site where you can find the DNS checker to have it run on your pc and see what it says about your system and how vulnerable it is. DNS Checker For those that are needing to completely remove ZA from their system many people are reporting using this program to get a clean full uninstall, it is a free uninstall program which works well to remove many programs that can tend to be hard to remove. I personally have not used it but several people on the tech sites are recommending it. Revo Uninstaller Zone Alarm also has detailed instructions on their site on how to do a clean uninstall should you need it.