I'm hoping someone here has come across this problem and can help me. Just got a new laptop yesterday, and have been trying to install the ZoneAlarm Security Suite. It has Vista Home Premium. My desktop does as well, and I have no problems with it on there. I would prefer to use ZoneAlarm, as I am used to it, trust it, and I get the full version for free from my ISP.

Anyway, on to the problem. After the install process, which goes fine, and the computer restart, the ZA icon does nothing when clicked on, and if it is hovered over, it says "Protection is up, UI is initializing". It continues to do this no matter how long it is left, or how many times the computer is restarted. I have uninstalled and reinstalled many times, same thing keeps happening. I removed the Norton that came with the laptop, using the Norton removal tool, and the Windows Firewall is not on. Of course, the first place I checked was the ZoneAlarm forums, and while it seems others are having this problem, there was no straightforward advice on what the problem is. They just keep recommending uninstalling and then reinstalling it. One suggested that the problem means the the install was corrupt, but I have done it too many times from different sources for that to be the case. I'm hoping there is a solution to this, but if there is not, then I would appreciate a recommendation for a very good firewall/antivirus program. Thank you!!!

If you got it from your ISP are you sure it was not ZASS 8.0.020.000 for WinXP ? Are you using IE for your browser or some other one ?

Is your Vista 32 bit or 64 bit ?
You might have to uninstall your copy this way .
http://forums.zonealarm.org/zonelabs/board...amp;format=page

Hi. Thank you for replying. The Vista is 32 bit, I use Firefox for a browser, and the ZoneAlarm is for Vista. I used the ZoneAlarm removal tool I got from the forum there. After using that, would I still need to follow those instructions on that link you gave me? Again, any help is appreciated. Can you tell me what a another good program is, one that preferably has both a firewall and an anti virus. I really value the opinions you have here, since you guys have so much experience in these areas. Thank you again!

Personally I use Comodo, but I prefer having separate anti-virus and firewall solutions. I used to use Zone Alarm also but then I had several computability issues with my Vista install. However getting used to Comodo took some time, especially with the Defense+ and many of the other features. Comodo does have an Anti-virus and Anti-spyware solution.

Thanks. I'll give Comodo a try.