Customer Reviews

ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite 2010 - 3 User 1 Year (PC CD)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

ZoneAlarm has historically been my anti-virus of choice, but I've been changing around a bit, and have also been fed up with the continual prompting for permission from the programme control tab. This version comes with both firewall and anti-virus, although the firewall has pretty much always been free.

ZoneAlarm usually requires a bit more supervision than other anti-virus products; it's not usually my first choice for non-savvy friends and relatives, despite being more thorough and digging out nasties which other products miss. This version is slightly better, but installation was still slightly more painful than I'd anticipated. Double clicking on the DVD icon takes you to an Avanquest registration screen, rather than the installation, and it's remarkably hard to get rid of! Once you do finally start the installation - having somewhat painfully checked online for more updated versions of the product - everything runs smoothly.

The product is easy to navigate, and the sections are intuitive - the firewall, anti-virus and the other options are easily laid out, and it's simple to see how to run an on-demand scan and schedule regular scans. It's also quite smart - the first time I ran it, I tried to run a scan, and it reminded me that it hadn't updated itself, so it wasn't a good idea to run a scan. It then updated automatically and took me back to the 'run a scan' section.

A full 'deep scan' took just over an hour, which is very good for scanning three hard drives. It found about six nasties which my previous anti-virus, Kaspersky, hadn't picked up, and dealt with them automatically. Running a full scan also did not slow my PC down very much at all.

The programme control / firewall is much better than previous versions, and there are far fewer interruptions and 'do you want to allow this programme x,y,z' notifications popping up. Overall, very good - easy to use once you've set it up and feels powerful.

UPDATE: However, a few months in, I began experiencing problems with ZoneAlarm. After a BSOD, I was becoming slightly wary, but eventually it killed my Wi-Fi connection. I was scratching my head in confusion as to the problem - Windows was telling me that there was a problem with the network adapter - the 'tunnelling' device or somesuch. After a look around on the web, forums suggested that this was a problem with ZoneAlarm not allowing IPv6 traffic through, or something along those lines. There's a setting to change that, but after ticking the box, it didn't solve anything. Uninstalling the product completely solved the problem, and I've not had any issues since. I'm sorry to reduce my star rating from 4 to 2, but any product which unintentionally disables your internet connection cannot be rated highly today.

I always used to use Zonealarm up until last year when I found that it was getting way too buggy, processor intensive and slowing my pc down to snails pace. I switched to Kaspersky and haven't looked back but trialling this version I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised to see that Zonealarm have once again stepped in to the competitive arena of internet security and come up with a worthy alternative to Kaspersky. The pc runs perfectly and there doesn't appear to be any obvious flaws with its protection thus far....

Remember though that freeware in the shape of Avast antivirus and Comodo firewall will suit most people's usage and you only really need this kind of software if you are trawling dodgy sites or downloading loads of 'free' files.

I am using this software with Windows 7, with which it works very very well.

I have been a fan of ZoneAlarm for many years, and have followed it through various incarnations since about 2002. What I like about it more than the obvious (excellent protection from all sorts of threats, and its ease of use) is that fact that it does not hog the computer's resources. Too often, I have found that other Security Software does reduce computers' performance, but I have to say that ZoneAlarm is much more seamless than its competitors.

This is an ideal piece of software, and I think the price is great for what is a comprehensive package; highly recommended.

ZoneAlarm is not as comprehensive as Norton or AVG, but that's not a bad thing. Norton includes many applications that aren't strictly necessary, and as a result it takes up too much space on your drive, and can seriously slow down other functions. This is not the case with ZoneAlarm Security Suite 2010. It is much less of a hard drive hog, and concentrates on the most important areas of PC protection, without slowing your PC, or becoming a pain to live with. The software installed easily, and has been running for 2 weeks without causing any problems. I can vouch for it's effectiveness too, as it has identified several potential threats during idle time background scans. I guess the question is whether it is as good as software provided by Symantec and AVG. The answer seems to be yes, and it is a good deal cheaper too. ZoneAlarm have been around a long time, and I have used their AV and Security software on a number of occasions. Whilst I have encountered various problems with other software, ZoneAlarm has been relatively trouble free. I would definitely recommend it as an alternative to the market leading brands.

I have received two of these with both the CD KEYS relating to anti-virus and not the internet security suite. Both were sent back for a full refund. Avoid.

I'd used Zone Alarm in the dim and distant past, and it has come on leaps and bounds since them. Now as well as the firewall, it offers an anti-virus and anti-spyware, plus features such as "Gaming mode".

Installing was quick and easy, and the first task was to run a scan to look for malware. It then offers a "deep scan" which it is honest about and informs you that it might slow down Windows a bit while it searches. Subsequent scans will be faster, but I did not notice much of a slowdown on my PC.

The user interface is pretty simple, consisting of two large panes within a window for the spyware feature and anti-virus feature respectively, with another pane down the side with other options in. You have options to configure the "Zones" on your network and apply a level of security to stop anyone from entering your network from the outside. This area may get a bit eclectic if you don't understand what things like NetBIOS are - this requires a certain level of understanding.

The main feature (For me) was the aspect that blocks programs from accessing the internet, such as spyware and malware if they are unknown. ZoneAlarm has an "autolearn" feature, but looking around on the web I found some comments that this feature isn't that great and while it's learning it leaves your machine open to attack.

Turning off this mode bombarded me with advice whenever applications tried to access the web, so I guess it's just a case of sitting down and configuring it - which is another learning curve for novices.

I also discovered some side effects - even though I turned off the e-mail protection, Outlook e-mails got corrupted, and Remote Desktop stopped working. A few other utilities stopped working, which was annoying. With little time to spent configuring apps (I have a young family!) this wasn't ideal.

Technology wise, this is very good, but it needs some improvements.

I've used a few IS & AV programs on multiple machines

This product installs very simply from the CD-ROM; no techy language and a nice re-assuring "You are protected" message when done.

Note: un-install any previous a/v software first, saves you time and will be prompted if you have not done this.

If using Vista or Win7
install from an admin account - but it does prompt you to ok as Admin anyhow,

Effectiveness:
Recent consumer trials put this as quite high on the list of effective programs; actually better than Norton and Mcafee - but no surprise there.
it does not have the tarty interface of those two programs, nor the system heavy load that slows down older machines so nastily.

It has a nice simple interface and theres no need to muck with settings at all.

If you want to tweak - the Firewall options box has a simple click and set permissions, which appear as a green tick or a red cross. Simples!

A/V
A complete DEEP scan was over quite quickly - very efficient.
You get one year of free updates and its most definitely worth doing that as virus definitions change daily
and it will function on 3 machines under the standard licence.
no hassle, no bother.

It just works.

Recommended for the family with upto 3 PC's and people who want value and proven effectiveness, without fancy and completely worthless pretty interface bolts-ons.

Norton has a stranglehold, deservedly most would say, and those brands with less might are often brushed aside without much consideration. ZoneAlarm, a long term player in the firewall business, have steadily been improving their full security suite. Security Suite 10 is a full range of internet protection and runs smoothly and imperceptibly in the background of your Windows OS. It rarely bothers the user and uses idle time to carry out tasks which would rarely get manually run, due to modern constraints on time. Some of the jargon used is unfriendly at times and the install sometimes produces errors (known issues, which in no way affect how the product actually works) however it usually just gets on with it. The front-end is not as polished as Norton or McAfee, although the engine seems just as capable.

It doesn't offer some of the options of Norton, whilst it does provide options that Norton doesn't such as a Gaming mode, so largely they can be compared since the bulk of options are in the same field. It appears to be a lighter weight package and centres on Internet Security rather than maintenance and as such it delivers. An underdog maybe, a decent product none-the-less.

I had Zonealarm Security Suite for 7-8 years. I am glad that I got rid of it earlier in 2011. Throughout that period, it worked well and then was a total pain - and then it worked well again. The reason that I didn't get rid of it was that my sub was never near expiry at that time and after a few weeks of problems it worked fine again. But eventually it ground my XP system to a crawl, despite memory upgrades etc. I now have Trend Micro Security on a new PC and this makes me realise that, actually, Zonealarm Security Suite was actually a right nuisance and I now wonder why on earth I put up with it for all those years. I also wonder if the vendors have lost interest in this product and are not supporting it as well as they should. I bought it orginally because it was a PC-Pro magazine best buy in about 2002, but I have not seen it reviewed for ages. I suggest that you have a look at the reviews on the wwww.pcpro.co.uk web site and purchase one of their recommended best buys from Amazon (or wherever).

Installed without problem on both PC and Netbook. A essential requirement and purchase for maintenance of PC. This software helps to prevent issues and maintain a nice healthy clean and efficient running PC. Easy to use and user friendly interface. Essential and recommended.