Computer Tech Tips - Zone Alarm Configurations

Copyright © 2004 J. Walker of GNC Web Creations

Computer Firewall Article

You won't have to do a lot of research on firewalls to discover that Zone Alarm, comes highly recommended by many techs in the industry. Unfortunately though, there simple are not a lot of computer tech tips on effective Zone Alarm configurations. This article is designed to provide you with step by step instructions on setting up basic Zone Alarm.

1. To open the control center, right click on the ZA icon, down by the clock in the lower right corner of your screen. Select Restore Zone Alarm Control Center, click to open
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2. Click on Overview in the left hand column.
    

3. Click on the Preferences tab, located below the help question mark.
    

4. In the Check for Updates section, put a dot in the automatic circle. (Click on the center of the circle)
    

5. In the General section, put a check in the box next to Protect Zone Alarm Client.
    

6. In the Contact With Zone Labs section, put a check in the box marked Hide the last octet of my IP address when applicable. This concludes the overview portion.
    

7. Look back to the column on the left, under the word Overview click on Firewall.
    

8. There are two tabs near the help icon. You should be on Main (If not, click on the Main tab.)
    

9. In the section Internet Zone Security, (it should be the top section) click on the medium position, this should highlight Med. This will also change the text to the right of the setting box, to medium.
    

10. Go to the Trusted Zone Security section and set it to medium also.
     

11. Click on the Advanced box, just under the last section, on the lower right. There will be a smaller window with the text Advance Settings at the top. In this box you will see a Security tab. In this section you will see several boxes stacked on top of each other. The ones that you will need to have checked are Allow Outgoing DNS/DHCP in Trusted Zone on High setting and Allow Outgoing DNS/DHCP in Internet Zone on High setting. Click ok to close window.
     

12. In the left column, click on Program Controls. Once again you should see tabs at the top. You should be on Main. You should see Program Control section and the Auto Lock section.
     

13. In Program Control select medium.
     

14. In Auto Lock, I recommend that you select off, until you are more familiar with this program.
     

15. Click on Program Wizard, under the last section on the lower right. A new window will open. In Program Wizard you will see only one tab with the text Secure Programs on it. Under Secure Programs, on the right, you will see, Do you want Zone Alarm to pre-configure access permission? Select "Yes" and click finished.
     

16. In Program Control, click on the Programs tab, under the help button. Here you can see what programs Zone Alarm will allow to have access, to the internet. You will see green check marks in the programs that it will allow access. The programs with the dark blue question marks, will ask for your permission to get access. (If it's a program that you will be using often you can configure Zone Alarm to remember your permission or to block when you are prompted later). The red X's are programs that are blocked from gaining access. Review all the programs and settings. You can make changes here by left clicking on the X's, question marks, or the checkmarks, to set your preferences. You can also wait, until you are prompted later, to decide. When you have finished configuring your preferences, proceed to the next step.
     

17. In the left column, click on Alerts & Logs. You should be on the Main tab. You will see, Alert Events Shown, click on the center of the circle that reads, ON to activate this feature. You can always change this setting later, when you are more familiar with Zone Alarm.
     

18. Under the section on the lower right, click on the Advanced box. This will bring up a smaller window with the text Advance Alert and Log Settings at the top. Place a check mark in the box to archive text logs daily.
     

19. In the Log Archive Appearance section, set your preferences. When you are finished click ok at the bottom to close the smaller window.
     

20. In the left column, click on E-mail Protection. On the Main tab select, Basic MailSafe Settings. Set your preference. Special Note: If your anti-virus protection is continually up to date, it is generally unnecessary to select this feature, and may possibly conflict with your anti-virus program. If you do not have anti-virus protection, then click the circle to turn this feature on. Close control panel.

• Download free basic version of Zone Alarm
• Zone Alarm help files provide advanced settings.
• Test your new firewall configurations with Shields Up.
• Related Articles: Virus & Hacker Threats - Should You React?

Contact J. Walker for permission to Computer Tech Tips electronically.

All articles are Copyright © 2004 J. Walker of GNC Web Creations.

We welcome your questions, on Zone Alarm Configurations.

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