Red Alert, Red Alert (Zone Labs ZoneAlarm)

Member Name: allyb2005

Product:	Zone Labs ZoneAlarm
Date:	13/01/06 (1346 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Will stop unwanted intruders into your system.

Disadvantages: The pop up window for updates!

We have an old system at home just working Windows 98se. We've been using the internet now at home for a few years and have only recently thought about getting a firewall, but didn't have the money to fork out for one. I scanned the internet and came across Zone Alert.

Zone Alert is a free firewall that you can download to stop intruders/hackers getting at your p.c.

On a standard dial up connection it takes around 45 mins (a long time I hear you say!) to download, obviously on broadband this would be greatly reduced.

Once downloaded it will guide you through a "wizard" to set up the firewall dedicated to your own personal P.C. No tweaking is needed basically.

After installing I found that going back onto the internet there came pop ups asking if the firewall would allow the internet to connect, you just tick a box and click "allow".

On looking at the settings for the firewall the opening screen will give you an overview of what's going on. One thing I noticed was the bit where it tells you how many attempts to hack your system you've had, and its pretty scary.

Zone Alarm also offers Zone Alarm Plus which is basically a firewall with extras for a small amount. Zone Alarm is an American owned company and you can find them at www.zonelabs.com, the basic firewall is free to download and well worth it.

If you want a valued firewall for free try this out.

Summary: Great piece of free software to protect your p.c.!

Reliability:
Ease of use:
Installation:
Noise:
Speed:
Variety of features: