Windows Firewall/Zone Alarm = Blue Screen

Does windows firewall do anything? I'm used to using ZoneAlarm, and seeing the alerts it gives. Windows firewall doesn't seem to do anything. Is it OK to use? I'm running XP PRO Media Center Edition SP 2.

Can't use ZoneAlarm anymore. It was causing my system to crash to the blue screen very often (it worked fine on my old XP PRO, however I did not have SP2 installed). So if anyone is getting blue screens of death, look to ZoneAlarm!

 

Software firewalls like Zonealarm do something that Windows firewall does not do--block and filter outbound connections as well. Software packages send information back to "home-base" all the time. Spyware can collect information and send it back to the author. These are invasions of your privacy that Zone Alarm and most other software firewalls stop, but Windows does not.

I use Zonealarm on XP SP2 Media Center edition....have you tried uninstall and re-installing Zonealarm?

 

Yes... I even did a complete format/reinstall several times to isolate the problem. Never thought it could be ZoneAlarm, but as soon as I installed it I got a blue screen of death every other bootup. I'm glad it's working for you...but if your comp ever starts to crash especially at bootup, it's ZoneAlarm. Perhaps I'm using an old version? But I don't want to find out! I'm happy I found the problem and it's not a hardware issue.

 

Are you able to capture the blue screen error message? If so, post it as an attachment. I would be interested to read it

 

I didn't capture it, but I did write down the blue screen message.

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

STOP : 0X0000000A (OX00000004, 0X00000001C, OX0000000, 0X804F94B


Here's what I get in event viewer:

ERROR : NET BT (it has the red x beside it)

Init failed because the transport refused to open initial addresses.

I did a google search and it seems alot of people have this problem w/ Zone Alarm.

 

Well, if push comes to shove, there are always other free firewalls to try:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloads34.html

Personally, I use Sygate. I find it a tad "hangy", but have had no serious problems with it. Outpost also has a fairly good reputation, I believe. There are probably several several good posts elsewhere on the forum going into more detail on the pros and cons of the various free firewalls.

 

Outpost would be a good choice if you can't use ZoneAlarm.

Any decent firewall is better than SP2's.

 

Thank you Interesting....