Install ZoneAlarm Firewall

Tips > Online Safety

10 December 2006 (updated)

Installing a good Firewall such as ZoneAlarm is essential to protect your PC online and prevent programs from accessing the Internet without your permission.

What is ZoneAlarm?
Getting Started
Installing ZoneAlarm
Setting Up Program Permissions
More Features
Links
Related Tips
Ask a Question

What is ZoneAlarm?

When you connect to the Internet, your PC opens itself up to the outside world. This enables you to view web sites, send e-mails and download files, but it also means you may be vulnerable to attacks from hackers or malicious programs.

Firewall security programs like ZoneAlarm make your PC invisible to other computers unless you specifically agree to allow a connection to be made. If a program on your computer tries to access the Internet, then ZoneAlarm will automatically warn you and enable you to decide if you want to allow or refuse access.

There are several different versions of ZoneAlarm available. There is a free version which offers good protection, although it does not have some of the more advanced security features of the other ZoneAlarm commercial versions, such as anti-virus and tools to combat spyware and phishing.

Download ZoneAlarm by going to www.zonelabs.com and click to download the free basic version of ZoneAlarm.

Save this setup file to your computer. Double-click the file to open it and begin the installation process.

Getting Started

The steps below will require you to restart your computer so you may wish to print out a copy of these instructions before you begin. You should also save any work in other windows before continuing.

Installing ZoneAlarm

On the Installation screen, click Next and then enter your name. Leave the e-mail address box empty and untick the boxes about registering and receiving updates. Click Next.

Tick the box to agree to the Licence Agreement and click Install. Wait while the files are installed, afterwards there will be some optional survey questions. Just click Finish to proceed. When asked, click Yes to start ZoneAlarm now.

The License Wizard window will now appear. Click to choose the Free ZoneAlarm and click Next then Finish.

The Configuration Wizard now appears. Click Next and ZoneAlarm will present you with the option of configuring your Internet access to allow your default web browser to surf the Web. Click Yes and then Next. Click Done to exit the Wizard.

ZoneAlarm will now tell you it needs to restart your computer. Click OK. After your PC has been restarted, a window will appear asking if you want to learn about other ZoneAlarm products. Click No, Thank You. If you want to you can now watch a video tutorial, or just click Finish.

You should see a red and yellow ZoneAlarm icon appear on your taskbar, which lets you know ZoneAlarm is up and running.

You should also see the main ZoneAlarm configuration window. Click the Alerts and Logs tab on the left menu and put Alert Events Shown to Off, so that you will only receive a notification if a program attempts to connect to the Internet.

Setting Up Program Permissions

You can change which programs are allowed to access the Internet in the ZoneAlarm configuration window. Click the Program Control tab on the left menu, then the Programs tab at the top-right to see a list of the programs on your computer and what access settings ZoneAlarm currently has for them. Click to change the permissions for each program to Allow, Block or Ask.

However, another much simpler way to set up ZoneAlarm's program permissions is to wait until a particular program tries to connect to the Internet, at which point ZoneAlarm will pop up a window like this one:

ZoneAlarm Alert

This ZoneAlarm Alert window tells you which program is trying to access the Internet. You can choose either Yes or No to allow or deny access for this program. Click Yes only if you recognise the program and are happy to allow it to access the Internet, for example Internet Explorer or Outlook Express.

If you are unsure whether to allow the program access, you may want to try typing the name of the application (in the image above, IEXPLORE.EXE) into a search engine to find out more about the program.

If you want your answer now to always apply to this program, tick the box marked Remember this answer the next time I use this program. Otherwise if you don't tick this box, the next time the program tries to use the Internet you will receive another pop up alert like this one.

Sometimes if you deny access for a particular program, you may find that certain other applications don't work properly. For example, if you stop a game from connecting to the Internet you won't be able to play online until you give it permission to connect in ZoneAlarm.

More Features

If you think you are being attacked by a hacker, you can stop all Internet access from your PC by right-clicking the taskbar icon and choosing Stop all internet activity, or alternatively by clicking on the STOP button on the main window. When you want to allow access, just click the button again.

You don't have to have ZoneAlarm's main window up all the time. Click the Close (X) button in the top right of the window and on the Shutdown pop-up window tick Don't show this message again then click OK. ZoneAlarm will now minimise to the taskbar.

This does not stop ZoneAlarm running, it simply hides the main window away from the desktop. If you want to see the main window again, right-click the taskbar icon and click Restore ZoneAlarm Control Center.

To close ZoneAlarm altogether and stop it running, you will need to right-click the taskbar icon and select Shutdown ZoneAlarm, then Yes.

By default, ZoneAlarm will automatically appear every time you start your PC and will also check the Internet for new updates from time to time.

Related Tips

Ask A Computer Expert

Ask your computer question and get an answer in minutes via e-mail from experts at Just Answer. Choose how much to pay and only pay if you like the answer.