I was surfing the net minding my own business when The Empire (known as Microsoft) sent me an update for Windows (XP Pro SP2). I didn't want to reboot once completed so kept on saying no. Until that is I went to click on something just as the window popped back up. Damn.
Anyhoo after the reboot I can't connect to the Internet.....................................unles s I turn off Zone Alarm! Christ on a bike what did this update do???? I have tried uninstalling Zonealarm and reinstalling to no avail. I've removed permissions for Firefox and let Zonealarm wig out until I say yes it can use Firefox to visit the net.
I have two PCs on a network and my wife's one is the same. Windows firewall works.
Any ideas???
Oh and I tried uninstalling then reinstalling my network drivers but to no effect.

Aha! Found the problem on another forum:
MS is pushing a Windows Update that does not play well with ZoneAlarm. You lose the internet. The fix is to adjust Zone Alarm down:

Firewall (in left menu)
Main (in right tab)
Internet Security Setting: bump down to medium

See the topic here: http://forum.zonealarm.com/zonelabs/...ssage.id=33508

All fixed!

Glad you got it sorted and thanks for letting us know

Marked as Resolved

Excellent work - this just happened to me last night and again today. I knew I should visit PCHELPFORUM.com ASAP.

Cheers!!

...cheers to Valis for giving me great advice in the past that has been working out tremendously.

EDIT:

Well....wait a minute...its not necessarily "all fixed" - is there a way to keep the Firewall on "High"? I wonder if the new security patch from MS is worth compromising the integrity of the firewall? Can I do without the new MS patch? My instincts tell me to trust ZoneAlarm over MS....?

That's why I call myself "Dumb Guy"....

Re: Zonealarm Internet Security Suite - Programs unable to access internet - Access Issues - ZoneAlarm User Forum

"It appears to be KB951748 at fault. Info at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=119620

Uninstalled from 'Add/Remove programs' after you check the 'show updates' checkbox. It is a security patch so you have to weigh up the risk of removing it or changing the Zonealarm setting."

Hello all,
Received an email from ZoneAlarm about the MS Hotfix. Of course, this was AFTER I had experienced the same problem as you all, and uninstalled the patch from Microsoft.

Anyhoo, Check Point has fixed the problem. After installing the latest version of ZoneAlarm, and reinstalling the MS patch, no problems.

Info can be found here: Microsoft Update KB951748 - Workaround to Sudden Loss of Internet Access Problem