Zone Alarm blocks IE

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Thanks to much appreciated help from several Loungers, I now have both of my computers connected to ADSL, with Ethernet cable connecting each computer to a multi-PC modem/router.

I installed Zone Alarm (free version, 5.0.590.043) on both computers.

On the older computer (running Windows 98), both Outlook Express and IE (5.0, also after upgrading to 6 SP 1) work just fine.

On the new computer (Dell 4600 running Windows XP Pro), Messenger (what exactly is this?) keeps asking for server privileges. Also, do IE and “Generic Host Procedures” need server privileges, or just access privileges? What about all the Symantec stuff (for automatic virus updates)…server or just access?

The real symptom is that IE (6.0.2800) refuses to operate (page not found). I’ve tried
–various combinations of server and access privileges for IE, Messenger and Generic Host Procedures
–turning off Windows’ own Internet Connection Firewall
–re-booting

Nothing (except turning on the Windows ICF, unchecking the automatic startup for Zone Alarm, and then re-booting) seems to work. Any suggestions for getting IE and Zone Alarm to work together?

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There has been much discussion on the Lounge about Zone Alarm’s interfering with Norton AV. The latest version 5.x.xxx that is, not the older version 4.5 xxx. See post 384483 as an example. There are others, just do a search on Zone Alarm to see more.

So far as server settings, only in SOME circumstances are server privileges required. IE is not one of them, nor are any of the others you mentioned. Best bet is to deny server privileges and see if any apps are affected. I doubt they will. Symantec does not need them.

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There has been much discussion on the Lounge about Zone Alarm’s interfering with Norton AV. The latest version 5.x.xxx that is, not the older version 4.5 xxx. See post 384483 as an example. There are others, just do a search on Zone Alarm to see more.

So far as server settings, only in SOME circumstances are server privileges required. IE is not one of them, nor are any of the others you mentioned. Best bet is to deny server privileges and see if any apps are affected. I doubt they will. Symantec does not need them.

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Only give server privileges to processes or programs you want others to be able to contact. For example, if you run a web site, it would need to have server privileges. Otherwise, deny, deny, deny.

One possible thing to think about is whether IE not working is really a problem converting the host name (e.g., yahoo.com) into the numeric address needed to access the site. What happens if you try to access a numeric address directly? Example: http://66.94.230.50/%5B/url%5D. If that works, you might be blocking replies from your DNS server. I don’t use ZA any more, so I’m not sure how you would allow those if you had to.

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More details on the problem (I am concerned about not being able to use IE, doubt that NAV is the source of the problem):

On the new (XP) machine, I get two kinds of Zone Alarm alerts frequently:

Generic HostpProcessing for Win32 Servicese could not accept a(n) UDP Port 1900 connection from [IP address] because Internet serverse are blocked.

AND

Messenger trying to act as a server. (allow or deny?)

Any advice about what these mean?

Also, am I correct in assuming that changing permissions in ZA, or the status of the Windows Internet Connection Firewall (turning it on or off), takes effect immediately? Neither program asks for a re-boot.

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As both Jefferson and I have said: Deny them and check the remember this box.

You are correct that the settings take place right away without a reboot.

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As both Jefferson and I have said: Deny them and check the remember this box.

You are correct that the settings take place right away without a reboot.

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Changes in ZoneAlarm to allow or block specific programs or ports should take effect immediately. However, I haven’t used Windows’ built-in firewall, so I don’t know about that one.

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By turning off Norton Internet Security (pre-loaded as a trial version by Dell) (I didn’t turn off the anti-virus stuff) I got IE to work.

Now Outlook 2003 refuses to send mail. I get a message such as “Your message did not reach some or all of the intended recipients… The following recipient(s) could not be reached…[recipient E-mail and server] relaying denied.”

Any suggestions?

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This error message is frequently due to SMTP authentication being required. This is to stop the e-mail servers being used for spam.

hi,

so at one instant you were running three firewalls? that should suffice mind you, i’m also happily running 2 concurrently (icf (windows builtin firewall) and zonealarm).

for udp port 1900 you need to look into two things (try googling for a few keywords to find out more):
– the Universal Plug and Play service (which is mostly unneeded and therefor can be safely disabled)
– windows messenger (which can be disabled or even completely uninstalled) (note: this is not the messenger service, which comes with its own security problems)

concerning your mail problem, the “relaying denied” notice seems to indicate that you’re trying to send an email trough an email account, using another email account from a different internet service provider, which causes outlook to try and authenticate with the wrong email credentials (username and password). make sure if you have several accounts setup with different isp’s, that when you send an email you use the account for the isp your logged on to. in other words, this is not a firewall problem.

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hi,

so at one instant you were running three firewalls? that should suffice mind you, i’m also happily running 2 concurrently (icf (windows builtin firewall) and zonealarm).

for udp port 1900 you need to look into two things (try googling for a few keywords to find out more):
– the Universal Plug and Play service (which is mostly unneeded and therefor can be safely disabled)
– windows messenger (which can be disabled or even completely uninstalled) (note: this is not the messenger service, which comes with its own security problems)

concerning your mail problem, the “relaying denied” notice seems to indicate that you’re trying to send an email trough an email account, using another email account from a different internet service provider, which causes outlook to try and authenticate with the wrong email credentials (username and password). make sure if you have several accounts setup with different isp’s, that when you send an email you use the account for the isp your logged on to. in other words, this is not a firewall problem.

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If you search for relaying denied on the Outlook board, you’ll find a lot of suggestions on this. The basic rule is: receive from anyone you like, but send out through the ISP through which you are connected.

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jscher2000, many thanks, I read your posts on the Outlook board, changed my outgoing SMTP server, and presto…it worked!

(Like many folks, I just changed to an ADSL provider but still get mail via the old provider.)

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jscher2000, many thanks, I read your posts on the Outlook board, changed my outgoing SMTP server, and presto…it worked!

(Like many folks, I just changed to an ADSL provider but still get mail via the old provider.)

Reply | Quote

If you search for relaying denied on the Outlook board, you’ll find a lot of suggestions on this. The basic rule is: receive from anyone you like, but send out through the ISP through which you are connected.

Reply | Quote

By turning off Norton Internet Security (pre-loaded as a trial version by Dell) (I didn’t turn off the anti-virus stuff) I got IE to work.

Now Outlook 2003 refuses to send mail. I get a message such as “Your message did not reach some or all of the intended recipients… The following recipient(s) could not be reached…[recipient E-mail and server] relaying denied.”

Any suggestions?

Reply | Quote

Changes in ZoneAlarm to allow or block specific programs or ports should take effect immediately. However, I haven’t used Windows’ built-in firewall, so I don’t know about that one.

Reply | Quote

More details on the problem (I am concerned about not being able to use IE, doubt that NAV is the source of the problem):

On the new (XP) machine, I get two kinds of Zone Alarm alerts frequently:

Generic HostpProcessing for Win32 Servicese could not accept a(n) UDP Port 1900 connection from [IP address] because Internet serverse are blocked.

AND

Messenger trying to act as a server. (allow or deny?)

Any advice about what these mean?

Also, am I correct in assuming that changing permissions in ZA, or the status of the Windows Internet Connection Firewall (turning it on or off), takes effect immediately? Neither program asks for a re-boot.

Reply | Quote

Only give server privileges to processes or programs you want others to be able to contact. For example, if you run a web site, it would need to have server privileges. Otherwise, deny, deny, deny.

One possible thing to think about is whether IE not working is really a problem converting the host name (e.g., yahoo.com) into the numeric address needed to access the site. What happens if you try to access a numeric address directly? Example: http://66.94.230.50/%5B/url%5D. If that works, you might be blocking replies from your DNS server. I don’t use ZA any more, so I’m not sure how you would allow those if you had to.

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