Problem with ZoneAlarm

I have a problem with ZoneAlarm OR my LAN connection...You see when I go 2 work I turn my "lock internet" on ZoneAlarm" (I leave my computer on, but monitor off), Then when I return home I "unlock" it...when I go and hit "E" (internet on desktop) My internet will not come up.
Now when I go into "My Netrwork places" (on desktop) and hit properties, then go to LAN connection and disable the connection...wait3-5 seconds...Then I enable the connection, I get internet.
OR when I dont get internet, I restart my computer...and guess what? I get internet...I dont understand it and no way where I am if having that problem...
3 of my friends have ALL that same setup and they are not getting this problem, ya'll are my last resort...If I cant get help, I will have to never leave my computer on, or take 3 minutes to access the internet instead of 5 seconds...I REALLY would appreciate any help....

If you have Cable or DSL witch I assume you do from the wording of the post. Some Cable and DSL ISP's use DHCP and dynamic IP's to keep people from running servers or they have there DHCP update often. So what happens is that when you cuts all conections to the net, you also cut all ties to the ISP. So your machine does'nt know what IP addy to use and has to wait to be assigned a new one. As well. Some Cable and DSL providers "modems" go into a sort of sleep when no connection is detected. So it takes it a bit to warm up so to speak. Just like when you first had it installed. It took it a couple of minutes to pick up a carrier so to speak. I could get into it a little more, but there are to many other things to factor in. You should be OK running with the firewall on without the lock while you are gone. Just make sure windows file shares are off, your OS is patched to current and your antivius is up to date. Oh, and you can set your security up a notch or two in ZA before you leave and then set it back down.

OK, I take it your using a Windows 2000 or XP.....

If your wanting to just stop applications from accessing the net while your away, in your ZA rules, there should be one for TCP/IP Services (I'm not completely sure, I'm going from memory here)... Allow this to travel through the internet lock, and you should be able to unlock your firewall and access straight away...

If this doesn't work, try creating a batch file on your desktop, with something similar to this in it...
' ------ Start Batch File -----'

ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew

' ----- End Batch File ----'


This should release your IP address, and then renew it.. which should allow you to continue using your net connection without a reboot or disabling the connection (as when you disable & enable the connection, it grabs the IP addy from the DHCP server..)

Again, I can't say that this will definately work, as I'm going off the top off my head.. but it should work...


On the bypassing of the lock for TCP/IP services, I'm not sure if that will work if your running Windows 9x, as I haven't used it for quite some time and can't remember if ZA detects your PC's TCP/IP services...

Confirmation of this from anyone would be nice...

Thanks,
Matty_Cross

Another note to my previous statement about the batch file. If you have more than one adapter in your PC, you should specify which adapter you wish to release & renew on, otherwise it will release & renew all adapters in your PC..

Matty,
I have the same sort of set up....... The DHCP at the Cable sups. end is the hassle... you must be on a busier segment than me, mine rarely changes IP despite the 4 hour rule.... but use the ipconfig /renew method occasionally....

As an Aside, put ZA on a friends laptop...they use the 'Dial in from anywhere' AOL service, and during the log on phase ZA will block the handover on protocols, failing the connection. Only way ive found to get round it is to remove AOL each time and then re-connect. anyone else seen this, or know of the best way to resolve?

Sorry matty,
meant to address the header for Uncanny....
:rolleyes:
one of those mornings

try running the truevector service agin, that loads up ZA.
or goto Start>run>winipcfg (if 9x system dunno bout 2k)
and renew all.

preep

winipcfg don't work in 2K by the way. But the batch file Matty mentioned should work!

Better still, you could use a real firewall instead of ZA. Get Outpost or use a *nix box as a hardware firewall!

www.agnitum.com
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&i...+as+a+firewall

Hey ya'll thanks for help...I am trying the TCP/IP think first and if that works...I will let you know sometime after I get home thanks again.......

I have tried ZoneAlarm on my Win Xp box, and it didn't really even work. I found it pretty buggy , it wouldn't even allow my AOL to dial up (i hate aol by the way!) . I then switched to Tiny Personal firewall by Tinysoftware, www.tinysoftware.com . I like this firewall alot, mainly because it does not bug you. It also logs every connection attempt; very useful!
Switch firewalls, and i think your problem will be solved!
My Two Cents,

Although Tiny personal firewall is excellent, I've found that Outpost is more useful in many ways, and its still completely FREE (unless you get the Pro version). Tiny is a good choice, but Outpost seems to be even better!

Its up to you which firewall to choose, but I liked ZA when I used a single computer to dial up to the Internet. Now I'm networking the computers together, ZA doesn't like it and tries to block stuff, it even "forgets" which IP range is supposed to be in the local zone. Tiny and Outpost both do not have this problem, and I'd recommend either of them for use where a LAN is involved.