I use ZoneAlarm on all of my Windows installations.  (Unfortunately, as of 8/9/08, Zonealarm is still not compatible with Windows Vista, I would recommend staying with the Windows firewall on a Vista system.)

ZoneAlarm is intended to protect your PC from intrusions over the Internet.  I strongly advise you keep it running at all times that you are connected to the Internet, and if you have a DSL or Cable Internet connection you are connected all of the time.

First check that the Zone Alarm tray icon is not a padlock, if it is a red padlock all Internet activity is blocked, if it is a gold padlock only browsing is blocked, email will probably work.  To return the icon to the normal Z (or ZA, depending on version) right click on the icon to activate the context menu and deselect "Engage Internet Lock".

Each time you upgrade your browser, Zone Alarm will detect that the program has changed and ask you if it is ok for the program to Access the Internet, if the happens because you are upgrading or trying to use the browser the correct answer is to select the "Remember this setting" check box and click allow.  This can happen with every program the uses the Internet (mail, Windows update,...)  The general rule is that if this occurs because of something your are doing, allow, if it comes up without any activity on your part, and you cannot determine what is happening from the dialog, select deny.  If you are sure you do not want this to happen check the "Remember this setting" check box before you click deny.

One thing that can happen when you loose Internet connectivity is that you have chosen to block your browser from reaching the Internet.  Then when you shut down ZoneAlarm your Internet starts working again.  If that is the case, the solution is to right click on the ZoneAlarm task tray icon (assuming ZoneAlarm is running), and use the context menu to "Restore ZoneAlarm Control Center".  This (or something quite similar, depending on version) should get you to the ZoneAlarm control pannel.  Next select "Program Control", and select the "Programs" tab.  You should then see a list of programs, and their trust level and permissions.  Scroll down until you see the name of your browser.  (ie: Windows Internet Explorer, or Mozilla FireFox...)  Next note the columns related to the various permission selections (ie: Acess, Server, Send Mail), and in the row that is the same as your browser click on the "Access>Trusted" column and select "Allow", a green check mark should replace the question mark (or red x) that was there before.  Repeat this for "Access>Internet" and "Send Mail".  I leave the "Server>Trusted, Server>Internet" with a question mark.  If the box has a question mark in it you will be asked to approve the action each time it wants to perform that function.

Once you have the permissions set so it works the way you want, make sure that the "Firewall>Main" tab "Internet Zone Security" slider is set to "High", the only time any other setting is warranted is if you need to do file sharing, in that event select "Med.".

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