ZoneAlarm v3.7.202 blocking microsoft.com ?

As per subject, I have a problem with it blocking access to anything in the
..microsoft.com domain, which being an XP user is a huge disadvantage as I
cant access Windows Update, MSN Messenger etc..

Wondering if anyone else has had this problem, and if there's a
fix/solution. Disabling it works, but that defeats the whole point somewhat!
And it is only for mircrosoft, everything else works fine. Besides this
prob, I'm happy with it and might consider upgrading to pro. However I want
to be able to access M$ first before that :-)

Also, I've 2 nics in this comp, one for inet one for lan, however the lan
nic is currently unplugged as I need to get another cable. I cant see this
would cause a problem, but just thought I'd mention it.
Any help would be great.

Regards,
Ian

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Remove 'BEYOND' in my address
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"Ian Gibbons" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:FWT%a.8149$(E-Mail Removed)...
> As per subject, I have a problem with it blocking access to anything in
the
> .microsoft.com domain, which being an XP user is a huge disadvantage as I
> cant access Windows Update, MSN Messenger etc..
>
> Wondering if anyone else has had this problem, and if there's a
> fix/solution. Disabling it works, but that defeats the whole point
somewhat!
> And it is only for mircrosoft, everything else works fine. Besides this
> prob, I'm happy with it and might consider upgrading to pro. However I
want
> to be able to access M$ first before that :-)
>
> Also, I've 2 nics in this comp, one for inet one for lan, however the lan
> nic is currently unplugged as I need to get another cable. I cant see this
> would cause a problem, but just thought I'd mention it.
> Any help would be great.

Seems like somewhere in zone alarm settings you have .microsoft.com blocked.

May be once it tried to connect there and someone pressed Block button...
inadvertently even.

--
_______________________
Maximillian!

"Maximilian K." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
message news:eJX%a.14001$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "Ian Gibbons" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:FWT%a.8149$(E-Mail Removed)...
> > As per subject, I have a problem with it blocking access to anything in
> the
> > .microsoft.com domain, which being an XP user is a huge disadvantage as
I
> > cant access Windows Update, MSN Messenger etc..
> >
> > Wondering if anyone else has had this problem, and if there's a
> > fix/solution. Disabling it works, but that defeats the whole point
> somewhat!
> > And it is only for mircrosoft, everything else works fine. Besides this
> > prob, I'm happy with it and might consider upgrading to pro. However I
> want
> > to be able to access M$ first before that :-)
> >
> > Also, I've 2 nics in this comp, one for inet one for lan, however the
lan
> > nic is currently unplugged as I need to get another cable. I cant see
this
> > would cause a problem, but just thought I'd mention it.
> > Any help would be great.
>
> Seems like somewhere in zone alarm settings you have .microsoft.com
blocked.
>
> May be once it tried to connect there and someone pressed Block button...
> inadvertently even.
>
> --
> _______________________
> Maximillian!
>
>

It's newly installed and sure as hell havent added a block for
..microsoft.com.
I'm not that stupid, sheesh..

Any ideas?

Ian

>
> It's newly installed and sure as hell havent added a block for
> .microsoft.com.
> I'm not that stupid, sheesh..
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Ian
>
>

Do you have Microsoft drivers for your mouse? My Intellimouse software
regularly attempts to phone home under the guise of checking for updated
drivers so I blocked it from doing so.

Maybe you unwittingly blocked Microsoft's site that way?

Ian Gibbons <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> As per subject, I have a problem with it blocking access to anything
> in the .microsoft.com domain, which being an XP user is a huge
> disadvantage as I cant access Windows Update, MSN Messenger etc..

Has this just started happening? I've been dealing with someone on IRC who
can't get to the Windows Update sites (even v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com)
and it appears that his ISP has a different IP for that host than the rest
of us do. It might be to do with microsoft.com having just undergone a huge
move to Akamai web caching hosts for their hosts, and blocked direct access
to their IIS servers. Some ISPs DNS ignore the timeout values in the SOA
records and stick to their own ... it could be days or even weeks before
this gets resolved for you.

Dan

"Daniel Crichton" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:3f4224c2$0$12640$(E-Mail Removed). ..
> Daniel Crichton <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> > Ian Gibbons <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> >> As per subject, I have a problem with it blocking access to anything
> >> in the .microsoft.com domain, which being an XP user is a huge
> >> disadvantage as I cant access Windows Update, MSN Messenger etc..
> >
> > Has this just started happening? I've been dealing with someone on
> > IRC who can't get to the Windows Update sites (even
> > v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com) and it appears that his ISP has a
> > different IP for that host than the rest of us do. It might be to do
> > with microsoft.com having just undergone a huge move to Akamai web
> > caching hosts for their hosts, and blocked direct access to their IIS
> > servers. Some ISPs DNS ignore the timeout values in the SOA records
> > and stick to their own ... it could be days or even weeks before this
> > gets resolved for you.
>
> And after reading the OP again, I notice you say it works if ZA is
disabled.
> Hmm. How about ZA caching old DNS responses, so when it's running it's
> trying to get at the old pre-Akamai hosts for the microsoft.com domain?
>
> Dan
>
>

Dont think it was that, if definately seemed to be an issue with ZA's true
vector monitor service.
Eitherway I found a far better firewall called Kerio (mentioned in another
thread) which does pretty much the same thing and uses md5 hashes for
protecting against program impersonation. GRC's leaktest cant connect
through it, and I show up full stealth on the test page, so I guess all's
well Also it has a more specific rules list, which I find quite handy.

If anyone knows of a url for a real security test (free), that'd be helpful.

Ian

Ian Gibbons <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> Eitherway I found a far better firewall called Kerio (mentioned in
> another thread) which does pretty much the same thing and uses md5
> hashes for protecting against program impersonation. GRC's leaktest
> cant connect through it, and I show up full stealth on the test page,
> so I guess all's well Also it has a more specific rules list,
> which I find quite handy.

That's the firewall software I use

I find it also has a smaller ram footprint than others I've tried (ZA and
Outpost), and is very stable, so far not a single issue in 3 months non-stop
running on a game server I run. With Outpost it used to slowly consume
resources, and ZA kept randomly blocking access.

Dan

On Wed, 20 Aug 2003 08:54:59 +0100, Colin Wilson
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>> If anyone knows of a url for a real security test (free), that'd be helpful.
>
>http://www.sdesign.com/securitytest/

"This free security service has been discontinued as of 18 Aug 2001"

Phil

"Colin Wilson" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) t...
> > If anyone knows of a url for a real security test (free), that'd be
helpful.
>
> http://www.sdesign.com/securitytest/

I went on the site - it was discontinued 2 days ago!

On Wed, 20 Aug 2003 08:31:59 +0000 (UTC), "A K"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>I went on the site - it was discontinued 2 days ago!

732 days ago :-)