B9 Zonealarm conflict

Ivan Fraser · Guest

Hi all

I've spent the whole day doing a clean reformat and install of XP.

The first things I installed were B9 and ZAP 4 and the BigFix-recommended updates, Mailwasher, AVG.

Everything running sweet as a nut.

Spent a couple of hours loading my usual progs and rebooting (all of which used to work with ZAP3 in).

Got to a reboot and there was the problem again.

Restore after restore took me way back before the problem started...BUT IT WAS STILL THERE!!!

Now back near the beginning of the process and uninstalling one by one to see if it makes a difference.

If it doesn't, I'm reinstalling XP with the old ZAP3 and B9.

I'm so tired of this - especially the 10 minute boot ups until the vm runs out and I can stop B9 running to get back into the OS.

I hope y'all pray for me tonight :0)

Next report tommorrow, if I'm awake.

Ivan

Whirlwind · Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2003 5:18 pm Post subject:

Ivan, If you're still there, ... maybe you can save yourself some time by selecting to NOT start B9 on Bootup, but instead get booted FIRST (each time), then start B9 from a stable (???) environment!!

Ivan Fraser · Guest

Hi W

I'm not that daft! :0)

I did do so and am doing so now. But when you restore in XP it takes you to where you were before, startup progs and all.

I am here because I have been hit by a bombshell, which I will post in a new thread, as it could be another magnum opus of a thread, like this has become.

Ivan

Ivan Fraser · Guest

I'm right back at the basic OS with ZAP and B9 and Mailwasher only and still B9 is eating the vm.

No choice but to reformat the hard drive - again.

Now who do I get onto for a refund?

Firetrust? I doubt it.

Microsoft? Possibly.

Zonealarm? Given what I've just posted in the other thread, my money's on them.

Will I be forced to get the programme they are hawking, as it's the only other software that does what B9 does?

I'm getting so fed up with this, I might end up doing that.

And that's just not my style - I don't go down without a fight. But realistically it would save me lots of grief and allow me to get back to normality.

Ivan

rusticdog · Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2003 10:08 pm Post subject:

Hi guys

A bit of an unpdate for you all...

It can occur in either XP Pro and XP Home, and it is caused by the Zone
Alarm Pro Cache cleaner ('Privacy' >> 'Cache cleaner')

This means that the problem will only happen once the 'cache cleaner' has
been run. It doesn't seem to matter which options are selected. Anyone who has not ever used that function will be able to run Benign properly.

Running that function changes something on the system that will prevent
Benign from loading and cause it to eat up a lot of memory.

We are in the process of determining exactly what ZA Pro is changing /
removing. Unfortunately it isn't anything obvious, but we should have the
answer soon. from this we will be able to come up with a fix for Benign, and possibly give instructions to fix the problem in the meantime.

rusticdog · Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2003 11:13 pm Post subject:

Ivan also I appreciate your patience so far. I hope you and the others do stick with us for a little longer.

Whirlwind · Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2003 11:57 pm Post subject:

Wayward · Lieutenant Joined: Mar 16, 2003 Posts: 282 Location: USA

Whirlwind · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2003 2:27 am Post subject:

rusticdog · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2003 3:40 am Post subject:

Right, the programmers have figured out what was happening and solved this problem, special thanks to them for their perseverance.

The problem relates to Zone Alarms Cache Cleaner creating a zero-byte netscape registry (nsreg.dat). If you go file hunting searching your PC is best as it can be in a variety of locations depending.
Exactly why ZA does this is unknown, but it did trigger an unknown bug in Benign.

Short term fix 1 - Delete the nsreg.dat file from your PC and never run Cache Cleaner again Smile

Short term fix 2 - Send me an e-mail to requesting a download of our new beta build (1.41) which resolves this issue

All going well this beta build will be ready for public release next week, however this beta includes other changes as well so must go through regular beta testing as well. These other changes are detailed in the changelog included with the program.

Ivan Fraser · Guest

A BIG BIG thanks to you guys!!!

Yes, I recall now - I cleaned 127 megs with the cashe cleaner after a day's reinstalling.

THAT'S when it went pear-shaped.

Jeez, it's always under yer bleedin' nose innit?

Wonder if my conspiracy theory has any merit then :0) Or just the rantings of a tired and frustrated mind?

The cache cleaner was a great idea I thought, set t and used it from the off when I first installed ZAP.

THANKS again Rusticdog. (forgive my whining earlier)

Ivan

rusticdog · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2003 5:56 am Post subject:

No problems at all Ivan.

I can appreciate your frustrations, and thanks to you an the others for bringing this to light quickly and providing enough details for us to work with.

Thanks again for your patience as well Smile

I'll also be moving your other post to General Software, really it is something better placed within a general forum topic rather than B9 specifically.

Ivan Fraser · Guest

Okey dokey

I think I'll hang fire til the beta gets a proper release - I'm not in the mood right now for finding possible conflicts :0) - and will run ZAP3.

I wonder how long it will be before ZAP support get back to me to admit their 'discovery', and release a new update to rectify the problem.

It must have an impact on other software somehow. The fact that the error does not get remedied on rolling back with restore, or by a complete uninstall of ZAP is disturbing.

It's default is to clean the cache after 14 days, so supports all over the place will probably get a glut of requests over the next week when things start getting buggy.

I suggest to all those who have ZAP4 and haven't used the cache to double check their settings and unclick all the options in the 'custom' interface.

Cheers

Ivan

rusticdog · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2003 7:10 am Post subject:

Hi again Ivan

I hate to harrass you Confused

But I just wish to be 100% certain that after you deleted the nsreg.dat file that all things are now running well for you.

Thanks

Ivan Fraser · Guest

Hi R

Not harrassing me mate - anytime :0)

I started a fresh install of XP early this am and loaded Zap3, not 4, so I haven't done anything with nsreg.dat.

Everything's loading fine, as it used to - even with the tonnes of progs that I have.

Do you mean that if I had just deleted that file, then B9 would be okay without needing to ininstall or reinstall anything?

If so, there's no problem reloading Zap4, turning off the cache cleaner and waiting for the release of the B9 upgrade.

Or is the new upgrade essentially okay to go now?

(putting you on the spot there a bit, I know)

Ivan


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