ZoneAlarm problem

[kin3]

I have gotten my copy and load it up and try to retrieve my account and it just sits there. I can't get out, all locked up so I reboot and turn off ZoneAlarm and everything goes without any probelms.

Has anybody else had a problem with ZoneAlarm not working with BF2. And yes ZoneAlarm has the green check marks by BF2. I don't like to run without my firewall.

[Tempus]

Yes, same problem here. In this game, you cannot see the zone alarm prompt when you try to connect to the internet with the game and it asks for confirmation. You will need to manually add the program to your approved programs list, and give it full access.

[TG_Rizzo]

I have to shut ZA down before playing BF2. Same thing with SWAT4. I have no idea why...

[Pokerface]

Originally Posted by Tempus

Yes, same problem here. In this game, you cannot see the zone alarm prompt when you try to connect to the internet with the game and it asks for confirmation. You will need to manually add the program to your approved programs list, and give it full access.

I had a similar issue with Sygate's Firewall, but it brings up a window, so alt-tabbing worked to get to it so I could say "yes, and remember it, gashdarnyou".

[Black_V!per]

I dont need to worrie(lol everyone worries...), if anyone wants to screw around with my computer go ahead and try, im on my dads works internet connection, super secure with 2 firewall routers, VPN (Still not sure what it is), and Windows Firewall(FTW!!!)... Well i also have Mcafee Virus-Scan/Anti-Spyware/Firewall Enterprise 8.0i...

But id really like to see someone attack me when my computer doesnt even run, that'd be awesome!

[Trooper]

if you go in to zone alarm and click on program control....if you add BF2 to that list and give it all conection rights it wont have ne problems

[Spyder]

Hell, I shut down ZA when I run steam, because while it lets me play fine, it adds 120ms to my ping for some unknown reason.

[Telorn]

Originally Posted by Spyder

Hell, I shut down ZA when I run steam, because while it lets me play fine, it adds 120ms to my ping for some unknown reason.

That's because the firewall, like all firewalls, have to scan all incoming data for backdoor attacks/scans/etc...

Games will always suffer (a little) when a software firewall is installed on a computer. Same goes for virus protection, but auto-virus protection can cause significate lag in games.

I use symantec norton firewall myself. I haven't had an issue with the norton firewall prompt not being able to pop on top of my games so I can authorize it the first time.

[kin3]

I did as Trooper said and it worked this time. Who knows?

[Rincewind]

Originally Posted by kin3

I did as Trooper said and it worked this time. Who knows?

I had the same problem but figured that's what the problem was and manually added BF2. Oh well.

[Horsewhisperer]

Originally Posted by TG_Rizzo

I have to shut ZA down before playing BF2. Same thing with SWAT4. I have no idea why...

The problem is not zone alarm at all.

For those of you who don't already know, BF 2 uses Safedisc 4.0001 as it's copy protection mechanism. As with previous versions of safedisc, when any game with this copy protection runs, a new task is loaded into memory and executed. It's looks something like "~df394.tmp" if you ALT-TAB out of the game and look at the processes in task manager.

This task carries out the authentication process for the disc in the drive(so don't try to end the task, as this obviously stops the game from running). But it also has some feature that controls the games access to the internet, which is where the fun starts.

The main problem with this task, is that it doesn't reside anywhere on the hard disk as an executable file (Your program generates it internally on startup), and zonealarm needs to be able to see the program on the disk to set up the program access options.

Oh gee, maybe it IS a Zone Alarm problem after all

Horsewhisperer
"You can lead a fool to wisdom but you can't make him think."

P.S. There are a couple of low cost and free firewalls out there that can be set up to assign access permissions for these transient processes. Just don't ask me to tell you which ones right now. It's late and I can't be bothered trying to remember their names.

[CingularDuality]

Originally Posted by Horsewhisperer

The problem is not zone alarm at all.

The main problem with this task, is that it doesn't reside anywhere on the hard disk as an executable file (Your program generates it internally on startup), and zonealarm needs to be able to see the program on the disk to set up the program access options.

Oh gee, maybe it IS a Zone Alarm problem after all

Negative. I play BF2 with Zone Alarm running with zero problems...

[JimmyTwoHand]

Have exactly the same problems as others with zone alarm. Well its not a problem now i know whats happening. Quite a few games i have wont allow you to alt-tab out of them to allow zone alarm permissions in the pop-up. Manually adding permissions makes everything run smoothly, although i always forget to reauthorise BF2 after a patch and then spend five minutes scratching my head.

[Calvin]

Sorry to bump an old thread...
I have given BF2 access, and the game runs great, most of the time 10-15ms ping...but it seems like every 10 minutes or so, my ping will jump up to the thousands for a few seconds....this only happens when ZA is turned on. Anyone know what's up?

[RocketPunch]

I stopped using ZA for long time now, it seems to interfere with a lot of stuff. I just let xp firewall take cares of it.