Zone Alarm Issues

+This isn't really a question, more of a suggestion.+


As of today (11-12-09) Apple hasn't solved this issue that deals with Zone Alarm software. Maybe in the near future they will, but who knows. Anyways, I'll start with the problem:

A month or so ago I had the dreaded RESTORE LOOP problems when I updated my iPhone to v3.0. After many days and hours of attempting to resolve the issue I figured my phone was fried and no longer usable. I took it to the Apple store and told them of the issues and they gave me a brand new one, no questions asked. Thanks Apple! The new phone had v3.1 installed on it so I figured the problems with updating were over, WRONG. I took it home and a week later they released an even newer version of the software along with the AT&T carrier settings update. Before updating I synced some songs, music videos, and tv shows. When I tried to play the songs back every one had a really high pitched squeal or would stop playing halfway through. The videos were all choppy and had little green boxes scattered across the screen every few seconds. I erased everything and updated the phone and iTunes to the newest version hoping to solve the problems. Nope, but I did eventually find a solution over the next day or so.



Problems:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -

1. Phone stuck in RESTORE LOOP when trying to update to any version.
2. Music is choppy and sounds like a dial up modem.
3. Videos are unwatchable due to small green boxes all over the screen.



Solution:
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1. SHUT DOWN ANY ZONE ALARM PRODUCTS RUNNING ON YOUR COMPUTER BEFORE RUNNING iTunes.



I consider my knowledge of computers and software to be above average and in no way claim to know everything. This solution to a seemingly stupid problem was stumbled upon by the old "trial and error" method. Please respond to this post if you know the technical reason why this problem occurred.

Best of luck, and I hope this solution helps others out there work around this issue until Apple fixes it (hopefully soon).

+*Zone Alarm Security Suite v8.0.400.020*+
+*iTunes v9.0.2.25*+

Dell Dimension 8300, Windows Vista

Posted on Nov 12, 2009 12:32 AM

Reply
5 replies

Nov 12, 2009 8:47 AM in response to modular747

I did contact Zone Alarm via email, but as of today they have not yet responded with any answer.

This is an issue that both Apple and Zone Alarm need to address, not just Zone Alarm. I posted this in the Apple forums because the problem did not exist before the iPhone v3.0 firmware and iTunes (I don't remember what version) updates. If you roll your phone firmware and iTunes software back to a previous version this problem does not exist. In a perfect world all software would learn to get along with each other.

I have not updated my Zone Alarm software in the last 5 months, and have not made any firewall changes either. So, obviously the changes made by Apple were the ones causing the problems.

Nov 12, 2009 10:00 AM in response to TK.22

It is the responsibility of security software developers to make sure their software is compatible with existing legitimate apps, not visa versa. It is almost inconceivable that Apple would redesign their applications to make it compatible with Zone Alarm. Many of these incompatibilities are very system dependent, as you can deduce from the lack of confirmatory posts in your thread and any other threads about this.

I have used Zone Alarm on various PC's for over 10 years - from the early firewall only to complete "security suite". The newer versions have been more problematic (had to completely uninstall it to download from a site). However, I have it on my wife's PC which has iTunes 9.0.2 with no problems.

Nov 13, 2009 6:01 AM in response to modular747

Yeah, I understand that Zone Alarm should be the ones working on a solution. I just can't figure out what exactly Apple changed in their most recent software updates that causes the complete corruption of the phone when syncing. This is the only issue I have ever had with Zone Alarm, and I have had their products since 2000. Isn't Zone Alarm the top selling firewall on the market today, or at least in the top 5?


Btw, Zone Alarm released a new update/version yesterday. Hopefully the update doesn't have the same issues (fingers crossed)!

+Current Version-->+ v8.0.400.020
+New Version-->+ v9.1.008.000

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Zone Alarm Issues

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