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JimUK · 09-01-2002, 08:07 PM

Good news

I think the issue is resolved now, I'm not sure what it is - I'm going to hazard a guess. But let me explain what I did.

For those of you who don't know ZoneAlarm very well you can allow/block not only programs from accessing the internet, but also individual components (DLL's + some others).

I completely erased all allow/block controls for all programs & all components, so my install was basically the same as new on the program-blocking side of things.

I then ran FlashFXP and it came up requesting access - I allowed this access.

This triggered another requester for "Generic Host Processes for Win32 Services". I allowed this program too.

By allowing these 2 programs ZoneAlarm also automatically allowed the specific components that these programs use.

This means now FlashFXP is working perfect.

So, does that mean ZoneAlarm is to blame ? I still don't think so. Let me explain what I guess happened.

Sometime before I installed FlashFXP maybe I blocked a program somewhere from accesing the internet. This in turn automatically blocked that program's associated components (it knows they are associated because when the program was originally allowed it used these components).

FlashFXP was installed many weeks/months later.

Maybe FlashFXP was trying to use one of these "blocked components" ?

Now I know many applications share components and I've never had problems with any other application & ZoneAlarm. I figure if a existing component is initialized/setup by a new program ZoneAlarm automatically finds out about this automatically and removes it from it's blocked list if another program that has been allowed is trying to use it.

I am guessing that somewhere in the FlashFXP code a component is not getting initialised/setup correctly and this is not filtering through to ZoneAlarm, so if that component was already blocked it is not getting de-blocked.

I hope you understand my theory above.

It's quite late so I need some sleep. I'll be happy to do some more investigation on this tommorow and supply you with a list of all components I see ZoneAlarm allowing/blocking etc... now I have full logging turned on just to analyse this issue.

I hope this helps.

Maybe you could supply me with a list of the DLL's and other components you use for FlashFXP Bigstar ?

Maybe I can block/allow each component one by one to find out exactly what component is causing the issue ?

So - if you want a quick fix remove all access controls for programs & components. Hold down shift click the top one in the list and the bottom one, right click and choose remove.

Whenever IE or any program tries to access the net you will have to allow/block it again. But this should solve any ZA users FlashFXP issues - but this is not the ideal fix I am looking for. This should not have to be done.

09-01-2002, 08:07 PM
JimUK Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 13	Good news I think the issue is resolved now, I'm not sure what it is - I'm going to hazard a guess. But let me explain what I did. For those of you who don't know ZoneAlarm very well you can allow/block not only programs from accessing the internet, but also individual components (DLL's + some others). I completely erased all allow/block controls for all programs & all components, so my install was basically the same as new on the program-blocking side of things. I then ran FlashFXP and it came up requesting access - I allowed this access. This triggered another requester for "Generic Host Processes for Win32 Services". I allowed this program too. By allowing these 2 programs ZoneAlarm also automatically allowed the specific components that these programs use. This means now FlashFXP is working perfect. So, does that mean ZoneAlarm is to blame ? I still don't think so. Let me explain what I guess happened. Sometime before I installed FlashFXP maybe I blocked a program somewhere from accesing the internet. This in turn automatically blocked that program's associated components (it knows they are associated because when the program was originally allowed it used these components). FlashFXP was installed many weeks/months later. Maybe FlashFXP was trying to use one of these "blocked components" ? Now I know many applications share components and I've never had problems with any other application & ZoneAlarm. I figure if a existing component is initialized/setup by a new program ZoneAlarm automatically finds out about this automatically and removes it from it's blocked list if another program that has been allowed is trying to use it. I am guessing that somewhere in the FlashFXP code a component is not getting initialised/setup correctly and this is not filtering through to ZoneAlarm, so if that component was already blocked it is not getting de-blocked. I hope you understand my theory above. It's quite late so I need some sleep. I'll be happy to do some more investigation on this tommorow and supply you with a list of all components I see ZoneAlarm allowing/blocking etc... now I have full logging turned on just to analyse this issue. I hope this helps. Maybe you could supply me with a list of the DLL's and other components you use for FlashFXP Bigstar ? Maybe I can block/allow each component one by one to find out exactly what component is causing the issue ? So - if you want a quick fix remove all access controls for programs & components. Hold down shift click the top one in the list and the bottom one, right click and choose remove. Whenever IE or any program tries to access the net you will have to allow/block it again. But this should solve any ZA users FlashFXP issues - but this is not the ideal fix I am looking for. This should not have to be done.