Home Page Graphics Don't Load with [Zone Alarm Security Suite] Firewall On

After you solved my open port 1025 problem yesterday, I am asking for help again with a far less serious but irritating problem. After installing Zone Alarm Security Suite 6.5, my home page (http://www.rr.com/flash/index.cfm) does not fully load graphics--it is organized in "modules" such as news, stocks, sports, etc. and some modules load incompletely or not at all. I called Time Warner, the ISP, and took the following steps. With firewall turned off completely (also XP firewall), went to adobe.com > Get Adobe Flash Player > Settings > Website Settings Storage Panel > Delete All sites. Also in IE 6 > Tools > Internet Options > General > Delete Cookies and Temp. Internet Files. The home page properly reloaded and the firewall was turned back on. However, the fix did not hold. Once the page was left and returned to, the problem recurred. On calling Time Warner back, they stated it is definitely a firewall issue, but were unable to help and suggested I call Zone Alarm. So I decided to try here first since this board is the best and most helpful information source I have found. I will also mention that my IE6 security and privacy settings are medium. I have tried medium and high security settings for both Internet and Trusted zones within ZASS. Any help would be much appreciated!

docbombay

 

Hi docbombay,

Thru the left side Privacy tab of ZA, in the top main tab, are Cookie Control - Add Blocking - Moble Code.

As an experiment, turn them off one by one - try the site - turn back on then try another.

These settings are Global - apply to all sites, so if one of these works, post back, and we'll make it site specific.

I'm running ZA Pro - not the suite, so there may be additional controls I don't see.

Regards - Charles

 

Hi, charlesvar--I tried your suggestion with no result--regardless of the combination tried, the graphics failed to load each time. If it helps at all, the particular "modules" affected are different each time, but in all cases the loading is incomplete to some degree. Thanks--I will check in periodically today if you might have any other thoughts.

docbombay

 

Helps in the sense to confirm what a bleeping problem this is - variable results are a killer.

Usually blocked graphics can be tied to an add blocker - you aren't using some other blocker are you?

Ok, then some other options to try.

Put the site into ZA's trusted zone. From the left Firewall tab > Zones and at the bottom add the site as a Host/Site or you can add the IP address.

Outside of that, shut down the anti - spyware compoment - then the AV component to see if one of them is causing the problem.

Regards - Charles

 

Hi again, charlesvar--I have tried changing settings as you have suggested with no success. However, when attempting to enter the url of the home page, ZA said it "couldn't find http://www.wi.rr.com/flash." The IP address is dynamic, not static, so I wasn't able to use it. I think I'm at a point where I need to call Zone Alarm, ignore the lack of complete graphics (which isn't really such a big deal) or change the home page. Thanks for trying--it seems this one is a bit of a head-scratcher.

docbombay

 

Hi docbombay,

You can also post the question on the Zone Labs Forum: http://forums.zonelabs.com/zonelabs

Regards - Charles

 

Thanks, charlesvar--posted to forums and sent e-mail to tech support. I appreciate your suggestions!

docbombay

 

If anyone is interested, I finally communicated with ZoneLabs tech support and got a fix for this problem (at least a partial fix).

1. Close all internet browsers
2. Open Zone Alarm
3. Click Privacy Panel, Main Tab, turn all items to off.
4. Open the browser and verify the site is working as expected.
5. Close browser.
6. Return Privacy Settings as desired (optimal settings: cookie control and ad blocking at medium; mobile code control to off) then click on the Site List Tab.
7. Open the browser to the site that wasn't working properly and watch the Site List Tab.
8. Zone Alarm will add the sites that it has blocke items from to this list.
9. One at a time, right click on the sites that were added and choose Options; then remove the checks from Cookies, Ad Blocking and Mobile Code tabs, then click OK.

In my case, this procedure restored my home page. But when I use some buttons (e.g. games, stocks) for features accessed through the home page, some of those graphics still don't load completely. But the situation is much better than before. Thanks again, charlesvar, for your help--your suggestion regarding the Privacy experiment was very close to the solution, but I apparently didn't hit the right combination or proceed in the right order. I hope this solution is useful to someone else.

docbombay

 

Hi docbombay,

Thanks for the post back

Too bad you couldn't put the site into the Trusted Zone, that would have solved it for that site specifically.

If you're interested, investigate the Site List tab, that option turns these settings on/off for a particular site only.

Regards - Charles