Hello,

I run XP and keep the firewall on.

I also use ZoneAlarm Pro.

If i click on control panel and then windows firewall, you get the pane allowing you to turn the firewall on and off.

The green dot is in the 'off' field.

However when i go to control panel and security centre, it confirms the firewall is on.

Is the 'windows firewall' pane green dot being in the off position just a default setting? Seems an odd default setting if it is.

At first i thought that zonealarm was turning my firewall off, because every time i went to windows firewall, it appered to be turned off, yet security centre says its turned on.

Does your computer show the same thing?

see the image below of what i see when i enter windows firewall. To me, it's saying that it is off.

Windows firewall is off. If you go into your Security Center and click the little down arrow next to Firewall to get the details it should say that at least one of the firewalls is on, for me if I leave this window alone for a few seconds it refreshes to say COMODO Firewall Pro is ... bla bla bla. See if yours does the same for ZA. Even if it doesn't, with the option set off under Windows Firewall, then it's off. Another giveaway is under network connections, if there a little padlock on the upper right of the icon windows is on, without it's off.

Windows firewall is off. If you go into your Security Center and click the little down arrow next to Firewall to get the details it should say that at least one of the firewalls is on, for me if I leave this window alone for a few seconds it refreshes to say COMODO Firewall Pro is ... bla bla bla. See if yours does the same for ZA. Even if it doesn't, with the option set off under Windows Firewall, then it's off. Another giveaway is under network connections, if there a little padlock on the upper right of the icon windows is on, without it's off.

Thanks for the tips, and i'll check when i get home.

What is puzzling me is that i change the firewall to 'on', yet next time i boot up, it appears to be set to off.

I will check in Security Centre like you suggested and get back to ya.

Thanks

You're quite right Roadkill, in Security Centre, the little arrow says that it's my ZoneAlarm firewall that is turned on.

If i then try to turn on Windows Firewall, the following warning message comes up

Why you should only use one firewall If you have more than one firewall installed on your computer, you should not have both firewalls turned on at the same time. Two firewalls turned on at the same time can cause compatibility problems that result in some programs not working correctly.

To help protect your computer against viruses and other security threats, you should always have one firewall installed and turned on. Windows includes a firewall that is turned on by default. (However, some computer manufacturers and network administrators might turn it off.) If you want to install and run a second firewall, turn off Windows Firewall.

Ok i'm reasonably happy now that it wasnt some remote person turning off my firewall, but either windows or ZoneAlarm doing it to stop any conflicts.

Thanks for your help