Windows XP questions

June 7, 2004 11:43 PM

Windows XP firewall + Zone Alarm = problem?
I've just upgraded to Windows XP and I have three questions (so far...).

1. After installing the Zone Alarm firewall I can't get online. Is this because of a conflict between the Windows firewall and ZA? How good is the Windows firewall – maybe I don't need ZA anymore? Should I disable the Windows firewall instead?

2. On top of the file tree in Windows Explorer is the "My documents" folder on my C drive. I've got all my documents stored in a "My documents" folder on my D drive (the D drive is bigger). I want to get the D drive folder on top of the file tree instead or, if this isn't possible, to delete the "My documents" folder from the file tree and start with the D drive expanded.

3. Any chance of getting the pie charts back in the "My computer" folder somehow? To view the used/free space on all hard drives at a glance was mighty handy, says me.

They keep making Windows uglier for every version...

posted by Termite to computers & internet (8 comments total)

1. If you're using ZoneAlarm, disable the windows firewall. windows's inbuilt firewall is pretty average, anyway. ZoneAlarm is much better.

2. You can actually make the system "My Documents" folder point to your D: drive. Download Tweak UI and have a bit of a play.

3. I don't have an answer for that, but if you display the status bar, the amount of space free shows up there when you click on a drive.

And, if you want to make XP less ugly (and faster!) just disable the visual styles - switch back to "Windows Classic".
posted by cheaily at 1:03 AM on June 8, 2004

Also, if you set the folder to View/Details there will be a numerical representation of the drive size/available space next to it. When you're in TweakUI you may want to find the setting at the bottom of the Explorer option list to use Win2k-style searching as well.

I *know* I've seen the pie charts on XP, but I can't figure out how to make them display. Drive properties gets you the chart, of course, but that's not what you want.
posted by j.edwards at 1:13 AM on June 8, 2004

If you're using ZoneAlarm, disable the windows firewall. windows's inbuilt firewall is pretty average, anyway. ZoneAlarm is much better.

I disagree. ZoneAlarm is even more unnecessary on Windows XP than it was to begin with. The Windows XP built in firewall is more than good enough -- ZA is just extra conflict-causing bloat.
posted by reklaw at 2:33 AM on June 8, 2004

I agree with reklaw.
I've had ZA conflict with lots of my software before (DC++ NEVER gets along with it, even when I turn OFF ZA). I eventually uninstalled it because of the problems.

If you want a (free) 3rd-party firewall, I'd suggest Kerio Personal Firewall.
posted by grum@work at 6:54 AM on June 8, 2004

If you right-click on your drive and choose properties, you'll get your pretty pie-graph.

Zone Alarm causes many conficts with many P2P programs in XP. I've ditched it as well.
posted by WolfDaddy at 7:16 AM on June 8, 2004

Zonealarm 5.0 has had major trouble with it's release. The 4.5 version is stable and fairly bug free.

If you go to the Zonealarm forums, you can find the download link for 4.5.
posted by Argyle at 7:47 AM on June 8, 2004

I've also gone back to Zonealarm 4.5. If you're using 5.0, that may be your problem right there.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:13 PM on June 8, 2004

Another vote for Kerio (did it fork from Tiny?). ZoneAlarm is too resource heavy in my experience.
posted by costas at 8:51 PM on June 8, 2004