Order of Startup Items in a Computer

if u are running win xp i think u can go to start programs and startup and there is a list of startup items and u can drag these itmes up and down. have u tried removing all startup items and adding the zonealarm first.

gbob- Nope. I have not done that, but I will check it out. Thanks!

About the only way you can reliably set startup order is through a 3rd-party application ... there are several, all that I know of that are any good are for-fee apps, and I don't really recommend any of them. Part of the deal there is that no matter where in the startup chain you put a program, that's just when it starts to load, and some programs can take a good while to load and get themselves up and running; other programs in the list can and will be called up and be perking along, with their icons in the taskbar, before the slowpokes catch up. I can only think of one or two 3rd-party startup controlers off the top of my head (though I'm sure there are others) that absolutely enforce one-by-one fully sequential startup, and they're on the pricey side and pains to properly configure.

As long as ZA is configured to run at startup, and otherwise properly configured and deployed, I wouldn't be worried about it not appearing in the taskbar untill after the other stuff is up-and-running; you won't actually be exposed to the 'net 'till ZA is awake, alert, and lets your machine effect a connection - which will be some moments before its icon appears in the taskbar, BTW. If you're running XP, and you're ultra paranoid, you can activate its native firewall to run at startup; it and ZA get along together fairly well, but there occasionaly can be issues of somewhat entertaining nature. Most folks won't run into much difficulty pairing the 2, though. Mostly a "Won't make much difference one way or the other" deal, really.

Finally, if you're on a broadband connection, and/or accessing the 'net via a router, either your ISP's interface device (your cable or DSL "Modem") and/or your router (if you have one) should each have hardware firewall functionality; its best to enable only one of those devices for hardware firewall function, usually whichever one is your DHCP server. Consult the documentation for the devices to determine which one you should use and how to implement its protection, or contact the device vendor's support facillity for details.

timber- Sometimes I think that I am unbelievably dense. Yes, I am a bit paranoid about nogoodniks getting into my 'puter, but I just realized a very easy way to handle the problem.

I am so used to turning on my computer a certain way for so many years, that I lost sight of the fact that my Road Runner modem has an on/off button. All I need to do is wait for the Zone Alarm icon to come on, and then press the button to turn on the modem.

I just KNOW that the first few times that I change my way of putting on the computer, I will get very upset when I see the "this page cannot be displayed" screen. Then I will remember that I forgot to turn the modem on!!!

I recall once spending the better part of half an hour trying to figure out just whutinhell wuz wrong before I discovered the power cord for the DSL interface had been nudged outta the wall socket by a carelessly placed boot