System: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition.
Service Pack 2
AMD Athlon(M)XP 2400T
2.00 GHz; 1.00 GB RAM

I have been using the free version of Zone Alarm. This afternoon I saw that a 'minor update' was available so I downloaded it. I then discovered that the download would not install, because -

"Set up is unable to log into the True Vector service. Install cannot continue without logging into the True Vector Service. Please use the service manager to shut down the True Vector service and then restart the install programme".

I then removed Zone Alarm from my computer and tried to do a completely new install, but when halfway through it I had the same problem.

I have enabled the Windows Firewall.

Your advice will be appreciated.

Best wishes. whatapalaver

Did you try to shut down the TrueVector service? Click Start->Run-> type "services.msc" (without quotes) -> click Ok -> in the services window locate TrueVector Internet Monitor -> right click and select Stop.


later edit:

I just tried to stop the TrueVector service on my system and the Stop option is grayed out... But, if I right click the tray icon and select Shutdown ZoneAlarm, the service is stopped...

Thank you joe cohen,

I did what you said and TrueVector Internet Monitor is not in >services.msc< and I do not have a tray icon. Zone Alarm is caput.

In >programs< there is a Zone Alarm folder and it has two files: >Error Log< and >Install<

This is what >error log< is telling me ---


Previous error log found in the C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm directory.
Previous error log found in the C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm directory.
# This file is created by a ZoneLabs installer to report errors encountered in the install process.
# Log created 06/22/06 19:25:40
# Installing ZoneAlarm on Windows version: 5.1.2600
# Computer name: RESEARCH-B1FB33
# Command Line =
All Errorlogs consolidated.
Finished with logging Installer messages.

# This file is created by a ZoneLabs installer to report errors encountered in the install process.
# Log created 06/22/06 19:28:09
# Installing ZoneAlarm on Windows version: 5.1.2600
# Computer name: RESEARCH-B1FB33
# Command Line =
All Errorlogs consolidated.

# This file is created by a ZoneLabs installer to report errors encountered in the install process.
# Log created 06/22/06 20:24:17
# Installing ZoneAlarm on Windows version: 5.1.2600
# Computer name: RESEARCH-B1FB33
# Command Line =
All Errorlogs consolidated.
Finished with logging Installer messages.


My Windows Firewall has been enabled and nothing untoward seems to have happened to my computer since I switched it on, but I feel uneasy. I had the Keiro Firewall before a friend recommended Free Zone Alarm, but I never understood it. I need something that is powerful, easy to understand, and very reliable and I would not mind paying for it.

However, if Zone Alarm behaves itself, I will continue using it.

whatapalaver

Reminder: TrueVector (vsmon.exe) needs time to shut down properly. That's the cause of most issues. Let ZoneAlarm do it. It's much safer than fiddling with stopping services.

There is a nicely done, recent, summary and links in the ZL forum, all in one place. Well 2-3 places once you follow the links
http://forums.zonelabs.com/zonelabs/board/...essage.id=50821
It contains links to the standard ZoneLabs instructions which work.
I suspect you'll need to follow #2 link, unless you can get away with the simple /clean uninstall from #1.
If it does not work, you did not follow the instructions exactly. Good luck

Out of curiosity - why are you installing 5.1 when there's 6.1 and 6.5 available, and of course the old standby 5.5.094 ?

Greetings tos226

Thanks for your interest.

Regarding your question - Out of curiosity - why are you installing 5.1 when there's 6.1 and 6.5 available, and of course the old standby 5.5.094 ?

Answer - I have a daily contact with vnunet.com and yesterday there was a notice about a minor ZoneAlarm update and a link. When I downloaded from the link there was a problem - see my first post .

TrueVector service was the stumbling block and I had no idea how to find it. I thought 'perhaps I should have removed my installed ZoneAlarm before downloading the update', so I removed it and tried the download again. No joy.

I then Googled for Free ZoneAlarm and found the Zone Labs ZoneAlarm Free Download. But of course it didn't say that it was the old version 5.1.2600 and when I tried to install it the TrueVector problem was still there.

A short while ago, after reading your advice, I went back to Google and found the latest edition of Zone Alarm - 6.5.714.00 but it is the same programme that vnut.com had told me about. Yet another attempt to get it in failed because of TrueVector's intrangience.

Another search for TrueVector in Start - Run - services.msc - has failed to find it and I haven't got a Zone Alarm icon in my task bar so there is no way to 'Shutdown ZoneAlarm' and allow TrueVector to shut down properly.

I'll have a look at the ZL forum but I think that I will to have to put my hand in my pocket and shell out for another Firewall programme. But which one?

Thanks again.

whatapalaver

Zone Alarm . It's the best. Some installations are rough, which is why he experts suggest /clean install which is simple for the most part since the early v5.

It's possible I misread your version line - I think it refers to WindowsXP not ZA
By the way, c:\windows\internet logs folder hold logs and backups of settings and other things. In case you wanted to go beyond just the installation logs. But I don't think you'll find an answer to your current problem there.

OK, if you have no ZL icon, then try to shut down the True Vector service executable right from the Task Manager - sort alphabetically, and try to stop vsmon.exe. Give it time to stop, write long logs, whatever it takes. I can't tell if it'll work since once programs (any programs) get out of synch with reality, things get difficult. Some setting there now thinks TV is running, and another sees it as not running, and when you don't have all the pieces in place, well, it's trouble. You may have to use method #3 from the link above. It'll work.

Now, there have been some issues reported about the 64-bit computers. Athlon uses 64bit, right?
Search the ZoneLabs tech support for answer. That's the best I can do, besides giving you those links, as they are valid and complete. In fact, those instructions were given out initially by tech support to everybody who had problems in the past (me).

Try Sygate Personal Firewall, it is free and works very well.
Regards,
John

Thank you everyone, There is a happy ending to my tale of woe. I woke in the night and thought, 'system restore'. So I got up and did it. Took the system back three weeks, just to be sure. ZoneAlarm was in the add/remove programmes but not in the task bar so I removed it and downloaded and installed the latest version. Its works!

That was the first time that I had resorted to 'system restore' and I've had a computer for the past ten years! I had felt uneasy about using it.

Thanks again for that advice. It is not wasted. I print it and keep it for future reference.

Best wishes. whatapalaver

Hi whatapalaver.

Glad you got things sorted. System Restore is a great facility and you shouldn't hesitate to use it if you think it may help you. It is fully reversible if it does something you don't like.

Cheers

I had similar problem with ZoneAlarm a version or two back. That taught me to not assume that I know how to do something correctly because it appears simple. I now research everything. My latest ZA problem was duing update to latest version. The ZA recognized Prevx1 as a firewall and wouldn't continue. During research I discovered that I had to uninstall Prevx1 before installing ZA; then install Prevx1 after the installation of ZA. Whenever I plan to do even the simplest installation, or apparently so, of a new program, I go to the forums and Google, Yahoo, Copernic, MSN, and Dogpile. I ask friends. I ask my daughter, a senior engineer at Lockheed Martin. I ask a couple of friends at some gov agencies. The forums - BleepingComputer.com one of the best - should be listed in the OS bundles for newbies to have a place to go to learn. I may not post much here but I read a lot here. I confess my sin: I am getting a tech education here for free. Thank you. I will contribute more as I learn more. Sometimes, check the ip logs, I do not check in; I read as a guest.

G'day Saint Satin Stain,

Thank you. I haven't looked at my topics for a couple of weeks to see if there have been 'additions'. That is the reason why you have not been acknowledged.

Before I install a new programm, I download it to a folder called Virus Checker. I then select it and right click it and scan it with whatever is in the 'right click box'. Usually AVG and Trojan Hunter and a-squared.

I disconnect from the internet and then close down all of my security. Everything, except Process Guard, is turrned off.

After the Process Guard's Learning Mode has been switched on, I install the programme.

I then reconnect to the internet. Because each of my security programmes is set to run when the computer boots up, there is a slowish start, but I consider that to be a small price to pay for trouble free installations.

After about five minutes I turn off the Process Guard's Learning Mode.

So far it hasn't failed. Or have I been too lucky by far?

Cheers. whatapalaver

Oh dear - forgot to say that after a new programme has been installed, I scan the computer with all of the security programmes. Ad-Aware SE Personal and EMSI a-squared very often winkle out one or two very new non-critical low-risk cookies. whatapalaver