|
Zone Labs Customer Care
This Information Applies to:
All
ZoneAlarm Products
Summary:
I tried to uninstall ZoneAlarm, and
now I’ve lost my Internet connection, or I cannot receive
e-mail.
Solution:
By far the easiest way to fix this is to reinstall the product
(if you still have the original installation file), reboot,
and then Uninstall. When uninstalling first right-click on
the ZoneAlarm icon in the system tray, and select "Shutdown
ZoneAlarm". Also be sure to say OK to the Security Check.
Note: If you have not run the uninstaller, do so now, before
booting into Safe Mode.
If you do not have the installation file, or are otherwise
unable to reinstall, then do the following.
STEP 1: Boot into Safe Mode:
If you have Windows 98/2000/ME/XP, Reboot your system into
Safe Mode. If
you don’t know how to do this, from your desktop, click
on Start >> Help, and type in "Safe Mode"
(no quotes) and follow the instruction to boot your OS into
Safe Mode.
NOTE - Do NOT start ZoneAlarm while in Safe Mode -- you may
not be able to make the changes necessary.
STEP 2: Remove Registry Entry (Windows 95/98/ME ONLY):
(NOTE - If you plan to reinstall ZoneAlarm afterwards, this step
is optional. You will receive a VXD error on boot up, but
it will go away once you reinstall ZoneAlarm.)
Important Advisory: Deleting registry entries incorrectly
may cause serious problems to your operating system (OS),
which may necessitate the need to reinstall the OS. Please
make sure you are able to perform these deletions correctly
before you decide to edit the entries. If you are not sure,
you should seek help from someone who is familiar with editing
the registry. For information about how to edit the registry
in Windows, from your desktop, click Start >> Run >>
and type "regedit.exe". Click on Help >> Help
Topics. Under the "Contents" tab, click Change Keys
and Values (this may be found under the "How to..."
section).
Also, you should always make a backup of the registry before
editing it. You can find this in the same section of the Help
files.
- To edit the registry, go to Start/Run and type: "regedit"
- Navigate in the left pane to this entry and delete the
following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\VSDATA95
- Click File, Exit to finish.
(NOTE - If on reboot you get a VXD error, hit Enter. In
this case, you will need to perform the REGEDIT sequence
again from the normal Windows, since Windows didn't allow
registry changes while in Safe Mode)
STEP 3: Remove Files :
To make sure that you can see the ZoneAlarm system files, if
they are still on your computer, click Start >> Help,
then type either "hidden files" or "show all
files" (No quotes) – one of these should tell you
how to make sure ALL files are visible. Follow the instructions
given. Be sure to change these settings back after you are
done.
IMPORTANT - THERE MAY BE SEVERAL SETTINGS TO CHANGE, IN
ORDER TO SEE EVERY FILE ON THE SYSTEM.
- Click Start >> Find or Search, select your local
hard drive, type in "VSDATA*.*" (no quotes) and
click on the Find Now or Search button.
- If you find any files named VSDATA95 or VSDATANT, delete
them (you can do this directly from the Search window by
right-clicking on the file and select delete).
- Now in the Find field, type in "INTERNET LOGS"
(no quotes), and click Search.
- You should see a folder by that name. If you wish to
keep a record of previous alerts, copy the file ZALog.txt
to another location. Then delete the folder, which removes
the database files. They are recreated when you run ZoneAlarm
again.
If you are running Windows NT and cannot delete these files,
try the following from an Administrative account (If you do
not know how to do something, click Start, Help for more information):
- Search for vsmon.exe and rename the file. REMEMBER what
you changed it to!
- Shut down ZoneAlarm . It doesn't matter if there's a password
on it or not.
- Reboot.
- Delete the files referenced in step 3 above.
- Change the renamed file back to vsmon.exe
STEP 4: Clean up deletions:
- Empty the trash (recycle) bin.
- Reboot your machine normally.
STEP 5: Finish Uninstalling:
Now you should have your access back.
FOR FUTURE UNINSTALLING:
- If you reinstall ZoneAlarm , and need to UNinstall again,
be sure you always say Yes to the Security Check, or it
cannot remove files properly. It is also a good idea to
keep the file that you downloaded to install with.
- If you ever need to shut down ZoneAlarm while figuring
out any configuration issues – On Overview -> Preferences,
UNcheck the box to "Load At Startup". You can
now reboot with no ZoneAlarm process running. Making modifications
to system files may disable crucial functions of your Windows
operating system. We strongly suggest re-enabling the "Hide
files and folders" feature once all ZoneAlarm Pro files
have been removed. If you received an error message upon
deleting the files, or if the original programs remain in
the Programs list, or if the problem persists after this,
removing the files in Safe Mode will allow you to delete
the files properly. If you need further help with this,
click Start -> Help, and search for "Safe Mode".
For further help, details and links to helpful related support threads.
|