Hi everyone, I've been having this wierd thing happen for a while now but cant remember for how long,I've just been putting up with it.I find that when I connect to the internet via dial-up then try to open Firefox nothing happens.Takes anywhere from 30 sec. to 3 min.before it will open. Windows folders such as My Documents will open but internet programs (any browsers etc.) wont and strangly Task Manager wont either.Then after some time they (everything I've clicked on) all open at once. I was just reading this page and I could hear the HD going to town so I checked out Task Manager and hello vsmon.exe chewing away at a large portion of the CPU,like 30% and no scans happening,I then shut down Zone Alarm (full version) and all activity stopped.I'm starting to think that ZA is causing this. It dosent happen every time. Auybody got an idea what may be causing this??? When this is happening desktop and taskbar icons appear active when I hover the cursor over them and when I click on them the hourglass comes on briefly then it goes and the program dosent open. Then like I said everything I've clicked on opens at once.Its like something is using all resourses for a short time.Its only when I initially connect to the internet. Lose the skin you're imprisoned in

uninstall zone alarm, you don't need it for dail-up connections. it seems to me that you computer need maintenance; run ad-aware under safe mode, antivirus...ect.

chineser,are you saying I dont need a firewall at all for a dial-up connection? Why not? I regularly run Spybot S&D,Adaware and Microsoft Anti-Spyware,I also have Spywareblaster installed.And I have AVG anti-virus (full version) Why is it better to run these things in Safe Mode?

IMO a firewall is good for any type of connection. not only does it keep your ports secure it helps you keep tabs on which programs are accesing the internet from your comp. recently, my pc was so badly infected with malware that it repeatedly hung the system as soon as an internet connetion was established. blocking all the programs save IE from internet access restored stability and allowed me to get help from this forum. so i would say, stick with the firewall.

You could probably get away with using Windows' own firewall as it's a lot simpler than Zone Alarm - certainly first try disabling ZA & see if it cures your problem, then, if it does just get rid of it. If you suspect you have problems then scans done in safe mode tend to be quicker & also mean that if you have malware which is normally loaded with windows, when you come to try & remove it you get a 'file in use' error - running in safe mode means it isn't in use so can be removed/quarantined or whatever. "I know that I'm mad, I've always been mad"

If uninstalling ZA fixes your problem then you could try Sygate - it's free and lighter. The XP firewall only works in the incoming direction, so if you are sending out stuff without knowing it then it will allow it. ZA, Sygate etc work both ways. I agree that a firewall is a good idea even on dial-up, although you are at a greater risk without one on broadband. DerekW