KB: Firewall warnings when starting ZoomText

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KB#: 074
Last updated: February 27 2006

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The information in this article applies to:

• ZoomText 9.0
• ZoomText 8.1 and 8.0

PROBLEM

When ZoomText is launched, a personal firewall program, such as Norton Personal Firewall or ZoneAlarm, may warn you that ZoomText is trying to access the Internet.

CAUSE

ZoomText incorporates a new anti-piracy scheme called “Network Discovery”. The reason the warning message appears is that ZoomText is attempting to find illegal duplicate copies of the software running on your local network only. ZoomText is not accessing the Internet to send/receive information in any way. Our recommendation is to allow access, which will eliminate the warnings.

SOLUTION

If you are running Norton Personal Firewall

1. Launch ZoomText.
2. After a few moments, a dialog box titled “Norton Personal Firewall” will appear, informing you that ZoomText is attempting to access the Internet. You will also be prompted with the question: “What do you want to do?”. The choices are Block, Permit and Manually configure Internet Access. We recommend choosing “Permit” and clicking the checkbox labeled “Always use this action”.
3. Click the “OK” button. You won’t see this warning again when launching ZoomText.

If you are running ZoneAlarm

1. Launch ZoomText.
2. After a few moments, a dialog box titled “ZoneAlarm Alert” will appear, prompting you with the question: “Do you want to allow ZoomText to access the Internet?”. Cick the checkbox labeled “Remember this answer the next time I use this program”, then click the “Yes” button.
3. A second dialog box titled “ZoneAlarm Alert – Server Program” will appear, prompting you with the question: “Do you want to allow ZoomText to act as a server?”. Cick the checkbox labeled “Remember this answer the next time I use this program”, then click the “Yes” button. You won’t see this warning again when launching ZoomText.