Acquire the ZoneAlarm installation program;

It is free for personal use and may be found at this link: ZoneLabs .
This will take you to a C|net download page, that's okay, it's the right page.

Click the "Download Now" link.
Ignore the advertising at the top of the page, scroll down to the bottom.
Click on either one of the provided links:

cdrom.digitalriver.com
wcarchive.cdrom.com

A direct URL is not provided here since they tend to change as time passes.

As of November 6, 2001, the exact file information is:
file name = zonalm26zl.exe
file size = 2,923,120 bytes
version number = 2.6.357

Be sure to note which directory you are downloading the file to.

It will take from 15-30 minutes to download the file.

After you have downloaded the ZoneAlarm installation program,
make sure that all other programs are closed,
then run it by clicking Start, then Run, then Browse to the directory you saved the file in,
and doubleclick the file, zonalm26zl.exe

At the "Welcome" screen, click "Next"

At the "Important Information" screen (License etc) click "Next"

Enter your Name, Company, email info;
Register: No,
Email me: No.
click "Next"

At the Formal License Agreement, click "Accept"

When asked which Directory to install ZoneAlarm into, defaults are fine, click "Next"

At the screen where asked "Configure your browser", check "yes", then click "Next"

At the "Ready" screen, click "Next"

Be sure to read the "Quick Tutorial".

Always perform a cold boot (Shut down, power off for 10 seconds, power back on)
whenever you install new software.

If you decide to uninstall and reinstall zoneAlarm,
be certain that you perform a cold boot after the uninstallation!

Then, when you reinstall zoneAlarm,
if you get the following warning:
"A required file VSNETUTILS.DLL not found",
just click "OK" and continue with the reinstallation!
The installation will continue as it did the first time.
Do a cold boot after the installation is complete.

After you have installed zoneAlarm, the natural question arises:
How am I supposed to use this darn thing?
What good does it do me?

Well, the way you are supposed to use it is to
use this tool to prevent undesired internet traffic.

Undesired internet traffic can be defined in a two very general ways:

1) outgoing data which is instigated by a program which you, the user, has run
2) incoming random traffic from unscrupulous folks on the internet.

I happen to know that my Lexmark printer is intent on connecting
with someone, somewhere, out there.

I don't like that idea, so I cut off it's connection.

Likewise, there is a weird Windows program called
distributed COM, which has little information written about it,
but it wants to go online on a very regular basis.
Rumor has it that it is sending personal info to
the lovely folks at Microsoft.
I can neither confirm nor deny this assertion.

The first time a program tries to access the internet,
you will get a pop-up window similar to

The "More Info" button will take you to the ZoneLabs page and
that page will attempt to tell you what the program does.
ZoneLabs is not above a bit of self-aggrandizement.

If you do not give the program full permission to connect to the internet,
then the next time it tries to run you will get the following type of pop-up:

With either pop-up, make sure you understand what program is trying to connect,
then click "Yes" or "No" accordingly.

In the second case, somebody out there is trying to get into your machine
and zoneAlarm will show the following:

I prefer to have these pop-up warnings active
so I know what's going on with my machine,
so I never "check" the "Don't show this dialog again" box.

Click "Ok" to continue.

With this type of alert, the "More Info" button is really useless
unless you're running zoneAlarm Pro (the purchased version).

It used to take you to the ZoneLabs site and their machines
would do a reverse DNS lookup for you so you could
at least know from what domain the intrusion was originating.

They have since discontinued that nicety.

If you want to know what entity is trying to get into your machine,
you can go to the following site and enter the DNS number:

 http://www.arin.net/whois/index.html

This screen will differ based on your machine's hardware.

Security - Advanced - Add

This screen will change as you decide how you want your machine
to interact with the 'net.

Every time a program wants to access the the 'net,
you will asked how zoneAlarm should handle such a situation.

In general though, I would say there are few reasons why
a program should *need* unrestrained access to the internet.

The few exceptions I make to that opinion are for Norton Live Update,
my browsers, my Instant Messaging programs, and my FTP program.