Loading Steam online winds up getting a "blue screen of death"

[PurpleGaga27 40]

The first time I loaded Steam in a long time, there was no problem. But after updating the latest version Steam platform, the next time I re-load it online after logging in, I wind up getting a "blue screen of death" and had my computer automatically restarted. The thing is that ZoneAlarm always reminds me whether to allow Steam Bootstrapper to go online (which is Steam.exe) and I did. I am running Windows XP, ZoneAlarm 8 Firewall and Norton Internet Security 2012. I am trying to get help in the forums and customer support but it appears that I have to wait for the authorization to go successfully (possibly hours) before I can do that. I also reinstall Steam and it didn't help. However I cannot uninstall Steam because of the saved files and data of the games I had installed which means now I am stuck. There's no way I can change the password unless I am online in the Steam cloud program.

 

Now I haven't changed the password to my "jwt7000" account yet (that's my real Steam account) and I am not sure if my account might have been hacked to prevent me from going online correctly. I have heard of the "Heartbleed" virus recently and I am not sure that has affected Steam. I have already changed my passwords to every email site I use except Origin and Steam.

 

Any clues or suggstions to resolve this issue?

 

 

 

Edit: Scratch that. I might have solved the issue by closing the ZoneAlarm firewall. It appears that firewall is one cause of the problem. Without that firewall, Steam loads correctly without a major issue even when NIS 2012 firewall is on.

Edited May 12, 2014 by zocom7

[Sonic 295]

Do yourself a favour by removing both ZoneAlarm 8 Firewall and Norton Internet Security 2012, both are rubbish and there is no need to run two programs doing the same thing. Especially something as **** as Norton. With these programs gone Steam will probably work better.

[Doctor Destiny 41]

I was going to suggest the same thing as Sonic. ZoneAlarm firewalls have a nasty habit of crashing machines and Norton Internet Security is just a resource hog rather than helpful. One of those two is probably conflicting with the Steam connection. Though, it depends on the Blue Screen that comes up to really determine what another probable cause might be.

 

Get and run BlueScreenView then tell me what it says.

[PurpleGaga27 40]

I disagree having NIS a resource hog. The program changed long after NIS 2008 was introduced with a new method of conserving system resources, and as of today no other antivirus or Internet Security program can conserve resources as much as NIS. Also NIS is quickier on scanning files for viruses and malware than every other competitor. What NIS really lacked for a long time is what MalwareBytes and SuperAnti-Spyware have right now (that's scanning registries and the crucial files for malware/spyware). I'll bet you guys haven't tried a new Norton product recently.

 

Another drawback to Norton is that I have to download a cumulative virus definition update, now growing over 300 MB, rather than by having the program itself download missing recent parts unlike what AVG and Avira do. I do that once a month, not every day, unlike what most people would do.

 

Another thing... I didn't have a problem running Origin when ZoneAlarm was enabled. I preferred ZoneAlarm all the time because I don't like using the Windows Firewall (it's not a two-way firewall unless it's tweaked). Without a firewall, playing games online can be such a hassle as any unknown intrusion could happen anytime without one, especially on my ADSL connection. It's more vulnerable if it's on a fiber cable, normal cable, wi-fi, or even a normal modem. Another firewall program I haven't tried is Comodo.

Edited May 13, 2014 by zocom7

[Sonic 295]

Get a better, modern router. Mine has full inbound/outbound firewall protection. And I only use Microsoft Security Essentials on my computers. The Windows firewall is enabled as well. MSE updates only what it needs in the background. And it doesn't sink it teeth into the operating system like NIS.

[Guest Stevie_K]

I am running Windows XP

I'm sure you are aware, but you are pretty much asking for trouble then.

[PurpleGaga27 40]

Please don't recommend me to use the Internet with Windows 7. Besides Win7 uses more system resources than WinXP and that would be a disadvantage to 32-bit PCs when ZoneAlarm/NIS and Firefox already used up so much memory in XP despite having Windows using 3.25 GB of RAM as the max instead of 4 GB.

[Doctor Destiny 41]

XP is trash now so getting rid of it would be more beneficial than keeping it. The only thing 32-bit should be your operating system so you can run a 64-bit OS with upgraded RAM no problem. Either way, dump Norton (it's terrible) then dump ZoneAlarm. All you really need is Avast (don't use MSE), Malwarebytes and Spybot 2. If you're that worried about host intrusion, run WinPatrol.

 

And like I ****ing asked before, what the hell is the blue screen you're getting?

[PurpleGaga27 40]

The blue screen I was getting was a file issue involving Steam and obviously ZoneAlarm might have blocked it leading to a crash in Windows. I couldn't find the log after I fixed the problem.

[Guest Stevie_K]

Please don't recommend me to use the Internet with Windows 7.

I'm not saying you should get Windows 7. All I'm trying to say here, is that technology is moving on and Windows XP has more or less been left to die in the desert.

There are many alternatives to Windows. Most people just don't know (or care).