SZ stuck on startup :(

I am experiencing a very weird problem with my Sony SZ18GP/C. Whenever I turn on my computer after turning it off for a long time (a few hours), the Sony Power Management and all the other Sony software that comes with the laptop would take somewhere up to 10-15minutes to load. For example, I won't be able to access to the power management software to change from "Maxmium battery" to "Always On". Also, I don't see the wireless icon or the CPU performance (slow, adaptive, fast) icon on the right hand corner of the screen. The computer still works and wireless connections work. The only thing I can't access to probably is changing the power scheme of the laptop. Usually after 15-30minutes of usage, the sony softwares would load... Does this have anything to do with the Zone alarm program I've installed? Anyone using Zone Alarm also getting this annoying problem?

Sometimes I'd have to restart the computer right away to get rid of this super annoying problem.

I'd appreciate any help on this problem. Thank you very much.

Andrew

 

remove that zonealarm...crap! it eats up memory like a big bear ready to go on hibernation...

it almost got the hell out of my desktop...

 

I solved the problem. I ended up having to give Sony Power Management softwares more "trust" in the Zone Alarm firewall (program control). Anyone find the Zonealarm useful or is the windows firewall sufficient to keep out the malicious threats? Zonealarm dramatically increases the load time of windows on my laptop. I am thinking of removing it now...

 

My SZ-250 simply would not start up with Zonealarm installed.
Blue Screen of Death every time.
I nearly broke into tears in my ignorance.
I finally figured out that I had to uninstall it from Safe Mode.

Fortunately, my desktop has absolutely no problem with it...
I wonder what the hell is wrong with SZ compatibilites...

 

That really sucks, so do you have any other firewall or are you just using the windows one?

 

if you're worried about your programs calling home (like MS Office or Adobe products), then get a 3rd party firewall like Sygate or Kerio to block them.

but if you don't care about programs calling home and only want to prevent the incoming stuff, the Windows XP firewall is fine. XP firewall allows outgoing connections but not incoming.

 

Ahh, I see, I don't worry too much about those. And I've removed ZA. The difference is HUGE. My power management and other sony software loads right away. I guess I will just have windows firewall on and kaspersky to check for viruses.

Thanks for all the replies and help!