I am using the Current Steam Version and latest Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit and since months MSFS 2020 does not load when current release Zonelabs Zone Alarm Free Firewall is installed.
It always behaves the same.
You Start the Game in Steam or from the Icon and all what happens is a short Loader icon appearing which then dissapears after some seconds.
There are several reports from the past regarding this:
https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/installation-with-store-does-not-even-start/128593/28
https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/msfs-does-not-load-anymore/299966
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/xbox/forum/xba_wowpc-xba_gowpc/flight-simulator-2020-not-loading-the-launcher/ffe683b8-80a4-487a-86e0-20e82fae84a4
Is there any Solution so far which makes the two to work together?
Currently you still have to uninstall the entire Firewall to let FS work again.
Even if you shutdown ZA or set Sliders to zero Firewall, it does not work to load MSFS 2020.
I have been using Windows Firwall for the last months but it lacks so many
Features that i tried Zone Labs again since i had good experiences with it in the past but no sucess with MSFS 2020. Its the only Game which does not work of so many i own.
Event Manager only shows
- System
|||- Provider
[ Name] Application Error|
| — | — |
|||- EventID 1000
[ Qualifiers] 0|
| — | — |
Version 0
Level 2
Task 100
Opcode 0
Keywords 0x80000000000000
|||- TimeCreated
[ SystemTime] 2021-05-25T10:46:10.6260338Z|
| — | — |
EventRecordID 39138
Correlation
|||- Execution
[ ProcessID] 0
[ ThreadID] 0|
| — | — |
Channel Application
Computer PC
Security
- EventData
FlightSimulator.exe
1.15.10.0
00000000
unknown
0.0.0.0
00000000
c0000005
00007ff7c7d57de0
5a0c
01d7515320bfaf80
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\MicrosoftFlightSimulator\FlightSimulator.exe
unknown
a5bc5d7f-c602-4040-965c-a930085dec7f
have you made a rule for flightsim in zonelab firewall so it can access the servers ?
Hi thx for the quick reply.
How has the Rule to be set with what IP Ranges?
Even if i deactivate / Shuit down the ZA Process it does not open the MSFS 2020 Application
rule flightsimulator.exe access to internet YES
since msfs uses so many ip adresses it’s not recommended to set it per IP
just allow the exe to access the internet
offtopic : you do know that your paying with your personal data , to use zonelabs ‘free’ software ?
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Hi again this is how it looks
There are several Services here incl. MS Game Services which are directing to MS Flight SIM.
These were the only ones i coudl find.
I set all to Allowed but still nothing works.
benutzerdef - Custom setting < manual setting , hahahaha Uhm ok other question Does your Xbox app work ? i see it in the list
turn smart defence off for flightsimulator.exe
XBOX App and Wireless Controller Services Menu are all working good 
If i set the Rules to AUTO Zonealarm usually asks for access Permissions in Popups and saves them with any App or Game.
But not with MSFS 2020 here nothing happens 
If it is on AUTO you have “?” allover
So i set "Benutzerdefiniert " means “Custom” and manually set all on ack.
I will soon deinstall that again since i have no idea.
Is there any other “tiny” Firwall Solution working with MSFS 2020 other than Windows Firewall which has a good Rules Menu ( 1 click allow deny )
other than Zone Alarm which wont mess up / Slow Down my System, like Norton ?
on the rules page select flightsimulator.exe and check in the bottom window dateiname … if the path is correct.
the current firewall of microsoft is working good.
when you run a new program that wants internet access , the firewall will ask allow / deny and on which network you want the rule applied public and or private network
Thx the Path is 100% Correct.
Have no clue really.
Its all people had to uninstall the Firewall to let it work again because nothing seems to solve that behavior. Someone in the Article
wrote that a Update of Zone Alarm seems to hav fixed the Issue but not on my side.
do you also use the antivirus from zone alarm ?
if so check the virus vault if flightsimulator is parked there ?
My Antivirus of Zone is deactivated.
Here i use MS Defender.
Actually if the Windows Firwall would do that to ask for Permissions i would be fine of course
but it does not.
Never since i bought that Pre Build NZXT GAming PC in December 2020
So i think i have to care about now why it does not if that is a standard Feature of Windows.
Perhaps NZXT deactivated something which now causes that it does never ask for any Firewall Permissions anymore.
That was actually the reason i switched over to Zone Labs that i am asked for a Access Permission.
in windows click on spyglass and type Firewall > select Firewall & network protection > middle screen at the bottom > Firewall notification settings > turn on what you prefer
1 Like
Thx that was very helpful.
Everything has been turned off here.
I uninstalled Zone Alarm now and MSF 2020 is working great again.
But there seems to be a huge Issue existing between the two.
Since of the lack of Logs and not even ZoenAlarm has a Log Entry regarding the Launcher to crash
i give up again, for now
yw , Happy flying.
i don’t think it’s crashing , it’s being blocked by somepart in zonealarm software
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