I've got an ASUS laptop from 2023 that came with ZoneAlarm for Institutions pre-installed on Windows 11. I never activated the subscription since it didn't cause any problems until now. Recently, some websites wouldn't load in Brave or other browsers like Firefox and Edge. When I opened Edge, I found out there's an extension called 'Harmony Web Protection Advanced MV3' that was installed by 'my organization,' and it says Edge is managed by them too. However, this is a personal laptop, not tied to any organization. I suspect ZoneAlarm is responsible for the extension being there since they're part of the same company. I can't disable ZoneAlarm or its feature called SandBlast that protects against web threats. How do I remove or disable both of these programs so I can regain control of my laptop?
2 Answers
It seems like your system might have been set up with some sort of management software, like in schools. If you suspect that, maybe it's best to back everything up and consider doing a factory reset on the laptop. That can help clear out any hidden settings or software you can't touch otherwise.
You could try uninstalling both of them from the Control Panel. Go to Settings > Apps, find ZoneAlarm and Harmony Web Protection, and hit uninstall. If that doesn't work, you might need to reinstall your browser from scratch to get rid of extensions that are stuck. Just remember to back up your important stuff first!
I tried that with another browser recently, and it worked for removing stubborn extensions. You might also want to check if there's a specific removal tool for ZoneAlarm on their website.
Just make sure to backup everything first! It's worth it to avoid losing any files.