Since installing the latest Zone Alarm Version (6.5.722.000) on
several computers running XP (some Home; some Pro), I am not able to
verify the status of available updates for any of them. Prior to
this Version (I was using 6.1.744.001 and many previous versions),
when I clicked the "Check for Update" button in Overview/Preferences,
I used to get either a notice stating that my version was up-to-date,
or one that indicated that an updated version was available. After
installing 6.5.722, when I click the "Check for Update" button, I
VERY BRIEFLY get a dialog box that states "Please wait....Attempting
to contact Zone Labs' update service. Receiving data....", with
a 'Cancel' button. This dialog box quickly disappears without any
further notice of update status.
This is echoed by the following from the Zone Alarm User's Forum:
In the time I have used the free edition I've never had this
problem. Earlier this week I downloaded the latest update. This one
feature that I took for granted did not work. If everything's OK it
usually responds with a message "Your security is up to date". Now,
nothing. What could the problem be? This was an update of my
previous version, not a clean install.
[The response was] - Hi, A database reset will fix the problem if
Zone Alarm is the problem in the first place. Reset the database
this way; you will lose your customizations and will need to
reconfigure Zone Alarm.
1. Boot your computer into the Safe Mode.
2. Navigate to the 'C:\windows\internet logs' folder.
3. Delete the 'backup.rdb' and 'iamdb.rdb' files in the folder.
4. Reboot into the normal mode.

I'm not familiar with the "rdb" extension. Does this look more like
a good solution or a potential problem?