AFAIK you can delete the prefs folder whenever you like. But if you're continually having to do that there must be another problem somewhere, plus it's a PITA:wink:

Have you tried starting from scratch & reinstalling Java then LW (both with their offline installers)?

I've got no idea why your XP firewall would be turning off & on. I couldn't find a single thing about this with Google. Are you sure that every bit of ZA is gone? Have you tried using the computer's search to see if there are any ZA files or folders still hanging around? Just that I was wondering if somehow the ZA uninstall didn't work & somehow it's still trying to turn off your XP firewall (that's a real stab in the dark & is probably way off base)

It's probably a good idea to run an AV scan too, just to see if there are any nasties around.