To add a data point:
With win7 64, Free ZA works normally with Elemental -- with ZA not set for Elemental, start Elemental, it waits, TAB out to be able to see the AZ popup, set it to allow both trusted and internet, and it works ok. (I also set it to not allow it to act as a server trusted/internet and still works fine).
I had been using VistaFirewallControl (a free firewall that allows setting in&outbound, similar to ZA) while waiting for free ZA to be compatable with win7 64, and with VFC not set for Elemental, after starting elemental it'd stop loading after a few seconds and I'd get a message something along the order of 'can't connect to internet, make sure you have a connection, impulse is connected and no av/firewall is blocking'. Set VFC to allow in&out and all was fine.
So it seems that ZA's a problem with winXP but not win7 (both ZA and VFC worked for me)
I noticed that instead of calling it 'elemental' many programs call it 'turn based strategy game' (VFC, ZA, windows standard error message).
I tried posting a bit ago, it didn't show after `15 minutes, so if there's a previous post with partial info, that's why.