About manually starting/stoping the Web Shield service

[satyr]

Hello, yesterday when I was looking my various old shortcuts, I noticed few of them which I've created to start/stop/restart the On-Access Protection's Web Shield component, i.e. the "ashWebSv.exe" process/service; btw. I can do that with the psservice.exe CLI program from Sysinternals which is basically the same as if I would do it thorough "services.msc" interface ...


The command(s) I used to handle the Web Shield service:

D:\Software\Support\psservice.exe start "avast! Web Scanner" (other two options are "restart" and "stop" instead of the "start")


Anyway, but here's the problem: if I do this, i.e. start/stop the Web Shield component with that program (or through "services.msc") and not with "Start/Stop On-Access Protection" menu option in the tray or through "On-Access Protection Control" interface (i.e. in the window that pops-up on clicking the Avast's tray-icon), then the whole thing start to act/behave very strangely or should I rather say erroneously.


1. For example, attempting to stop it with the Start/Stop On-Access Protection menu option doesn't close/exit the "ashWebSv.exe" process as it normally would.


2. Further, I can see 3 Provider(s) total, 1 running (I disabled the Network Shield, that's why only 1 not 2), even though the "ashWebSv.exe" process is obviously running.


3. Then, the "Pause Provider" option is only availabe for Standard Shield (however, "Stop Provider" is available for both, Standard Shield and Web Shield one.


4. And finally, I get the following errors/warnings in the Event Viewer - Antivirus right after these starting/stoping attempts:
aswServ::AavmStart ERROR...
AAVM - initialization error: AavmStart: avworkInitialize failed, 00000002.


P.S. -- And in one of such starting/stoping the Web Shield service cases, the "ashWebSv.exe" process started using 90 % of CPU, so obviously something was not OK. Oh and one more thing: with starting/stoping/restaring the main "avast! Antivirus" service (i.e. the "ashServ.exe" process) with psservice.exe program there are no such problems at all.


Thanks in advance, satyr

[DavidR]

You don't mention why you want to do this which is probably as important as the questions you ask ?

Stopping the on-access scanners doesn't stop the background services, for your average user getting them restarted would most likely mean a reboot. Your note 4. (and p.s.) is likely to be why the stop on-access providers doesn't stop services as there can be issues when they are restarted, resulting in a necessary reboot and the user wouldn't be very pleased about that.

The fact that the services are still running shouldn't cause a problem as the providers are paused and not scanning, so there should be no overhead other than the small amount of RAM.

Well you could have a batch file to stop (Net Stop) any processes and one to start (Net Start) processes. I used to do this previously for my firewall as it accessed too many files on boot.

- You just need the service name no long D:\Software\Support\psservice.exe to run a program to do what can be done by Net Stop
Example, stopavast.bat
Net Stop "avast! Web Scanner"

Have that in your root directory and create a shortcut to run it to stop what services you want and the same for the startavast.bat
Net Start "avast! Web Scanner"

Edit: This may all be irrelevant with the introduction of avast's program protection to prevent malware disabling/stopping avast.

[satyr]

Thanks much for the reply ...


satyr

[Vlk]

satyr,

I'd be quite keen to find out what's going on, exactly. This is definitely not by design...

I'm especially concerned with item 4. Are you sure this is happening after restarting of the WEB SCANNER service? I mean, this is an entry logged by the main AV SERVICE bootstrapper (and under very strange occasions).

Are all the problems reproducible on your machine? Including the steady CPU load?


Thanks
Vlk

[Eddy]

It is nice to see that someone really "digs" into things.
But I am curious, why did you created those shortcuts?
(I take it you mean you created them on the desktop)
Was this to circumvent problems/errors or incompatible issues or something?

[satyr]

You don't mention why you want to do this which is probably as important as the questions you ask ?

/UPDATE: Oh and yes, you are totally right, i.e. it's not at all necessary for me to use this kind of starting/stoping the Web Shield component, nor with that program, nor through "services.msc" interface, I just asked it out of curiousity.


satyr

[Vlk]

Hi satyr,

did you notice my post above?


Thanks
Vlk

[satyr]

Hi satyr,

did you notice my post above?

Oh sorry Vlk, yes I am sure that this happens after restarting the Web Shield's process. For the CPU load, luckily that occured only once; I will certainly look into things a bit more to see if it's reproducable ...


satyr

[Kerim]

It is nice to see that someone really "digs" into things.
But I am curious, why did you created those shortcuts?

Hi Eddy,
 
I saw your question now while searching the Avast forum about how to stop then re-start the Avast scanner providers in a batch file. In my case, I use to close my internet connection and stop all avast providers (I have eight) everytime I run an old DOS program as "BorlandC" (in full screen mode). That helps a lot to smooth the response of the application by freeing the PC from any occasional scans. When I forget to do this, the cursor movement would play once a while... slow motion

After reading many posts here I couldn't be sure if Avast team had included such a feature. I fully understand if they didn't. Because what I can control in a batch file some others might like do the same on my PC remotely   So in my humble opinion, the only way Avast team may provide a stop/restart DOS command is by allowing the user to call a utility that requests also the full Avast key (for example) on his PC as a parameter.

Although stopping and restarting Avast manually is rather easy, what I am afraid of usually is to forget to restart Avast before re-enabling my internet connection to work with. Including a restart command at the end of a batch file would eliminate that human error.

In any case, I still recommend my friends (local and abroad) to protect their PC by Avast... In many respects, Avast is one of the greatest AntiVirus... even in comparison with the so-called the best ones.

Kerim

[Lisandro]

After reading many posts here I couldn't be sure if Avast team had included such a feature.

It was discussed in the past that an antivirus is not a superficial application that only closing and everything could get away.
Drivers were loaded, system files activated and run, services, etc.
Why do you want to 'close' avast? Depending on your configuration, it won't help performance, it is just a 'feeling' that the computer is running faster... imho.

I can control in a batch file some others might like do the same on my PC remotely   So in my humble opinion, the only way Avast team may provide a stop/restart DOS command is by allowing the user to call a utility that requests also the full Avast key (for example) on his PC as a parameter.

You can manage avast remotely if you're using ADNM version.

Although stopping and restarting Avast manually is rather easy, what I am afraid of usually is to forget to restart Avast before re-enabling my internet connection to work with. Including a restart command at the end of a batch file would eliminate that human error.

That always will be a problem... will the batch work every time? Won't have any time that the user will stay unprotected?
You can use NetRun to control which applications should be running when you're offline and which ones online. A very useful tool.

[Kerim]

First, thank you for your prompt reply, Tech

Why do you want to 'close' avast? Depending on your configuration, it won't help performance, it is just a 'feeling' that the computer is running faster... imho

Sorry, but in may case in the least, I don't think it is just a 'feeling'. I run XP SP2. and when I try to write my 'C' or assembly programs using the very old BorlandC editor (I am 57 year old), the keyboard response becomes once a while (not continuously) very slow for a few seconds. Only when I give Avast a break while I run a DOS application, things run normally. I believe that I don't need to stop Avast completely to get the same result. And to follow your advice I should learn first what 'NetRun' is and does. Second I have to find a way to know for sure which of the many Avast scanners I should pause temporarely while I am in deep DOS mode. Meanwhile and since XP is not my world as DOS was, I have to return to do most of the jobs manually to avoid surprises ... unless I could be sure that no side effects will result from using a new command. Unlike many, I used not to live as an adventurer as much as possible 

Kerim

[Lisandro]

Only when I give Avast a break while I run a DOS application, things run normally.

If you change the memory setting of the link that opens the DOS application, will it help (compatibility mode).

I should learn first what 'NetRun' is and does.

http://www.home.earthlink.net/~czarsoft/NetRun.html
You could use the beta version without fear. It works very stable.

[Kerim]

Hello Tech,

Thank you for the link. I downloaded the beta version of NetRun.

Although I use Avast Pro on the few PCs I run since more than two years, I can't decide yet by myself which Avast programs might be stopped then restarted without interferring with the normal running of Avast as a whole.
So I have to spend some time searching for the answer before using NetRun. I like automation... only if done properly 

Thank you again for your continuous support.

Kerim