Avast WEBforum
Other => General Topics => Topic started by: Phil K on October 16, 2003, 09:36:13 AM
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I am trying out Avast after finding very few anti-virus will work on my XP Home without some major problems - desktop freezing and the like (that happened with PC-cillin) and avast seemed to work ok, then I discovered that neither my scanner nor my printer would work until avast was switched OFF. Anyway round this ? Thanks
Oh yes. One other thing. I was under the impression that Avast was free for home use, yet when I switched it back on after I had been printing something, it asked for a serial for registering, then said I had 50-odd days left.
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Hi,
have you applied SP1 and all Updates on your XP ?
do you clean up your PC regularly:
- empty TIF=IE-Cache & Temp-folders
- RegCleaning once in a while, especially after Software deinstallation
- Do/did you ever have Norton AV installed on your PC ? Remove ANY traces left of it
Are there any alerts/messages by avast when you print ? Any error messages from the system ? please list more details
;)
P.S.: Avast is free for home&private use, but you have to register it (for free) to extend the license over the trial period
go to
http://www.avast.com/i_kat_81.html
http://www.asw.cz/i_kat_207.php?lang=ENG
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Phil,
I am not aware of any problem caused by AVAST with printers or scanners. Your's is unique to me. I am puzzled at the moment. There is a remote possiblity that AVAST may SHARE some of the dll's (Dynamic Link Library) that your printer and scanner use. In that case, if AVAST gets to them first, it may not release them for the printer and scanner to use. This question I will need to pass on to the AVAST Team research.
WHOCARES provided some general remedies which might improve system performance but I doubt that they will cure the underlying problem
What is your scanner/printer manufacturer? We may need to contact them to ascertain if there are any SOFTWARE CONFLICTS with anti-virus programs.
WHOCARES also brought up a very good point indeed.....if you have been trying various anti-virus software, you may have an accumulation of "leftover" files. (NAV AND MCAFEE are not that easy to remove in their entirety)
You my try reinstalling the drivers for the scanner and printer.
Right now we will try what we can until we have a more direct path to follow.
techie101
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I am having the same problem. My printer is a Canon BJC240L. I had to try a progressive trouble shoot with msconfig turning off various startup programs to find what was causing the problem. It was the avast programming.
There must be a way to fix this....please!
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Could you please try to get some more information about the problem?
- would the problem go away if you disable the avast resident protection completely? If yes, could you try to disable only the particular resident providers to find the one causing the problem? If you find this provider (could be the Standard Shield) - can you try to disable some of its options (in case of the Standard Shield, e.g. "scanning files on open", scanning OLE documents, ...) and check if the problem persists?
- if the problem occurs whenever avast is installed, is it still present when you kill avast process, stop avast service (NT/2k/XP), maybe even remove it from the "Startup" chain and reboot?
- does the problem disappear after avast is uninstalled?
- what are the exact problems with the printer - the printer doesn't print anything, or some kind of garbage, or seems not to be installed at all... ? Is it possible to enter the Printer configuration? Is there any useful information there (error message when printing a test page, ...)?
- ... whatever you find useful/interesting.
bgolden: what is your OS - also WinXP?
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I am running Windows 98.
After many troubleshooting ideas, including disabling avast resident protection, and working with Canon eCare, I ran msconfig to access and change my start-up programs. I unchecked Awil and Avast, restarted and the printer worked fine.
Before this the printer would be interrupted during a job, stop printing, shoot out blank pages, and print partial pages.
Does this help?
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Maybe this thread is similar to http://www.avast.com/forum/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=1486.
Although, your trouble seems to be related to the printer drivers...
What is the extension for the files at spool (try to print something and see the printer spool, generally at, C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool). Is avast! set to scan this particulary kind of file? Are you scanning all files?
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Thanks for the next step in troubleshooting! I have already tried pausing Avast! while printing and this didn't help.
How do I disable avast! from scanning files sent to printer? I believe I can do this by changing what's being blocked in the Resident Task Settings dialogue box, but am unsure what to check....
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Do you say that even disabling the whole avast! resident protection (or the Standard Shield) didn't help? If it is the case, then there is no point in excluding particular files from being scanned - since it obviously wouldn't help either.
Besides "pausing" the provider - did you try to "terminate" it?
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Yes, I tried both pausing and terminating (by unchecking Awil and Avast! in start-up programs in msconfig and restarting). Without av running at all, I can print normally from Word, but still have problems printing from Web. I am working on the web problem.
However, what can I do to allow av to run and print normally from Word? I am not sure what the blocker commands mean in the dialogue box for Resident Task Settings. Sure appreciate your help!
Hey was does it mean that "I'm a llama"?
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Yes, I tried both pausing and terminating (by unchecking Awil and Avast! in start-up programs in msconfig and restarting). Without av running at all, I can print normally from Word, but still have problems printing from Web. I am working on the web problem.
However, what can I do to allow av to run and print normally from Word? I am not sure what the blocker commands mean in the dialogue box for Resident Task Settings. Sure appreciate your help!
See Help file NRS - Blocker. Operations that "dangerous" files (detected by the extention) want to do but will be blocked by avast!
Hey was does it mean that "I'm a llama"?
Edit your profile and take away this weird default value ;)
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bj,
Just as an aside thought, do you have a firewall that might be interfering with your printer/scanner ports?.
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Phil,
I am not aware of any problem caused by AVAST with printers or scanners. Your's is unique to me. I am puzzled at the moment. There is a remote possiblity that AVAST may SHARE some of the dll's (Dynamic Link Library) that your printer and scanner use. In that case, if AVAST gets to them first, it may not release them for the printer and scanner to use. This question I will need to pass on to the AVAST Team research.
WHOCARES provided some general remedies which might improve system performance but I doubt that they will cure the underlying problem
What is your scanner/printer manufacturer? We may need to contact them to ascertain if there are any SOFTWARE CONFLICTS with anti-virus programs.
WHOCARES also brought up a very good point indeed.....if you have been trying various anti-virus software, you may have an accumulation of "leftover" files. (NAV AND MCAFEE are not that easy to remove in their entirety)
You my try reinstalling the drivers for the scanner and printer.
Right now we will try what we can until we have a more direct path to follow.
techie101
Thanks for all this, people. I have'nt had time to get back here, and will act on some of the ideas, the printer and scanner work perfectly OK if Avast is switched off, but I havent needed to use either since, so I dunno if it was just a blip. I am having problems with some e-mail addresses I have (I use 7, and 3 or 4 are now giving me problem more than that, they are not downloading or sending - whereas before, I had no problem) So, I'm up for any FURTHER advice in that department !!! ::) ;D ;D ;D
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bj,
Just as an aside thought, do you have a firewall that might be interfering with your printer/scanner ports?.
Firewall I certainly have - an Agnitum Outpost. But hasnt interfered with printer/scanner when i have tried other av's
Just tried scanner again after re-installing avast - worked first time, not a problem !!!! ;D :D ;) ;D
That solved, now to get the e-mail sorted ! :o ;D
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Phil
Glad to hear the prnt & scan problems sorted.
What exactly is going wrong with e-mail?.
btw, it has been mentioned here before that =utpost 'can' sometimes give problems.
More details on the e-mail problems please.
Walker
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Phil
Glad to hear the prnt & scan problems sorted.
What exactly is going wrong with e-mail?.
btw, it has been mentioned here before that =utpost 'can' sometimes give problems.
More details on the e-mail problems please.
Walker
Well, it just keeps popping up the usual error message when you have done slight error filling in, like password etc, only it worked quite OK prior to avast making the chages required to keep an eye on the mail. I have even had to go into the options and change them back manually in order to get my e-mail. I'd like it to be screened, but not if it's hitty/missy with deliveries.
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Make sure that your firewall is not blocking connections created by the mail scanner (ashMaiSv.exe).
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Where do I find the help file for Resident Protection blocker? Couldn't find it on the web site or a button on the user interface. yeh, I know, I'm a newbie...
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popping up the usual error message when you have done slight error filling in, like password etc,
Not too sure what you mean about 'usual' error message or the 'slight error filing in'. What e-mail client are you using and have you tried running the 'wizard' again?
I'd like it to be screened, but not if it's hitty/missy with deliveries.
Avast shouldn't be hitty/missy once it's configured. The folks here will help get it right.
Walker.
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Where do I find the help file for Resident Protection blocker? Couldn't find it on the web site or a button on the user interface. yeh, I know, I'm a newbie...
Can you find what your looking for in Start -> All Programs -> Avast Anti-virus -> Help -> Resident protection ?
Walker.
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bgolden: I believe you mean the so called "Behavior Blocker" (third page of the Standard Shield configuration window). It should block "suspicious" operations (i.e. operations often used by viruses, but sometimes by ordinary programs as well). It is a feature that was rather useful in the old DOS times, but is a little obsolete today. It's recommended to keep the default settings, unless you are an experienced user and know exactly what you want.
As already noted, the corresponding help page in the main avast help is:
Resident Protection / Standard Shield Provider Settings / "Blocker" Page.
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Thanks for all of the advice, support and questions.
My printer is a Canon BJC 240L. I have tried all of their troubleshooting suggestions. I do not have a firewall.
Right now, if I want to print something important, I uncheck both av programs in msconfig, restart and print. A bit cumbersome to say the least, but it works until we find an answer. Thanks again.
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Sorry for the few days in between - work !
I keep getting the error box coming up as if my password isnt right (it is) and then "password rejected" yet later, there may well sometimes be an e-mail that DOES get through. Irritating to say the least.
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Make sure that your firewall is not blocking connections created by the mail scanner (ashMaiSv.exe).
Phil, please try vojtech solution posted elsewhere: Yes there is a bug in the new version. It does not appear always, it depends on message size and network speed and that's why it was not revealed, I'm really sorry for this. Please try this fix: http://www2.asw.cz/~peterka/287/ashMaiSv.exe
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I too had printer prob. Windows XP and Lexmark after replacing cartridges Avast will not allow a test page resulting in cartridge stall. definitely a prob w/ Avast blocking driver lxdncoms.exe/lxdnwbgw.ece. unfortunately you must remove Avast reset driver /print/ reload avast. worked for me.