Avast WEBforum
Consumer Products => Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security (legacy Pro Antivirus, Internet Security, Premier) => Topic started by: scarygary on December 27, 2005, 01:13:53 AM
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I didn't see anything on the faq's about this, but I keep getting a small window that says: Avast connection timeout has elapsed, continue to wait, yes or no.........
I press no and it goes away for a minute or two from my tray then reappears. Anybody?
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A little more info wouldn't hurt....Like what program is causing this(it says in that window that keeps popping up) and a little info on your system(what OS,updates,email program etc.).A screenshot of this window would be nice too.
P.S:Welcome to the forum!
Mikey
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I have had a similar problem. I've attached a screenshot. I also get a small icon in the systemtray with the same address as the one shown in the screenshot, but nothing happens when you click on it.
Seems harmless otherwise.
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Just had a look at the forums. See here:
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?board=11;action=display;threadid=8786;start=0
and some other places. The tray icon is the mail scanner, the message pops up when its connection to a server times out.
My issue is: I don't use a mail client. All my mail is web based. Is it safe to turn this off? How can I do that?
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My issue is: I don't use a mail client. All my mail is web based. Is it safe to turn this off? How can I do that?
Well if you don't use e-mail programs for reading mail it's totally safe to turn it off since there isn't a need for scanning email client programs.The web shield should scan everything that's going on in the browser including your mail(BTW most of the web based email services already scan email on their server eg. Hotmail,Gmail ;) ) To turn off the internet mail providers left click the "a" ball then click details, go to internet mail provider and click terminate.That's it.
(http://img363.imageshack.us/img363/7951/terminatemail2qe.jpg)
Cheers
Mikey
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Forum search would give you answers much faster. Also I posted some screenshots to explain those things little bit closer (how to increase internet connection timeout in avast's internet mail provider as well as in Outlook Express):
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=15832.msg133578#msg133578
How to configure everything in avast! Internet Mail provider:
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=8951.msg74056#msg74056
And how to do it in OE:
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=8951.msg74061#msg74061
Regards
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I have had a similar problem. I've attached a screenshot. I also get a small icon in the systemtray with the same address as the one shown in the screenshot, but nothing happens when you click on it.
Seems harmless otherwise.
As has been said you could disable the avast email scanner as you don't use it for inbound email. However, this provider can also give some prevention against outbound emails being sent without your knowledge, multiple emails being sent in a short period, spam or malware. So it may be worth leaving in place as if it isn't in use it doesn't use a large amount of system resources and it could provide a warning of an undetected piece of malware on your system.
Are you are using Azureus it is possible that you need to change the ports you listen on.
Check out this Thread http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=18105.0
and this post in particular http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=18105.msg154105#msg154105
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As has been said you could disable the avast email scanner as you don't use it for inbound email. However, this provider can also give some prevention against outbound emails being sent without your knowledge, multiple emails being sent in a short period, spam or malware.
He doesn't use email clients so from where could the mails be sent David?Sorry could you explain a little more i'm a little lost... ??? BTW so i was right about Azureus after all ;) it's good i saw this post of yours directing to that thread then.
thanks
Mikey
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He may not use emails or even have one installed, that doesn't stop some spambots or malware with their own SMTP engine from sending emails from his PC without his knowledge or consent.
We have had this exact issue in the forums with one person being warned by their ISP for sending spam when they didn't personally send it but it came from their system. Another with the same thing and being warned by avast about bulk mail, all without the owners consent or knowledge.
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=18217.msg155490#msg155490
We still don't know if 'scarygary' or 'cheyrou23' is using Azureus but they probably are.
As Alan mentions in the post "It allows users to connect to each other and allows one user to tell another user what port they are choosing to listen on and so if user A tells backdraft to establish a connection to his system hxxxxxxxxx.dsl.xxxxxxxxx.xx (clearly a user address and not the email server of that ISP) at port 110 then that is what azureus (running under javaw.exe) will do.
If the user has indeed set this as his listening port then, yes you were correct.
If the user didn't set that as the listening port then it needs further investigation as how this got set to one of the email ports if 'cheyrou23' or 'scarygary' didn't set it up this way.. Perhaps as Alan mentioned Azureus gould block the use of email or other pre-assigned ports for listening ports?
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Thanks for the information. I am running Azureus most of the time. I've told it to ignore the ports 25;110;119;143 as suggested and I'm still getting OK performance at the moment. Time will tell on the timeout messages as they are only intermittent.
Even though I don't use a mail client I would rather leave the scanning on in case my PC does get misused.
Thanks again!
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Thanks for the information. I am running Azureus most of the time. I've told it to ignore the ports 25;110;119;143 as suggested and I'm still getting OK performance at the moment. Time will tell on the timeout messages as they are only intermittent.
Even though I don't use a mail client I would rather leave the scanning on in case my PC does get misused.
Thanks again!
Yes i am on Azureus too.I am running it 24/7(seeding more than downloading ;) )Well i've blocked those ports too and so far i haven't gotten a timeout issue.But it's true that i just installed avast! home today(was on another AV for 2 months, before that i was on avast! pro for a year) so i have to wait a day or two to see if this is really it(but i think it is).
BTW I think that there are very few people using those email ports so it won't hurt your performance if you block them.But i still don't get why they are using those ports considering there are so many to choose from or is there a more "darker" reason, maybe uPnP has something to do with it since it chooses the ports for you ??? )
Cheers
Mikey
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What would happen if the uPnP service were disabled or set to Manual, does Azureus require it to be running?
Disabling uPnP has been reccommended by some (old blackviper site and some others) as most people don't require it, typically sharing devices (previously printers) over the internet, unless sharing your HDD shared folder, etc. is considered a device share?
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Well i personally don't use upnp but i know alot of people do(like Sasha).Azureus doesn't require it to be running it is just an "extra" feature(alot of other p2p programs support this too).I have my ports manually set up in the program and router(and i also have the windows services for upnp disabled).Upnp just means that the router auto sets up the ports which the program will use so you don't have to do it manually(quite a nice feature when you think of it).But like i said i just like to set up these things myself and i also heard it's unsafe so that's why i don't use it.So to answer your question if you would disable it you'd have to manually set up ports in your router and program.But i'm not so sure anymore that this feature is the problem.I think that some people either don't know that these ports are used for email normally or they just don't care when they set them up for their bittorrent clients.
EDIT:I added a screenshot below on how to block ports in Azureus....
(http://img430.imageshack.us/img430/2901/blockports1zz.jpg)
Regards,
Mikey
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Yes Miha is right about UPnP facts...
I just bought myself new router/firewall D-Link DI-624 AirPlusXtremeG Up to 108 Mbps, 128-bit WEP, WPA or WPA2 encryption. Unbelievable machine, and yes... I just couldn't resist... I trashed my Linksys, and finally decided to go back to my beloved D-Link... by the way, they menufacture them just 15 km from where I live. Largest D-link factory in Canada is here, small place close to Toronto, right on the lake, called Oakville.
Yes you can configure those ports manually, but using UPnP feature is much faster. I don't believe it's such a security threat... if it was a true, I am sure all those router manufacturers (router programmers) would give up on that feature as soon as something came up. Remember, it's so easy to include some options as well as it's unbelievable easy to remove them. We are well aware of how often we see those firmwares released for this type of hardware. I just upgraded mine to latest one, and I've got at least 10 new features included.
This is how it's set up (automaticaly by Azureus) in my new baby...
Cheers !
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Well i personally don't use upnp but i know alot of people do(like Sasha).Azureus doesn't require it to be running it is just an "extra" feature(alot of other p2p programs support this too). I have my ports manually set up in the program and router(and i also have the windows services for upnp disabled).Upnp just means that the router auto sets up the ports which the program will use so you don't have to do it manually(quite a nice feature when you think of it).
Thanks, like you I have uPnP disabled and would prefer to set things up manually, as and when I'm able to get broadband in my area that is and use a router.
So to answer your question if you would disable it you'd have to manually set up ports in your router and program. But i'm not so sure anymore that this feature is the problem. I think that some people either don't know that these ports are used for email normally or they just don't care when they set them up for their bittorrent clients.
EDIT:I added a screenshot below on how to block ports in Azureus....
I Think the lessor of two evils for most people would be to allow uPnP to do the set-up automatically rather than have to do it manually then. I'm sure many people don't know what ports are for email.
The image may well be useful to Azureus users, perhaps posting it in the other thread would keep things together nicely with Alan's explanation.
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The image may well be useful to Azureus users, perhaps posting it in the other thread would keep things together nicely with Alan's explanation.
OK i posted the screenshot in that thread http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=18105.15