Avast WEBforum
Consumer Products => Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security (legacy Pro Antivirus, Internet Security, Premier) => Topic started by: JN2 on February 24, 2007, 04:38:59 AM
-
Web Shield or Web Scanner does it block your surfing? At times I keep getting; there no internet connection.
I understand your new avast! comes with a on-access scanning provider - Web Shield.
Quote: It is able to monitor and filter all HTTP traffic coming from the Web sites on the Internet. It’s implemented as a HTTP proxy running on your PC. Connections from your Web browser are redirected to the Web Shield module. Web Shield in turn connects to the requested web server and while downloading the content it scans it for viruses and Trojans. Only the clean data is delivered to the browser, every malware is stopped before it gets saved on your PC
WOW! this definitely sounds like a lot a work for a web scanner; it must slow down the "surfing" or completely disconnect the internet connection, right? @ times I can't surf... I use 'FireFox v2.0.0.2' and Comodo Firewall Pro v2.4.18.184
-
JN2,
I have read your posts and I have to ask the question ... are you in this forum seeking help, to discuss issues or (if I take a less generous reading of your post) to advertise how clever you believe you are?
I shall suspend my own initial disbelief and assume you are here to discuss issues.
avast is used at this location on multiple systems including Win ME, Win XP Home, Win XP Pro and none of the systems exhibit any problems in browsing the I internet with the Webshield active.
The disingenuous comment:
WOW! this definitely sounds like a lot a work for a web scanner; it must slow down the "surfing" or completely disconnect the internet connection, right?
not withstanding, the Webshield very simply scans the http (not the https) transactions. No big deal, no noticeable slow down and it just keeps on doing it. The way it does it is not rocket science - and so I have to say "it is not a lot of work for a web scanner".
I use the same version of Firefox as you. I do not use the same firewall, Zone Alarm is on some machines, just Windows XP firewall on others. No difference in any - no slowdown by avast.
Would you care to tell us a bit more about the conditions in which you do experience problems?
-
Web shield could disconnect the internet, depending on your settings on webshield's advanced tab. If silent mode is checked, then webshield should abort connection when ever a virus is detected.
-
oldman,
may I suggest that your reply is misleading?
Browsers, by their design, establish multiple connections to the internet when building a web page. Avast, if it discovers a threat, will abort the specific thread on which the threat is discovered.
It does not, ever, stop the ability of the user to continue with a network connection.
-
JN2,
I have read your posts and I have to ask the question ... are you in this forum seeking help, to discuss issues or (if I take a less generous reading of your post) to advertise how clever you believe you are?
I shall suspend my own initial disbelief and assume you are here to discuss issues.
avast is used at this location on multiple systems including Win ME, Win XP Home, Win XP Pro and none of the systems exhibit any problems in browsing the I internet with the Webshield active.
The disingenuous comment:
WOW! this definitely sounds like a lot a work for a web scanner; it must slow down the "surfing" or completely disconnect the internet connection, right?
not withstanding, the Webshield very simply scans the http (not the https) transactions. No big deal, no noticeable slow down and it just keeps on doing it. The way it does it is not rocket science - and so I have to say "it is not a lot of work for a web scanner".
I use the same version of Firefox as you. I do not use the same firewall, Zone Alarm is on some machines, just Windows XP firewall on others. No difference in any - no slowdown by avast.
Would you care to tell us a bit more about the conditions in which you do experience problems?
I ask this, is becuz, whenever this happens at the time ... the phone rings as well. I've scan the computer about a zillion times... thinking about, maybe I have a dialer or something or maybe just coincidence, the results are always clean. I also use A-Squared Free... besides your new AVAST-Home. Another funny thing is I use Broadband Speed Test & Diagnostics add-on for FireFox...it works! https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2360/
This is the result:
Server not found
Firefox can't find the server at forums.comodo.com.
* Check the address for typing errors such as
ww.example.com instead of
www.example.com
* If you are unable to load any pages, check your computer's network
connection.
* If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy, make sure
that Firefox is permitted to access the Web.
-
Firefox can't find the server at forums.comodo.com.
Don't know if you have had this problem all the time, but the Comodo-forum was down 1-2 days recently, maybe that was the reason that you couldn't access it?
Can you connect today?
-
I'm getting this same issue. Periodically Firefox just won't load web pages, but returns a "Server not found" error. If I pause web shield, it loads the pages just fine. Sometimes just repeatedly refreshing the pages (hitting F5 until my finger hurts) fixes it, but sometimes I have to pause web shield.
This issue didn't exist until I installed Avast yesterday, so those two points in conjunction pretty much prove to me that it's either Avast or the Avast/FF combo that's occasionally borking things up.
WinXP Home, Avast 4 Home, FF 1.5.0.10, Windows Firewall on DSL
-
WinXP Home, Avast 4 Home, FF 1.5.0.10, Windows Firewall on DSL
Having no problems with FF 2.0.0.2... pages are loading fine and quick with DSL.
Couldn't be any other resident or security program? A proxy (annonimizer)? ???
-
Not running a proxy or any anonymizers or other security. Just Avast and WinFirewall. And as I said, no system changes at all except for installing Avast yesterday.
I know I'm due for a FF upgrade. Maybe that'll fix it, but not everyone's moved to 2.0 yet.
-
Can you give us examples of the problematic sites?
Maybe you can activate logging in WebShield:
1. Edit <avast>\data\avast4.ini file
2. Find the section [WebScanner]
3. Add the line:
EnableLogging=1
4. Restart Web Shield in XP (terminate and start again) or whole PC in case of Win98
5. Browse (trying to access some webpages)
The log file are <avast>\data\log\ashwebsv.log and ashwebsv.ws.
They would be accessible when WebShield is terminated again.
Post them here or send by mail to rypacek (at) asw.cz
After that, disable the logging to avoid a big log file.
-
I'll do that, and report back next time it bombs out on me. Thanks!
-
Dear support,
I'm having the same problem. When the avast! Web scanner is on, I hardly get to any page in IE 7.0 or FF 1.5.0.6. Usually the browser is 'waiting for reply' after 'website has been found' but it keeps waiting and waiting and eventually nothing happens. The problem started some 2 weeks ago when my computer got quite slow for no apparent reason and kept freezing after some 5 minutes of restarting it (Win XP Pro, Win Firewall, just basic applications+Avast professional (using ADNM), LAN on DSL). I noticed that after installing newest windows updates the freezing problem went but no Internet access problem has started. When I stop avast! Web scanner, I can browse anything I want, when I start it, nothing at all. The very interesting thing is that the folder C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4CLI has been created some 2 weeks ago when I, trust me, didn't touch avast at all. Folder C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4Client is there as well, created many months ago when I, using ADNM, installed it at first.
Here is the log:
23/05/2007 15:30:07,"http://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-1.5.0.11-complete&os=win&lang=en-GB","text/html; charset=UTF-8","GET",HTTP Status: 302,0,0,329,536,536,329,\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe,PID: 3152,CON: 127.0.0.1:12080->127.0.0.1:1151 <--> 10.1.5.221:1152->140.211.166.199:80,SEQ: 1
23/05/2007 15:30:07,"http://news.bbc.co.uk/rss/newsonline_uk_edition/front_page/rss.xml","","GET",HTTP Status: 304,0,0,229,558,558,229,\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe,PID: 3152,CON: 127.0.0.1:12080->127.0.0.1:1157 <--> 10.1.5.221:1158->212.58.226.33:80,SEQ: 1
23/05/2007 15:30:09,"http://www.google.com/firefox?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official","text/html","GET",HTTP Status: 302,0,261,527,542,542,529,\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe,PID: 3152,CON: 127.0.0.1:12080->127.0.0.1:1153 <--> 10.1.5.221:1154->216.239.59.103:80,SEQ: 1
23/05/2007 15:30:11,"http://mozilla2.mirrors.tds.net/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/1.5.0.11/update/win32/en-GB/firefox-1.5.0.11.complete.mar","application/octet-stream","GET",HTTP Status: 206,0,65536,65930,534,534,65932,\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe,PID: 3152,CON: 127.0.0.1:12080->127.0.0.1:1155 <--> 10.1.5.221:1156->64.50.236.214:80,SEQ: 1
23/05/2007 15:30:20,"http://www.zoznam.sk/","text/html; charset=windows-1250","GET",HTTP Status: 200,0,5423,5979,405,405,5981,\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe,PID: 3152,CON: 127.0.0.1:12080->127.0.0.1:1159 <--> 10.1.5.221:1160->213.81.185.31:80,SEQ: 1
After 2 minutes of waiting for www.zoznam.sk webpage with message 'Waiting for reply' I decided to stop the service and bring up the log.
Thank you for reply,
Martin Hurajt
-
I know it's not a solution, but a workaround, but if this happens only with some sites, you can add them to the exception url list. Is that log the webshield log as described above?
-
Yes, this was the AshWebSv.log . Generally there are three things that happen: in very most of cases I get 'waiting for reply' in browser status bar, animated FF or IE icon in top right and nothing happening (blank screen). In few cases I got blank page with 'Done' in status bar and finished downloading and in one case I got part of the website appeared but with many structural errors. I guess this has to do with browser's cache. No webpages got displayed correctly, so I can't use your advice. I think we should start asking, why the folder C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4CLI was created on its own 2 weeks ago. Btw, I uninstalled avast and installed it again from ADNM and no change.
Thanks a lot
Martin Hurajt
-
I need specialized help from Lukas or Vlk...
Sorry, can't go further...
-
Martin,
does the problem appear on any page, or are there some pages that work without a problem and some that are problematic?
luk.
-
Also, please, can you verify that you have the latest version, which should now be: 4.7.700
Thanks.
-
Hello,
I would just like to add my 2 cents' worth. I have been encountering this same problem for a long time now, at least a year or so as far as I can remember.
Symptoms : while surfing with Firefox (I haven't seen this with IE), every now and then when I click on a link, I get the following behaviour : the hard drive light turns on and stays lit as if the disk was working hard. While this is going on, navigating is completely impossible, though established connections (e.g. streaming) sometimes survive. But anything requiring a new TCP session or DNS request just doesn't make it. The blocking effect lasts anywhere between 30 seconds and 3 to 4 minutes, then everything returns to normal.
Related observations : although the disk light is on and flickers as if the disk was grinding away, the task manager shows no unusual CPU activity, and doesn't appear to show abnormal read/writes. After checking various other possible sources (particularly the Firewall, which is also Comodo 2.4.18.184) I noticed that the Avast Standard Shield provider appeared to be scanning a great number of files while the problem was occuring, and the disappearance of the problem appears to coincide with the provider stopping its scanning.
The problem does not appear to be related to any specific site, URL or content type, but again, seems to be related to surfing using Firefox rather than IE. Also, this may be a figment of my imagination, but the effect seems to happen particularly often if I have left things alone for a few minutes then start navigating again.
Config : HP Pavilion 5138ea, Athlon-XP-M 3000, 512 MB RAM, Windows XP Home SP2 (German) with full patches, Firefox 2.0.0.3, IE7 7.0.5730.11, Outlook XP SP3, Avast Home 4.7.1001, Comodo Firewall 2.4.18.184
Note that this has been happening since well before any of those versions were available. The Avast scanner configuration is default.
I hope that gives you a little more information, and I will post back if I notice any additional details regarding how/when this happens.
This possible problem aside, thanks to Avast for making such a useful product available to us all.
Cheers,
JeremyG