Avast WEBforum
Consumer Products => Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security (legacy Pro Antivirus, Internet Security, Premier) => Topic started by: wiseoldman on January 19, 2011, 07:33:03 AM
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Please please can someone point me in the right direction in solving this issue Im having with my favourite anti virus software client Avast. Im running a 32bit version of Windows 7 and this problem has just started with no reason to do so. There has been no issues before hand, no installs or uninstalls; it just started a few days ago.
My only solution to get access to webpages is to disable the Web Shield and all is fine then, so seems like a Avast problem here in my eyes.
Ive been through many forums including all post on this forum with similar or the same issues and tried all that is suggested with no luck so far. Ive tried the winstock.bat suggestion for win 7 and fine it works but restart the laptop and Im back to square one and no access to webpages again.
I really dont want to go down the line of having to install another antivirus package due to this issue but I can't carry on like this without a solution for much longer.
If I keep the Web Shield disabled for now I'm I creating too much of a risk for myself is the question until a solution can be found ?.
I use Outpost Free firewall but disable this and leave just avast running with the Web Shield enabled and still no access to websites so it isnt a firewall issue here it is definitely something to do with Advast in my eyes.
Im with Orange Broadband in the UK here if that info is of any use as well.
Please please can someone get this sorted out for me, it is frustrating to say the least.
Thank you in advance for an help / suggestions that are posted here.
p.s sorry for any spelling mistakes in my post.
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Hello wiseoldman and welcome to the forum.
1. What version of Avast did you have installed? Was this an upgrade or something you have had all along, or a clean install?
2. What product of Avast did you install? Free, Pro, AIS?
3. What other security software do you currently have or did you have in the past on this machine including:
- Antivirus (AV)
- Firewall (FW)
- Trial versions of AV, FW and other security programs
- Other security software
- If they were in the past, how did you remove them (the vendor's uninstaller's tool or another way)?
Regarding your firewall (FW), since you have disabled Outpost, for now I would enable Windows FW for protection.
Can you also please run a Malwarebytes (MBAM) scan to check for malware since you have gone unprotected?
· Download free http://www.malwarebytes.org/ (http://www.malwarebytes.org/) (the blue button) for an on-demand scanner.
· Double Click mbam-setup.exe to install the application.
· After install, click update so you have latest database before scanning.
· Under Settings:
o General: Automatically Save File After Scan Completes is checked off
o Scanner Settings: Check all boxes
o Updater: Download and install update if available is checked off
· Once the program has loaded, select "Perform FULL Scan", then click Scan.
· The scan may take some time to finish, so please be patient.
· When the disinfection scan is complete, a log will appear in Notepad and you may be prompted to Restart. (See Extra Note).
· Click the “remove selected” button to quarantine anything found. You will find the infection details under the Quarantine tab.
· The log is automatically saved by MBAM and can be viewed by clicking the Logs tab in MBAM.
· Copy & Paste the entire report in your next reply.
Please answer the above questions as well as post your MBAM log in your next post, as well as any questions you may have. Thank you.
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Hello and thank you for the quick reply.
Ill go through your requests one by one and try and answer the best I can
1 & 2 - We have Avast free version - 5.1.889 installed at the moment. Avast has been on this laptop from the last reinstall about 9 months ago and up until the last week has worked fine. We have done all the updates when prompted over the months and any new versions installed when prompted after uninstalling the old version.
3 - The only other security software we use is outpost firewall but I know that isnt the problem as I have had that disabled fully and just avast running and it wont access any websites until I disable the web shield in advast then it works fine.
I downloaded malwarebytes and set it it up as instructed by you and run the scan which lasted for over an hour.
Below is a copy of the report it produced, it produced one issue which it sorted out after a reinstall but no improvement to the problem we have so webpages are still not opening.
The operating system we have is windows 7 32bit version.
The laptop has been working fine up until this problem occured last week. There has been no new programs installed or uninstalled in this period.
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Here is the Malwarebytes log for you
Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware 1.50.1.1100
www.malwarebytes.org
Database version: 5553
Windows 6.1.7600
Internet Explorer 8.0.7600.16385
19/01/2011 14:59:03
mbam-log-2011-01-19 (14-59-03).txt
Scan type: Full scan (C:\|)
Objects scanned: 337325
Time elapsed: 1 hour(s), 16 minute(s), 17 second(s)
Memory Processes Infected: 0
Memory Modules Infected: 0
Registry Keys Infected: 0
Registry Values Infected: 0
Registry Data Items Infected: 0
Folders Infected: 0
Files Infected: 1
Memory Processes Infected:
(No malicious items detected)
Memory Modules Infected:
(No malicious items detected)
Registry Keys Infected:
(No malicious items detected)
Registry Values Infected:
(No malicious items detected)
Registry Data Items Infected:
(No malicious items detected)
Folders Infected:
(No malicious items detected)
Files Infected:
c:\Users\Sam\documents\Programs\Games\monday sucks.exe (JokeApp.NotFunny) -> Quarantined and deleted successfully.
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Correction to my 2nd post on this sentence
Below is a copy of the report it produced, it produced one issue which it sorted out after a reinstall but no improvement to the problem we have so webpages are still not opening.
I was meant to type restarted instead of what I did type reinstall, sorry about that.
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Well in a few days time I will be giving up with this problem and Im afraid uninstalling avast in favour of another freebie.
If I dont have any more help come my way in the next couple of days (today is the 22nd Jan) then I cannot do anything else but uninstall avast, so consider this closed after then as an at a loss to an explanation to the problem Im having.
Thank you for the help I did get though.
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You mentioned "winstock", did you mean winsock? If so, then disregard.
Please try this. May or may not work but is worth a shot.
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=65054.0
See reply number 3.
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The only other security software we use is outpost firewall but I know that isnt the problem as I have had that disabled fully and just avast running and it wont access any websites until I disable the web shield in advast then it works fine.
avast free does not block access to any clean site. It just scan, it's an antivirus, not a firewall.
Blocking access is for a firewall, in your case OA.
Did you try uninstalling OA and testing, then install OA again?
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<snip>
3 - The only other security software we use is outpost firewall but I know that isnt the problem as I have had that disabled fully and just avast running and it wont access any websites until I disable the web shield in advast then it works fine.
<snip>
Well completely disabled doesn't mean completely dean/not running as the low level drivers will still be loaded.
As you can see from my signature I have Outpost Firewall Pro (7.0.4), so exactly what version of Outpost Firewall do you have, there is a new free suite including modules that could conflict with avast's shields and Outpost normally detects avast when outpost is installed and asks you to confirm avast is installed. When you answer yes to it normally doesn't install the web control or anti-spyware modules (and anti-virus in the outpost free suite).
Was avast already installed when you installed outpost firewall ?
In the Outpost Firewall settings, Application Rules, confirm that avastSvc.exe is allowed Network access (and anti-leak) if it already is, delete any entry for it and reconnect to the internet and this should force Outpost to ask permission again.
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The only other security software we use is outpost firewall but I know that isnt the problem as I have had that disabled fully and just avast running and it wont access any websites until I disable the web shield in advast then it works fine.
avast free does not block access to any clean site. It just scan, it's an antivirus, not a firewall.
Blocking access is for a firewall, in your case OA.
Did you try uninstalling OA and testing, then install OA again?
While I agree that antivirus should not block access to clean sites, it's pretty obvious from all of the many posts here regarding Avast blocking access to the web - and from my own experience - that there is something wrong with the web shield in this particular version.
For everyone who has posted this particular problem here:
1) Previous versions of Avast worked fine, or at least didn't appear to block web access.
2) After installing v5.1.889 numerous significant problems appeared for many users, including the inability to access web sites
3) Disabling or uninstalling Web Shield allowed the user to access web sites again.
4) Reverting to a previous version of Avast allowed the use of Web Shield without problems.
I understand software like this is very complex, and that there can be interactions between software packages that we might be unaware of that could cause problems.
However, it really SEEMS like you Avast folks are on the "It's someone else's software that's causing this new problem with Web Shield" bandwagon. My apologies if this is incorrect: I'm not trying to insult you, so please correct me if I'm wrong. But it would be nice if you'd entertain the thought for just a moment that Avast might actually be causing the problem. It sure appears that way at the moment.
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Well first off we have had no response from the OP to our last posts and as I use Outpost, the comments and questions I asked are particularly relevant. So it is a bit early to make any presumptions one way or another.
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Well first off we have had no response from the OP to our last posts and as I use Outpost, the comments and questions I asked are particularly relevant. So it is a bit early to make any presumptions one way or another.
I understand, but I was referring to the response to general Web Shield problems in with v5.1.889 and not only from this thread.
I'm not asking for presumptions, but an interest in resolving the issue with an eye towards the possibility that Avast Web Shield could be the problem.
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Well that shouldn't be brought up in a specific example all have to be treated on their own merits, here we are dealing with the most common cause of inability to browse, a firewall blocking the web shield. More so when the firewall in point has a similar function to the web shield that could also conflict.
So we are trying to seek confirmation one way or another so that we can move on if required, but we have had no response in almost 36 hours so we are stalled right now.
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Well that shouldn't be brought up in a specific example all have to be treated on their own merits, here we are dealing with the most common cause of inability to browse, a firewall blocking the web shield. More so when the firewall in point has a similar function to the web shield that could also conflict.
So we are trying to seek confirmation one way or another so that we can move on if required, but we have had no response in almost 36 hours so we are stalled right now.
Okay, I'll post my problem in a separate thread. Thanks for the response.
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You're welcome.
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Hi,
I also have a problem with avast 6.0.1.
After updating from version 5.1.889 to 6.0.1 my Internet browsers (Opera, Firefox, IE) are blocked. They cannot load Internet pages.
They start working normally after disabling Avast Web Shield. So the problem must be related with Avast 6.0.1.
Avast and Win 7 are updating normally with Web Shield enabled. Dropbox works fine too. i had no isues with Avast 5.1.889.
- Computer is running on Win7 ×64
- No firewalls installed
- Windows firewall disabled
Any solution to the problem?
Or should I roll back to version 5.1.889 ?
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- also see Cause for apparent Web Shield blocking internet connection, http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=57443.0 (http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=57443.0).
If that doesn't resolve the problem - I would suggest a clean reinstall of 6.0.1000:
- Download the latest version of avast, 6.0.1000 http://www.avast.com/free-antivirus-download (http://www.avast.com/free-antivirus-download) and save it to your HDD, somewhere you can find it again (if you didn't save your last download). Use that when you reinstall.
- Download the avast! Uninstall Utility, aswClear5.exe find it here (http://www.avast.com/uninstall-utility) and save it to your HDD (it has uninstall tools for both 5.x and 6.0.x). - 1. Now uninstall avast! (using add remove programs, if you can't do that start from the next step), reboot.
- 2. run the avast! Uninstall Utility from safe mode, first for 5.x if previously installed and then for 6.0, once complete reboot into normal mode.
- 3. install the latest version, reboot.