Author Topic: Blocked from internet & email, again!  (Read 18021 times)

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Spectacle

  • Guest
Re: Blocked from internet & email, again!
« Reply #15 on: July 27, 2012, 03:50:11 AM »
Win XP-Pro SP3:
Avast has become useless. Now every single time I bootup & attempt logon Avast locks up the computer. I've been having this problem for about a month.

Connect to ISP, no problem: then try to connect to Outlook Express email, Error popup, 'Connect Error 10060, Port 110, Secure [SSL]: No, Server Error: 0x800CCC90, Error Number 0x800CCC90. Had this problem for a month.

Try to force update Avast Definitions, Error! Download325.avast.com.1avs5x.server.def - Connection Error, at Avast server. There have been Avast Server connection problems for over a month.

Internet Explorer dead, cannot log on to internet. There have ben dozens of reports of this problem for over a month.

Reboot may or may not enable computer. Today it has been locked up all afternoon, tried reboot 4-5 times, always the same, locked up cold. Cannot update definitions manually. tApparently every Automatic Update is reinstalling the same problem code each time, because I can usually get computer to respond and connect after rebooting, then fails next time after updates! Today I cannot connect at all as I write this.

I have Process Sounds enabled. Today computer just made the sounds heard when Avast updates, but no update occurred. However right after that the Avast corrected itself and I'm able to logon to email and internet.

Dozens of people are reporting this problem in one way or another for over a month. There may be hundreds more who don't post on Avast Forum, or who have a dead useless computer and couldn't post if they wanted to!

When is Avast going to solve this CONTINUOUS PROBLEM - SO THAT CUSTOMERS CAN ACTUALLY USE THEIR COMPUTERS?!!?

dansorin

  • Guest
Re: Blocked from internet & email, again!
« Reply #16 on: July 27, 2012, 10:14:41 AM »
I guess something went wrong with the last update install. if you already tried a clean install of Avast, you can only wait for a version update to be released. it seems you think very dearly of Avast if you put up with things like this.

Spectacle

  • Guest
Re: Blocked from internet & email, again!
« Reply #17 on: July 27, 2012, 04:05:03 PM »
I guess something went wrong with the last update install. if you already tried a clean install of Avast, you can only wait for a version update to be released. it seems you think very dearly of Avast if you put up with things like this.

Thanks, Dan,

No, for a fact my regard for Avast has faded quite a bit lately! I hadn't heard anything about doing a clean install, that ithismight be a problem that occurred when last update installed. Other than mention of Spybot being the cause of the problem, as I was told earlier, I haven't heard much of anything.

I'll see if I can do an uninstall and reinstall, hope that works. Thanks for the tip!

MAG

  • Guest
Re: Blocked from internet & email, again!
« Reply #18 on: July 27, 2012, 04:19:58 PM »
After you uninstall reboot, run the avast uninstall utility http://www.avast.com/uninstall-utility in safe mode and reboot again before reinstalling.

Spectacle

  • Guest
Re: Blocked from internet & email, again!
« Reply #19 on: July 27, 2012, 05:00:22 PM »
After you uninstall reboot, run the avast uninstall utility http://www.avast.com/uninstall-utility in safe mode and reboot again before reinstalling.

Thanks,

I normally use REVO Uninstaller at Level 4 because it completely removes every fragment of a program's Registry entries that program uninstallers usually leave behind.

MAG

  • Guest
Re: Blocked from internet & email, again!
« Reply #20 on: July 27, 2012, 05:38:39 PM »
As you wish - but if you do a forum search you'll see that very many of the most experienced users don't recommend Revo for security apps.

Some seem to say it doesn't do as good (thorough) a job as the dedicated uninstallers. Most however seem to think that the main problem is that ir removes too many shared dll's etc, which can in itself lead to other problems.

Spectacle

  • Guest
Re: Blocked from internet & email, again!
« Reply #21 on: July 27, 2012, 06:26:16 PM »
Thanks, I'll look into it.

Thing is with Revo it uses the program's own uninstaller.
Those will remove what the programmers designed it to remove. Then Revo goes through your choice of 1, 2 or 3 progressively more intense levels of removal to get all the leftovers. Some security programs intentionally leave stuff behind. I won't name names, but part of the reason for that is to meddle with future security program's installations, sort of a payback and part of the competition in the business.

I'm not that experienced or knowledgeable on shared dll's but in the past the only way I could remove all the fragments of a security program or any other was Revo. If the Avast uninstaller really works then it's a non-issue and no need for Revo. Matter of fact it probably doesn't much matter anyway if Avast uninstaller doesn't remove everything if I'm going to reinstall afterwards.

On second though in this scenario I'll just use the Avast uninstaller you posted, thanks for that!

MAG

  • Guest
Re: Blocked from internet & email, again!
« Reply #22 on: July 27, 2012, 06:36:55 PM »
One more thought.

After uninstalling and after reinstalling check what avast redirect drivers you have.

There was a problem I recall with the installer pulling in two versions of the web/mail shield redirect driver (aswRdr.sys and aswRdr2.sys).

The symptoms I had when both were present weren't really what you describe, so I doubt if it's relevant, but it does no harm to take a look anyway.

Spectacle

  • Guest
Re: Blocked from internet & email, again!
« Reply #23 on: July 27, 2012, 07:07:28 PM »
Addressed to Avast in general, I do find it beyond coincidental that in the huge majority of cases any problem at all with Avast is almost always described as a problem on the customer's end! It doesn't much matter how many other customers are having an identical or extremely similar problem.

Must be something I did wrong, or my machine did wrong, or sun spots or the rotation of the earth. Then after I uninstall this, reinstall that, change this, reset that and it still doesn't work the answer seems to be, "Maybe there is a small problem somewhere with Avast and I'm sure somebody must be working on it..."

That just doesn't inspire much confidence out here on this end.

MAG

  • Guest
Re: Blocked from internet & email, again!
« Reply #24 on: July 27, 2012, 09:16:34 PM »
I do find it beyond coincidental that in the huge majority of cases any problem at all with Avast is almost always described as a problem on the customer's end!

That just reflects the fact that there are millions of different user set-ups out there, and only a tiny fraction of them can be replicated in testing.

This is just a user support forum, for people with avast problems and possible solutions - if it consoles you at all I've had issues on my W7 machine with the last three avast releases.

Spectacle

  • Guest
Re: Blocked from internet & email, again!
« Reply #25 on: July 27, 2012, 09:42:25 PM »
Thanks for the tip, Mag. Unfortunately that's probably a little ways beyond my skills. I'm not all that clever on the buzz & click box, only a bit above basics.

That last post sure wasn't pointed at you, I appreciate the help. Fact is I had problems with the last 4 AV's I installed, including Avast, and this is a reinstall after other failures. Thought it was finally going to work right and it did, worked great until that last horror story update of 7.0.1456! That's causing a world of problems across the board. So, back to square one, again, after 2-3 other agains! Gets tiresome, plus I don't like getting a virus/worm when my system is supposed to be protected and updates every hour or two. No sense of humor there.

Thanks...

dansorin

  • Guest
Re: Blocked from internet & email, again!
« Reply #26 on: July 27, 2012, 09:57:36 PM »
... I've had issues on my W7 machine with the last three avast releases.
this shows a lack of proper testing before releasing the program updates, even considering the big user base. back when I used avast (after a few years of use), I had the program updates set to "manual" and only the virus database updates on "automatic", because of the frequent bugs in the program updates. after a new release I checked the forum to find out what problems are with the last version. I only upgraded if those problems were not relevant to me. I guess this is the safest approach, since each upgrade doesn't bring overwhelming changes.

Spectacle

  • Guest
Re: Blocked from internet & email, again!
« Reply #27 on: July 29, 2012, 08:28:26 AM »
... I've had issues on my W7 machine with the last three avast releases.
this shows a lack of proper testing before releasing the program updates, even considering the big user base. back when I used avast (after a few years of use), I had the program updates set to "manual" and only the virus database updates on "automatic", because of the frequent bugs in the program updates. after a new release I checked the forum to find out what problems are with the last version. I only upgraded if those problems were not relevant to me. I guess this is the safest approach, since each upgrade doesn't bring overwhelming changes.

That makes a lot of sense! I'm set up for program to alert me when new updates available, but like a dummy I went ahead and 'upgraded' [HA!] without checking feedback. Now I'm paying for it...

More than a little confused here: tonight Avast dropped out and locked up access to both Outlook Express and the Internet, never done that before. Prior to that I was disconnected from my ISP dialup server 3-4 times, which is unusual too. Had to restart 4 times before Avast would kick in and allow O/E & I/E programs to run.

While playing with it I tried to force Avast to update definitions. It would connect to Avast server, report that it was downloading files, then say, 'Connection terminated...', again and again, I lost count. Various servers it supposedly connected to were 46.165.208.197, 46.165,208.200, download.119.avast.com, download745, download340, download362, download378, download322, downoad318, 199.189.106.12 and I got tired of watching terminate connections after it supposedly started to download definition updates.

Could not download any definitions from any Avast servers.

So I wanted to uninstall and reinstall. Downloaded the aws.clear Uninstall program to desktop then thought to check the Avast exe files on desktop for reinstall. Supposedly, according to Avast User Interface, I have version 7.0.1456. But the last two versions downloaded to my desktop are 'Avast Pro Antivirus_setup.exe' for File Version 7.0.1426.0, and 'Setup_ais.exe' Version 6.0.1270.0.

Maybe they're older versions because it was automatic update last time, I guess that might explain it. Plus I lost my mind with all this sometime last month anyways...

Thanks, I'll try to uninstall and reinstall.

Spectacle

  • Guest
Re: Blocked from internet & email, again!
« Reply #28 on: July 30, 2012, 06:42:59 PM »
Happy to say I solved all the problems. The uninstall was difficult even with AWSClear tool, Avast didn't want it uninstalled! Had to uninstall, then reinstall for another uninstall before I could finally get Avast off my machine.

Installed Comodo CIS and it's running at 100%, also providing a top notch Firewall, 100% Live support and other features, all free of charge. Computer is noticeably faster, no annoying voice announcements, REPEATED, with every update. Lighter strain on resources and everything in one package. All websites load more quickly now, about 15%-20% faster at the least. Too bad that Avast has so much extra baggage and hassles included in its software and tosses out poorly tested Beta programs to its customers. Comodo works for me, without all the complex problems.

Thanks for the attempts at help folks, sorry it didn't work out.