Avast 7 - Can't Use Web Shield or Mail Shield

[kmk]

I uninstalled Avast 7 in Safe Mode using aswclear.exe. I then searched and deleted everything that was left over on my computer called avast. I cleaned the registry. I restarted the computer. I re-installed Avast 7. Same problem as before. Mail Shield blocks my mail and Web Shield blocks the internet. I have used Avast for years and never had this problem before. 

[Para-Noid]

Have you tried a "repair"? Control Panel>Programs and Features/ Uninstall>double click "avast">scroll to and click "repair">reboot. 
Also you didn't provide much needed info. OS? What other security software you have or ever had? If uninstalled, how was it uninstalled?
Use extreme caution when digging around the registry as you could cause some real damage. CCleaner is safe to use to clean the registry.

http://filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/ 

[kmk]

I didn't mention it, but I have already tried the 'Repair'. I have Win XP Pro and I have only used Avast for years, updated many times, and never had any such problem. I used CCleaner to clean the registry.

[Para-Noid]

What are you using as a firewall? Have you made the proper mutual exclusions? 

[kmk]

I am using Online Armor free. I don't know how to make the proper mutual exclusions.

[kmk]

I disabled the Online Armor Firewall and enabled the Windows Firewall and the Avast Mail Shield and Web Shield. Now my email clients are working and I can access the internet. This is progress, but I would still rather use my Online Armor Firewall.

[kmk]

Another oddity is that when I enabled all Avast shields and the Windows Firewall and disabled the Online Armor Firewall and Online Armor Web Shield, but left Online Armor running in the background, I could access my mail and the internet and everything seemed fine. When I shut down Online Armor altogether, but just left Avast and the Windows Firewall on, I could no longer access my mail or the internet.

[Para-Noid]

I contacted our resident Online Armor expert. They will be able to assist you better than me. I was using OA Free but that was a while ago. I am using Private Firewall. Please be patient they will help you. I sent them the link to this thread. 

[SafeSurf]

Hi kmk,

Let me see if I can give you some assistance with your problem.  Now that OA is off, the XP Firewall really gives you no protection, so I'm going to give you some instructions on how to provide mutual exclusions for both Avast and OA to play well together (trust each other).

But before we do that, my questions to you are:

1.  What version (full version) of Avast are you using?  7.0.1456 or 7.0.1426? I understand that you did a clean install and then cleaned your PC afterwards when the mail shield problem developed.  BTW, there will be a new release coming out in the next week or so to fix some 7.0.1456 issues.
2.  When you used the Avast Uninstaller Tool, since you had previous versions in your machine, did you also remove them one at a time in Safe Mode with a reboot in between?  If not, there still could be remnants of these old versions in your machine.
3.  Is your OS SP3 or lower?

If you uninstalled OA or Avast from your machine, I would suggest you do a clean install of OA; if you need to uninstall, do it in Safe Mode > Start > Online Armor > Uninstall OA. 

The best way to exclude both OA and Avast is the following:

To exclude OA in Avast:

·   Settings > Exclusions > Add > search for Online Armor and click on the box to the left of it and add it, then click OK.
·   File System Shields > Expert Settings > Trusted Processes > Add > search for Online Armor and click on the box to the left of it and add it, then click OK.
·   Behavior Shield > Expert Settings > Trusted Processes > Add > search for Online Armor and click on the box to the left of it and add it, then click OK.  Also change action to take in Behavior Shield to “Ask.”

To exclude Avast in OA:
·   Open the OA GUI > Options > Exclusions > Add > click on the pop-up window and find C:\Program Files\Avast Software\.
·   When you reboot OA (to go into Learning Mode), make sure ALL Avast shields are left on.
·   Reboot your machine again; OA requires two boots.  After this second reboot, you may get a pop-up asking you if you trust Avast.  Answer the pop-up as "Trust Always" and "Remember My Decision" and you should not get any more pop-ups. 
·   Open the OA GUI > Programs > untick "Hide Trusted" so that you can see everything > look to make sure everything from Avast is not "blocked" (red) or "ask" (yellow).  If it is, right-click the item and change it to "Trust."  Reboot.

·   Open the OA GUI > Options > Backup/Restore > Save your settings once you have everything the way you want it; you can save it in Documents to find it easy if you like.

Let me know if you have any questions.  Thank you. 

[kmk]

Versions - Avast 7.0.1456; Windows XP Pro SP3
No previous versions of Avast left over from prior installs except for what might have been deleted after I used the free 'Everything' software available on Snapfiles dot com to search for 'Avast'.
I did not do a clean re-install of Online Armor.
I did the whole mutual exclusion thing as you prescribed.
After all of that, everything was working, sort of. Firefox loading webpages was like waiting for molasses in the winter. I did not test other browsers. The mail seemed to be ok.
I got fed up with the whole thing, disabled Online Armor, removed it from startup and installed Comodo (firewall only). Now everything is running like the proverbial well-oiled machine.

[SafeSurf]

Well, you have 2 choices, stick with Comodo if everything is playing well and you are happy with it, or do an uninstall of Comodo and OA and clean install of OA.  Having previous versions on your machine can often leave remnants, esp. if you do not clean your machine.  So it is up to you.  If you stay with Comodo, make sure you put the firewall as an mutual exclusion since it is still a security software.  Also make sure the AV is disabled with Comodo.  Let us know if you have any questions.  Thanks.