web pages not loading properly

[neiby]

I know this isn't entirely relevant at this point, but I'd like to mention that I'm having no problems with Avast 4.6 and the latest version of Kerio Personal Firewall, and I've used both Firefox 1.0 (my main browser) and the most updated version of IE. Operating system is a fully patched Win XP Home.

[neiby]

On the popup webshield just displays the main web address but  then ceases to load the remainder of the page.  For example when I go to www.betanews.com the popup shows scanning www.betanews. com and the fails to download anything else.

What popup are you talking about? I don't get popups when I use Web Shield unless a virus is found.

[Vlk]

He was refering to a popup from a firewall, asking for permissions for ashWebSv.exe...
Unfortunately, we're bemused to find that a number of renowed firewalls somehow don't work correctly - simply fail to ask and deny all network access for this process. While this is not really an avast problem, we understand that average users won't understand what's going on and simply feel that "avast is blocking access to the Internet". We've spent a lot of time testing webshield with all major firewalls - and yet it seems that on some machines, it still doesn't work correctly.


beebot, you didn't quote the Gateway Timeout message in its entirety There's a paragraph about the possibility that this is caused by a firewall blocking access to ashWebSv.exe. I think this is the case here.

Thanks
Vlk

[beebot]

well, i thought it might be zone alarm too, so I checked the permissions and fixed it. I still get the same problems for some reason.
Even with zonealarm disabled i get this gateway error. So right now if i want to browse i have to switch off webshield, same goes for if i want to check mail. This kind of defies the point of having avast running at all ...  Its just wierd because i really cant see why its coming up with any error  . I have been running avast for over a year now with no problems so far until i updated last night.
 hmm i'll let avast run some checks to see if i have any horrible nasties on this pc anyway and check back later. cheers for the help guys

[beebot]

nevermind! i managed to fix it  and yes it was a bug with my zonealarm install. for some reason it only seemed to take notice of the new permissions for ashserve.exe after i did a restart 
any other free firewalls out there that are recommended?

sorry if that got a little confusing there and thanks again

[Vlk]

OK, I retested it on a test machine:

XP SP2 + all critical updates
avast 4.6.603
ZA 5.5.062.011
Firefox 1.0

Unfortunately (or not?), the problem does not reproduce here. All of the above mentioned sites (www.avast.com, www.microsoft.com, www.bbc.co.uk) load nicely in Firefox...

[essexboy]

Hi Vlk  back again.  I had an old version of ZAPro on my drive so I uninstalled the new and installed the old 5.5.062.004 .  The popup I was talking about was the Avast on access scanner  message (I have set webshield to show detailed info on performed action).  I am still having the same problem so I'm wondering if it is something machine specific.  I disabled Spyware Guard, Spyware Blaster and Microsoft Antispy with no change.  What I intend to do next is download the latest Avast to disc then uninstall ZAPro and Avast then  reinstall the latest version of ZAPro followed by a clean install of Avast.   I'll be back in a bit to let you know how it goes..

[essexboy]

Hi Vlk back again....... ..... it worked a total uninstall of ZAPro and Avast  clear up the registry reinstall fresh and voila no problems (fingers crossed).  Could it be something to do with installing 2 updates so close together ?   

[Vlk]

Hmm, I have absolutely no idea what was causing the problem...

[compumedic]

Well I would say this is definitely a problem with the avast update. Since the update I hadn't restarted my computer for around 20-24 hrs. Everything had been working fine. Then I restarted my computer and couldn't get out to my router even. I turned avast off viola! I had access. I restarted again with the same result, getting the error message shown below. I turned off webshield with no success, I then turned of the neywork shield and my internet worked. I am only running the Windows XP Pro Firewall and i'm sure it never popped up anything saying something needed access. So I am assuming I need to go in and manually allow Avast Internet Access. I also noticed that the web is running noticeably slower than before I rebooted. Will post back with any new findings.

The page cannot be displayed
There is a problem with the page you are trying to reach and it cannot be displayed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please try the following:

Click the Refresh button, or try again later.
Open the Web site home page, and then look for links to the information you want.
If you believe you should be able to view this directory or page, please contact the Web site administrator by using the e-mail address or phone number listed on the Web site home page.
HTTP 504 - Gateway timeout


avast! Web Proxy


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When the server, while acting as a gateway or proxy, contacted the upstream content server, it did not receive a timely response.

Too many open sockets.
\Device\HarddiskVolume1\WINDOW\system32\opsq.exe

 
adding Avast for Access in Windows Firewall Didn't work by the way

[essexboy]

OK I reproduced the problem.  Normally I have the privacy settings on ZAPro set at high for cookie control and ad blocking.  I didn't reset them after the clean install untill about 10 seconds ago and when I did guess what, I couldn't get onto the sites again.  Reset privacy to medium no problems.  So it appears to be a ZA fault  when ad blocking is set on high it blocks the site cookie settings appear to have no detrimental affect.

[cherrycola]

I've only just started having problems with the Gateway Timeout messages.    I don't have a software firewall on my computer because my router has a built-in firewall.

[dj_don]

You can add another 2 people to the list of those having problems with Avast following the recent update.  My Girlfriend and I both did the update within minutes of each other, she had trouble getting on some sites I could get on, and I had trouble getting on some sites she could get on.  I use ZoneAlarm, she uses Nortons, she's on dial-up, I'm on Broadband.  The only obvious similarity was us both doing the Avast update.  People can continue to bury thier head in the sand and blame it on conflicts with other software, but the fact is, these conflicts never existed before the update, so it IS a problem with their product.  I was a very happy Avast user up till now, and I hope they stop pointing the finger elsewhere and fix whatever it is THEY got wrong as they have a very good product (or had till now)

Also meant to add that we also had problems loading Yahoo Messenger while Avast was running, the only way to get it to open was to disable all On-Acces Protection, funnily enough, doing that fixes the browsing issues aswell.

[Vlk]

Pity guys that you're not starting new threads and instead posting to someone else's ones. It's now very hard to manage which answers belong to which questions.

compumedic, Too many open sockets - is this really the message you got? Can you download and run TcpView from http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/source/tcpview.shtml and post its results? BTW first you said you couldn't access the web (at all) and then that browsing became slower - so it DID work, after all (but was slow)?

essexboy, OK, I'll try to simulate the problem here. Thanks

cherrycola, so the Internet doesn't work at all? Or just sometimes, you get a timeout message?

dj_don, first, I understand your frustration that things stopped working but I can't agree with your attitude. No one's burying head in the sand - these really ARE conflicts with other software. Saying that it must be (only) avast because prior to the update, everything was working OK, makes sense only partially. The new avast release (4.6) adds NEW features - such as the WebShield - that were not present in earlier versions. The WebShield is a network application and as such, is subject to inspection by a firewall (if installed). If the firewall (for any reason - intented or not) denies WebShield access to the net - you see the effect that you're seeing. We've tested the new features with virtually all firewalls on the market today, and yet, there seem to be some conflicts. I guess the world is still too diverse for us to test all the cases.
That said, I'd need some more info. Particularly which sites don't load (if not all), which browser are you using, what version of ZA/Norton etc...

Thanks
Vlk

[Vlk]

essexboy, you're right! The Privacy Control settings set to High are indeed causing the conflict.
I've found a workaround that works, though.

Set up the proxy settings in Firefox as shown on the following screenshot.
While this is not a definite solution, as a temporary workaround it seems to be working pretty well.

Edit: maybe I was talking too fast... The proxy trick doesn't seem to so reliable work around after all...

Thanks
Vlk