Avast Free Antivirus & Comodo (settings, shields, performance)

[lpdot]

I've been using Avast Free AV combined with Comodo Firewall for a couple of years by now. I've researched the different forums for information on correct settings of both required to provide maximum possible protection and lowest interference and decrease in the overall system performance at the same time.

The basic settings scenario as far as the possible interaction between Avast and Comodo is concerned is as follows:

• 1. In Avast all shields are enabled.
• 2. In Comodo the Firewall is set in Custom mode.
• 3. In Comodo the Defence+ is set in Safe mode.
• 4. In Avast the Comodo folder is added to Exclusions in the File System Shield.
• 5. In Avast all Comodo executables are added to Safe Processes in the Behaviour Shield .
• 6. In Comodo the Avast is added to Exlusions in Shell-code detection.
• 7. In Comodo avastsvc.exe, avastui.exe and avast.setup are added to Trusted applications under Network Security Policy/Application rules.
• 8. The Sandbox is disabled in Avast and enabled in Comodo (I've tried it vice versa to no visible effect on performance).

Yesterday for some reason I turned off the Network Shield in Avast. And I've noticed an immediate and substantial increase in performance. The applications that were previously struggling to start for several seconds are now loaded in no time. Chrome loads twice as fast. Photoshop - too. Tested on two PCs - one an older Athlon with 1,5GB RAM (WinXP), the other - a Core i3-2350M with 8GB RAM (Win7 x64).

I've done some more reasearch on whether the Avast Network Shield is needed in the presence of a firewall. Unfortunately, I could get no clear answer to that. Most of the related discussions point to the fact that the Network Shield is one of the most economic Avast components performance-wise and should not produce any significant effect if combined with Comodo Firewall. I see just the opposite, however - the Network Shield in combination with Comodo will visibly slow down even a rather advanced hardware configuration. At the same time I am not sure if the turning off of the Network Shield is not a compromise to the overall security and how it may affect it.

So, any thoughts on this matter? How should one set up Avast Free and Comodo to provide maximum protection and not hamper performance?

P.S. I realize that the described situation might be a result of some settings in both applications that I've overlooked. But I've spent quite some time fiddling with those and until now the only detectable effect has been produced by turning off the Network Shield.

[iroc9555]

I have run Avast!/Comodo in Windows for several years now. The first time I had problems with both of them was when Avast! turned to v.5, but it was just a matter of understanding how avast.setup works then I had trouble with Cfw 4.9. it was a brick in my sys. since I liked v.3.14 better than v.4.5 I went back until Cfw v.5 came out. Everything has been smooth as butter since then. BTW my set up is similar as yours although my D+ is set to Paranoid mode. I tried Cfw 6 for a couple of days and my comp went back to be a brick so I downgraded back to v. 5.10.

I do not think that disabling Avast! Network Shield is a good idea. You can go back to a former version until a better or more compatible version comes out.

[davasterrecovery]

On a related note....
One of the recent Comodo bug fixes addresses an issue working with Avast:

2013Jan31
Comodo Internet Security 6.0.264710
Change Log
# Improved:
* Compatibility between some programs and sandbox/kiosk
* Additional languages are now supported
# Fixed:
* Virtual Keyboard can be intercepted by certain key loggers
* Advanced Settings Editor sometimes hangs
* BSOD or Black Screen on Windows 8
* Flash player plugin is erroneously auto-sandboxed
* MSN Messenger can’t start IE if IE is configured to run in sandbox
* CIS can’t run GB on Windows 8
* Web Browsers cant connect to the Internet when running in SandboxIE
* Files cannot be moved from unrecognized files to trusted files
* Realtime scanner doesn’t scan certain archives
* Cancel button sometimes does’t not function in manage exceptions dialog
* Incompatibility with Wacom Bamboo Pen&Touch graphics tablet driver
* 'system' process is missing in running processes list
* Java won't start if Firefox, Palemoon, Dragon is running Sandboxed
* Comodo Firewall doesn't intercept HTTP packets for browser when installed Avast Free Antivirus

I download from here:http://filehippo.com/download_comodo/tech/
I'll give it a try running with Avast and report back my results.

[Pubert E]

I'll give it a try running with Avast and report back my results.

What were the results then 

[iroc9555]

Avast! and Comodo work great. You only have to set it up right just in case.

http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=110279.msg867518#msg867518
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=109571.msg863496#msg863496

Be aware that Comodo 6 may have different file names, but this set up is what you have to do.
Also, once in awhile, Comodo may sandbox a file making your OS not responding. You will have to reboot and go into safe mode to see wich file it is and add it to Comodo trust files.

[lpdot]

Well, some new information regarding my experience with the two programms.

About three days ago my wife accidentally upgraded from Avast Free to Avast Pro Trial. I suppose it's it was one of those silly tricks where "No, I definitely want to stay with the free version" is written in very small gray letters and you just hit the big colourful "Yes, I want to UPDATE" button whithout realizing what the result is going to be.

So, I've done the following:
1. Download Avast removal utility.
2. Run in Safe Mode.
3. Uninstall Avast Pro with the said utility.
4. Reboot in Safe Mode.
5. Uninstall Comodo Firewall (and D+).
6. Reboot.
7. Install Avast Free (latest version) without the Network Shield.
8. Reboot.
9. Install Comodo 6.0.264710.2708.
10. Configure mutual exclusions (in Avast and Comodo - safe processes, executables, shell code injections, trusted applications etc, etc).

BTW, Comodo now has no Defense+ but a HIPS section. They've also "upgraded" the interface - now you can't see your current connections and you'll have to thouroughly search before you find the settings (they're really inconspicuos). It may be due to the fact that I've chosen an option during Comodo installation stating that I want Comodo not to bug me with a lot of decision-making stuff. However, I thought it will merely effect the basic settings upon Comodo startup - Safe mode and so on.

Anyway, what I've got is a computer that will boot in about 10 minutes. I mean it becomes somewhat responsive after this interval. Depending on how early you try to run programms it will hang up or run real real slow. Browsers start in 1,5-2 minutes. Page load times are horric when they're sucessfull. Sometimes they just cannot load.

I've done some more fiddling with the settings. It turned out Comodo has added tons of new executables which I didn't notice at once (I've done the whole exclusion thing virtually hundreds of times and remembered the necessary files). Ok, add them to Avast exclusions as well. Now the system is working more or less responsively although load times are still not brilliant.

Finally, I turn HIPS off. Now everything's as it should be.

To conclude: my impression is that either the Comodo and Avast are still not working seamlessly (at least not on older machines without 4 gigs of RAM and some serious CPUs) or the new HIPS is a serious performance hog which is a shame of course.

My system is Athlon 3500, 1.5GB RAM, WinXP Pro.

[Kippensoep]

Beware: COmodo fw 6.0 and avast 8.0 worked fine, but there is a lot of trouble on my computers after Comodo´s update to 6.1.
On my computers (XP pro SP3) booting time increased from 30-45 seconds to 6, 10 and 19 minutes (three computers).
ALso beware: Comodo 6.0 will often update whilst auto updates is off !

By the way: I did set the exclusions of course, and I have even come to the point of shutting down all shields of comodo fw8 and avast 8: to no avail. The new update of comodo seems to bite avast 8: Comodo fw 6.1 seems not to be compatible with avast 8.