Avast! 2014 "blocks" Google's websites

[jk079]

Have the same problem - after upgrading avast Internet Security from 2013 to 2014, both IE (11) and Firefox (25.0) stopped working, they simply do NOT OPEN ANY SITEs anymore, as long as the WEB SHIELD inside avast IS 2014 is on.

Accordingly, the solution to that is fairly simple - disable the web shield.
The sad part is, that I am paying for this product, so I would like to actually use all its features - not having to disable some, so that I can continue working as I did until the upgrade to avast IS 2014

This is the first time I am disappointed from avast IS .. but I guess, there is a first time for everything.


PS: when first disabling the web shield for 10 minutes, and then, when seeing, that it "fixed the problem", I tried to disable it permanently, the whole avast IS interface just hangs on me, for minutes on now, with 2 non-responsitive windows: the main avast IS window, and the Settings -> Active protection window .. both not responding even to standard windows "Close window" clicks, repeatedly.
OS version: Windows 7 Ultimate SP1

That makes me strongly want to downgrade to avast IS 2013 again - let's see if I find the good old version somewhere around on the download page ..

[BiffPocoroba]

Here's an irony. I believe Avast's firewall may have been blocking its browser cleanup kit.

[mchain]

@ jk079,

You'll need to go outside avast! to get your file.  filehippo and others have archived versions of avast free.  It does not have any version of AIS on it's site, tho.  Maybe you've saved an old version on one of your backups?

[miedenet]

Hello,

Yesterday I updated to the new 2014 version and after that I encountered a problem. If I try to access any Google's websites with the Webshield module on, I get the "The connection to the server was reset while the page was loading" error in Mozilla Firefox. I get the similar error from IE too. Is there any other way to bypass this than by turning off the module or adding every single google domain possible to the exception list? Seems like a lot of work.

Is anyone else having this problem?

Hi, I had the same issue in Chrome browser, but did the following:
In google chrome I disabled the "SiteCorrect" Feature of avast plugin.

Just do right click on avast's plugin icon, at right top and go to configuration and then disable "SiteCorrect"
I kept running all the shields.

Worked for me and  I hope this can help you.


Saludos!

Avast 2014 Free edition.

[GrungePunk]

I had this same problem. I installed Avast Free Antivirus, Comodo Free Firewall, and Malwarebyte's Free Antimalware all in one go shortly after wiping my computer and reinstalling Windows 8 and upgrading to 8.1. So when I went to browse the internet I found that it would display the error "Unable to connect to webpage" in IE which it usually does when my internet goes down. My internet was up when I checked though. So I kept hitting the refresh button with "http://www.google.com/" in the address bar and I noticed that occasionally the page would display for a split second before changing to the error page and I thought that it MUST be Comodo. Should have stuck with Zonealarm I thought. So I uninstalled Comodo and restarted. Still had the problem... So I reinstalled Comodo and went and check Avast. I turned off the WEB SHIELD and low and behold my problem was solved. I could access Google again. Of course now instead of Avast saying everything is good with it's spinning orange and blue icon I had a big ugly yellow exclamation point covering it because OH NO! One of the shields was disabled! Just like the one next to my post title. Ugh... So after deciding that I didn't want to deal with my Avast constantly looking like it was broken in the notification tray I went to uninstall it. That's when I realized there was an option to Change the Installed Features. I selected this option instead and simply Unchecked the box next to Web Shield, clicked next, and then restarted my computer when it prompted me to. Now I am up and running problem free and ugly yellow exclamation point free as well. Only took me the better half of the day to figure this all out...

The moral of the story? Don't install the Web Shield when installing Avast. Just get Comodo or ZoneAlarm and have them work alongside a Web Shield free Avast and you'll have better luck. Comodo is more secure than Avast's firewall anyways. Well actually considering Avast's firewall blocks EVERYTHING maybe not. Can't be more secure than being completely cut off from the internet altogether. But as far as being secure and being able to use the web as well you're better off with Comodo as your firewall. Hope this helps people will the same issue which from checking online is A LOT of you.

P.S.

GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER AVAST! People installing your software over a fresh untainted install of Windows 8 are having problems! It's obviously not a software conflict caused by other software on the system. Unless you consider your program conflicting with it's host operating system a software conflict. I'd like to think of that more as a FAIL than a software conflict though.

[essexboy]

It is not the webshield but the Avast Online Security plugin for browsers.  By disabling the webshield you are severely limiting your online protection.  So disable the addons in the browser and all should be hunky dory again 

[GrungePunk]

It is not the webshield but the Avast Online Security plugin for browsers.  By disabling the webshield you are severely limiting your online protection.  So disable the addons in the browser and all should be hunky dory again

Ahh. Yeah. I just read the post about the crashing IEs on Win 7 right below this one. Didn't realize it applied to the web page errors as well. Thanks for the heads up. I will attempt to add Web Shield again and disable the plugins in IE. Good looking out.

Still though. We really shouldn't have to go through all this. It should work as intended. Never had these problems using a copy of Norton I got off The Bay awhile back. I try to go legit and this happens. At least there's a fix though. I was highly considering going back to Norton. Now there's a program that's worth the money if I actually had any money to spend on it. After this experience I must say I'd never even consider paying for the Pro version of Avast.

Crossing my fingers that they fix the issue soon.

[essexboy]

Unfortunately not everyone is affected by this, myself I cannot use AOS addon on my windows 8 yet on the windows 7 it works perfectly and I have no idea why

[GrungePunk]

Unfortunately not everyone is affected by this, myself I cannot use AOS addon on my windows 8 yet on the windows 7 it works perfectly and I have no idea why

Seems like it's most likely a Windows 8 compatibility problem then. In my search for answers I came across posts on other sites from people who wiped their computer, did a clean install of 8, downloaded all updates, and then installed Avast as their first non-Microsoft software other than hardware drivers and still had issues with it. I actually thought it might just not be compatible with Windows 8.1 until I read that post. That would have been understandable as 8.1 is relatively new. I wonder if Avast can be ran in compatibility mode set to Windows 7 to fix the issue temporarily. Would be interesting to try it. I'm pretty much over working on the issue for the time being though. I've already wasted enough time with this. Need to get into my 3DS Max tutorials and get through some of the video lessons before the end of the day. I will be sure to try your suggestion later tonight though. I don't plan on surfing the web very much till then. I am assuming that the Web Shield is only necessary if I am downloading files or browsing the web right? It wouldn't affect my connection to online games would it? I was also worried about the Web Shield conflicting with my connection to Guild Wars 2, Planetside 2, and The Secret World.