Connection refused attempting to contact proxy server

[redactor]

Greetings, folks!

I'm new here, so soyez gentils, s'il vous plait.

My setup: Win XP SP2, Avast Home 4.6.691, Zone Alarm Pro (6.0.631.003), MS Antispyware (1.0.615), SpyBocker, SpamPal, Firefox (1.0.6), Outlook Express.

Here's the deal: everything works as advertised 98% of the time. But since the lastest version update of Avast I've had occasional -- in the last several days, fairly regular -- connection problems. After surfing without a hitch with Firefox for up to an hour or more, for no discernible reason  I get a pop-up message: "The connection was refused when attempting to contact the proxy server you have configured. Please check your proxy settings and try again." Similar problem occurs with IE.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with the proxy settings: 127.0.0.1: 12080. If I change the proxy settings to "direct connect to the internet", I'm back in business, but without Avast protection.

After trial & error, I've discovered that the "fix" is to right-click the Avast icon in the system tray and select "Stop On-Access Protection." Immediately after the services shut down, restart on-access protection. Then I'm back in business . . . until the next time, which can be hours, minutes or only seconds later.

Obviously, this is not a fatal problem, but it gets to be really annoying when it happens several times during a session.

Anybody got any ideas what's causing this and if there is a permanent fix?

Thanks!
Redactor

[MarcZ]

Redactor,

I have a similar setup, but lucky for me, no issues.  I have been on the Zone Alarm forums and they have had many issues with the new 6.0.631.003 update.  I also use it (ZA Pro 6.0.631.003) with no problems.  My thought on this is actually a ZA issue.  I remember seeing something about ZA not working well  with the Proxy connections.  If this was my machine, I would clear the programs list  in ZA in the Control Center and have ZA ask me again if I want to give access to it. On the Main window of the Program Control I have the Program Control set to Medium and the Smart Defense Advisor to Manual.

Here is the link to their forums
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/support/userForum/userForum_agreement.jsp

Marc

[Lisandro]

Of course, there's nothing wrong with the proxy settings: 127.0.0.1: 12080.
If I change the proxy settings to "direct connect to the internet", I'm back in business, but without Avast protection.

Redactor and Marc, I have one computer with Windows XP SP2, ZoneAlarm (free) and a local proxy program (filter).
No troubles at all with transparent configuration of ZA (I mean, don't need to set a WebShield port in it, just the original port of the local proxy).
But, anyway, ZA Pro could be working different because of the privacy features.