Avast suddenly doesn't like several Firefox add ons

[DavidR]

... which will be delivered via a VPS update shortly ...

I've searched and found numerous mentions of 'VPS', but never a definition.  I also cannot find a 3 word phrase beginning with V, P, and S.  What exactly is a VPS?  (Sorry for being a little off-topic, and new around here.)

It is the old avast term, abbreviation for the virus signature updates, this I believe was Virus Pattern Signatures.

[tosal]

Here's some more information about the problem:

We identified BrowserCleanup to be the cause. An update in a hash calculation mechanism caused the wrong files to be deleted instead of some temporary files. Unfortunately QA processes did not catch the problem as it affected .XPI extensions in Firefox only (which were not fully covered by the tests). We apologize for the issue and will make that it does not happen again.

The fix for this bug has been shipped this morning 8:53 (CET) with VPS version 141118-0. (VPS =~ "Engine + virus patterns")
The new VPS should be installed automatically so there's no action required from your side.

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@tosal

thumbs up!

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Oh my god and I fight so many hours!!! This was finally the problem?
And I thought I was the ccleaner... I confirm the same...
I hope the update to come to us quickly because I can not restore again the addons, settings etc..

[DavidR]

Oh my god and I fight so many hours!!! This was finally the problem?
And I thought I was the ccleaner... I confirm the same...
I hope the update to come to us quickly because I can not restore again the addons, settings etc..

The update has already been incorporated in a VPS update - that however only corrects the error in the hash calculation mechanism for the future. What it won't do (in my estimation) is to somehow restore the previously deleted add-ons. You would have to reinstall them, unless you had some form of backup in place, Like the firefox FEBE 8.0.5 add-on.

FEBE backs up your extensions, themes, bookmarks, preferences, passwords, cookies and just about everything else Firefox offers (it can even backup/restore your entire profile). You can selectively restore only the items you need. For instance, you may just want your bookmarks restored and leave everything else as it was.

[REDACTED]

Here's some more information about the problem:

We identified BrowserCleanup to be the cause. An update in a hash calculation mechanism caused the wrong files to be deleted instead of some temporary files. Unfortunately QA processes did not catch the problem as it affected .XPI extensions in Firefox only (which were not fully covered by the tests). We apologize for the issue and will make that it does not happen again.

Thank you tosal for the info, however I'm not completely happy as your explanation does not completely cover the situation as it appeared to us.  I and others (from what I can gather) have never allowed Browser Cleanup to proceed.  It has popped up often certainly, but we have denied it any chance to remove anything (as far as we knew).  In addition, whole extension folders were removed from the Firefox Extensions subfolder, not just files.  And their addon info was removed from the associated Firefox json files (possibly by Firefox on startup when it discovered the loss of the extension folders).  Does your understanding of the issue and fix cover this, and how it appeared to only remove addons recently updated?

[REDACTED]

The problem still persist for me.

Everything is up-to-date but every time I restart my computer 2 plugins are deleted:
firebug and Tamper Data.

It is annoying as hell, a few other FF addons like dictionaries, cookie manager, Dust-Me Selectors are fine.
I checked and they are really just completely removed.

P.s. what an incredible worthless captcha this forum has, what are you trying to keep out with that, people?

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Rob104, I never run Browser Cleaner. I think it possessed my computer for some time    I uninstalled it via windows and so far everything seems fine. (crossing fingers here)

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I also had a the problem with Avast removing Classic Theme Restorer and Classic Toolbar Buttons without any notification. It occurred yesterday with Avast 2014 and then only for Classic Toolbar Buttons with 2015 after I updated today. I went into the browser cleanup settings and set it to ignore Classic Toolbar Buttons. What puzzles me is how or why Classic Toolbar Buttons extension was given a one star reputation? It is, in fact, perfectly reputable and by the same well regarded author of the Classic Theme Restorer. Any ideas on how this happened?

[REDACTED]

Thats a shocking bug to let through to be honest. 

I had so many addons, that I cant remember what I have to re-add.
And many of my addons I've been using for years, so basically lost years of browsing exceptions, settings, rules etc.....

Is there any way to recover these, does avast at least backup deleted stuff?


Seriously need to check update more thoroughly before releasing, next time it could be computer files and folders that are deleted...



Oh, and please make the captcha more clear, even more important/sensitive/secure sites have clearer captchas... I had to  listen to it! 

[DavidR]

Thats a shocking bug to let through to be honest. 

I had so many addons, that I cant remember what I have to re-add.
And many of my addons I've been using for years, so basically lost years of browsing exceptions, settings, rules etc.....

Is there any way to recover these, does avast at least backup deleted stuff?


Seriously need to check update more thoroughly before releasing, next time it could be computer files and folders that are deleted...

Oh, and please make the captcha more clear, even more important/sensitive/secure sites have clearer captchas... I had to  listen to it! 

This was never found in the beta and release candidate versions and I believe only became an issue after the firefox 33.1 update - I still haven't experienced this on either XP or win7 systems. That said the fault has been found in the Browser Cleanup function and they are working on a resolution.

This should have now been implemented in a VPS update - https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=160289.msg1152011#msg1152011 - https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=160289.msg1152293#msg1152293.

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The update has already been incorporated in a VPS update - that however only corrects the error in the hash calculation mechanism for the future. What it won't do (in my estimation) is to somehow restore the previously deleted add-ons. You would have to reinstall them, unless you had some form of backup in place, Like the firefox FEBE 8.0.5 add-on. This add-on is very handy and not just for this issue.

FEBE backs up your extensions, themes, bookmarks, preferences, passwords, cookies and just about everything else Firefox offers (it can even backup/restore your entire profile). You can selectively restore only the items you need. For instance, you may just want your bookmarks restored and leave everything else as it was.

The captcha has to be tough or there is little point in it - this anti-spam measure is for the first 3 posts.

[usnaomi]

Same issue here guys even after the supposed fix offered. Running FF 33.1.1 with latest Avast engine and def files.

I ran the Avast installer and decided to dump the Browser related scanning stuff.

[REDACTED]

Same here. Avast really, I mean really (!), needs to stop deleting my add-ons (Media Converter and Mixer 0.1.0 and Youtube Video and Audio downloader 0.4.2)

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BTW as a temporary (hello Avast) 'work around' you could install MozBackUp http://sourceforge.net/projects/mozbackup/files/

[bob3160]

Same here. Avast really, I mean really (!), needs to stop deleting my add-ons (Media Converter and Mixer 0.1.0 and Youtube Video and Audio downloader 0.4.2)

You have an option:

Simply select Ignore if you want to keep the add-on.