Resolved: New Computer - Avast slowing internet

[REDACTED]

Hey there I hope someone can help me with this issue. I've used Avast for years now without any incident and I love it.

Yesterday, I purchased a new computer, ASUS ROG G751jy with Windows 8.1. The first program I downloaded to my new machine was the avast antivirus. I noticed immediately that my internet connection was slowed down considerably. I have to reload web pages 2 to 3 times to get them to completely load, or they will hang indefinitely.

Then, I disabled avast and suddenly everything is running perfectly.

Any suggestions??

[Pondus]

Yesterday, I purchased a new computer,ASUS ROG G751jy with Windows 8.1

did it come with a preinstalled AV from factory? ... like McAfee / TrendMicro / Norton

[REDACTED]

Thanks for your reply, Pondus.
Yes, it did - McAfee was preinstalled. I should have mentioned that the first thing I did was uninstall McAfee and then I ran their removal tool.  And then I installed avast.

[Pondus]

you may try latest version  AVAST 2015 R2 Release Candidate 1 (final release is soon)    https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=166576.0

[REDACTED]

Okay thanks I'll give it a whirl and will post my results...

[REDACTED]

Okay per the instructions, I ran the avast uninstall tool in safe mode, and then installed the version as per the provided link. My web browsers speed (Chrome and Firefox) are slightly improved, but not without a few hiccups.

For example: opening Gmail in Firefox- I had to reload the page twice to get it to load completely. The first attempt I was greeted with a blank white screen. I closed the browser, and tried again, and then saw gmail partially loaded - I refreshed the page and it finally loaded.

Also upon my first attempt opening Chrome after installing avast I received a blank page with an SSL error. I closed and reopened the browser and then it loaded my home page (google.com) correctly.

I'm not sure why I am having so many problems with avast on my new computer...

Any other suggestions?

[Para-Noid]

Try disabling https scanning.

[REDACTED]

I disabled https scanning - will test and report back with results.

[REDACTED]

... I had to reload the page twice to get it to load completely. The first attempt I was greeted with a blank white screen. I closed the browser, and tried again, and then saw gmail partially loaded - I refreshed the page and it finally loaded...

I experience the same problem.  I didn't realize it was likely Avast until you posted.

[REDACTED]

Aha - well I hope this thread helps you out, too, Techknow.

I've been testing loading up pages following disabling https scanning - no SSL errors, so far, and no blank pages. But Pinterest in Chrome failed to load up - hung for several minutes until I reloaded the page and then it came right up.

Also having problems with streaming radio - I've been experiencing choppy/missing audio since installing avast. Today, slacker page won't even load until I disable avast...

[Pondus]

Just released   AVAST 2015 R2 Release Candidate 2       https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=166883.0

[REDACTED]

Thanks Pondus I'll give it a try.

[REDACTED]

This download seems to work the best, so far.
Only problem is I still cannot stream music - For example, Spotify - I added https://play.spotify.com to the exclusions but it still won't play unless I disable avast.

[REDACTED]

Problem solved, for the most part - thanks for your help, Pondus and Para-Noid. In case anyone else has the same problem here's what worked for me:

Refer to https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=166883.0
I downloaded http://files.avast.com/beta9x/avast_free_antivirus_setup.exe and http://files.avast.com/beta9x/avastclear.exe

Restarted in safe mode, ran the Avast Cleaner (see above)
Restarted and then installed the Free Antivirus file downloaded (see above)
Disabled https scanning
Added streaming audio sites to exclusions (ex: Spotify, Pandora, Slacker, etc.)

Thanks again for your help - hopefully this will help someone else in the same situation

[REDACTED]

Well this is a bummer... I'm still having problems loading pages, email, and streaming videos and music while Avast is running. It became so unbearable that I have to uninstall Avast.
I opened a support ticket - hopefully this will get resolved.