Avast cousing problems with Mozilla Thunder Bird

[sandb937]

I posted a message on the Mozilla support forums here and it turns out that the problem i was having is the avast email scanner. I disabeled it and now TB works perfectly. So i was wondering if anyone might have a fix for this. Thanks for the help

[DavidR]

Well I went there and there is little information there to identify the real cause.

It isn't good to refer people to another forum for any information anyway as it isn't easily accessible or easy to follow later in the thread. So I would suggest you start again here.

I'm somewhat confused by these comments from the other forum:

There have been some reports of problems with Avast! and the latest Windows update blocking email. That would be the first place to look. Also make sure that ZoneAlarm is still allowing Thunderbird.

Well here I have been for some time and this is the first I hearing about this windows update blocking email, when you say it was working till this morning and there haven't been any windows updates today nor avast program updates.

You also mention:

Like i said, it was working fine until this morning. She is running version 1.5.0.5 TB. It seams that this is a common problem that other users have had and I have done everything that was told to the other users to no avail. Also we set up the accounts in Outlook just to make sure and they work and they did so it is obviously a TB problem.

So it works with MS Outlook (mind you Outlook uses the Outlook/Exchange plug-in and not the Internet Mail provider) and gmail (which isn't monitored by avast, secure email) but not Tbird, so there is still some conflict where it lies is the problem. Disabling the web shield could well have the effect of letting things through but it may not be the true cause, just removing one part of the problem/conflict.

What is the exact error you get or post a screen shot ?

Unfortunately I don't use Tbird so I can't test this, I use OE6 SP2 and XP Pro with no problem. Are you able to try it with another email program that will use the Internet Mail provider, like OE ?

Tbird is a fairly popular email client and many on the forums use it if this were truly as big a problem as is being made out it would be all over the forums but it isn't.

It seams that this is a common problem that other users have had and I have done everything that was told to the other users to no avail.

I would like to see which threads you refer to, if they are the same problem then the same suggestions should have in theory also worked ?

I'm not trying to say this isn't an avast problem, just trying to get to the bottom of the problem.

[alanrf]

I am using Thunderbird 1.5.0.5 also with 2 mail accounts on mail.comcast.net being scanned by the avast mail scanner (among quite a few others) -  almost completely without incident.

However, I also get exactly the error that you posted in the TB forum from time to time. 

Everytime I had that message (and bothered to check) logging onto Comcast.net via the web interface and trying to get my mail gave me the error message that the mailbox was not available and sorry for the inconvenience.  Sure enough trying again later always finds it working.

In the instances I have checked I have never been able to see any issue with Thunderbird or with avast - it has always been a Comcast outage.     

[alanrf]

sandb937

in the unlikely event that the comcast error message persists then let us know and we can suggest a way of getting detailed logging of avast's connection to mail.comcast.net to see what else could be going on. 

[DavidR]

Thanks for the feed back Alan, handy that you also have comcast accounts.

[sandb937]

Well here I have been for some time and this is the first I hearing about this windows update blocking email, when you say it was working till this morning and there haven't been any windows updates today nor avast program updates.

My version of avast did try to update on my computer ( the green thing comming up at the taskmanger, stating that a new version of avast is available click here to download ) and i did not update on my computer.

So it works with MS Outlook (mind you Outlook uses the Outlook/Exchange plug-in and not the Internet Mail provider) and gmail (which isn't monitored by avast, secure email) but not Tbird, so there is still some conflict where it lies is the problem. Disabling the web shield could well have the effect of letting things through but it may not be the true cause, just removing one part of the problem/conflict.

first thank you for your reply. As I mentioned in that thread, I did try it in Outlook and it connected with out a problem.

What is the exact error you get or post a screen shot ?

An error occurred with the POP3 mail server. Mail server mail.comcast.net responded:" and nothing else is listed.

I would like to see which threads you refer to, if they are the same problem then the same suggestions should have in theory also worked ?

the other suggestions were mozilla baised. Like making sure you have the settings correctly, and spellingthe u/n and p/w. None of those worked. the only thing that did work was turning off the internet mail.

I'm not trying to say this isn't an avast problem, just trying to get to the bottom of the problem.

My reason for thinking that it is an avast problem is as soon as i turned off the Internet mail and Outlook Exchange. it connected instantly. And now as soon as i connect them again i get the same error.

I am using Thunderbird 1.5.0.5 also with 2 mail accounts on mail.comcast.net being scanned by the avast mail scanner (among quite a few others) -  almost completely without incident.

However, I also get exactly the error that you posted in the TB forum from time to time. 

Everytime I had that message (and bothered to check) logging onto Comcast.net via the web interface and trying to get my mail gave me the error message that the mailbox was not available and sorry for the inconvenience.  Sure enough trying again later always finds it working.

In the instances I have checked I have never been able to see any issue with Thunderbird or with avast - it has always been a Comcast outage.     

I did check the comcast account thru the webmail feature and there were no emails in there so there was not an issue of having a bad header. and it also proved that the comcast servers were indeed working. And i did not have the same issuses on my comcast account.

[alanrf]

Couple more questions, then maybe a more detailed connection log would be best.

1) In the comcast.net account in Tbird in the Server Settings panel what are the settings in the Security settings box?

2) You mentioned that 3 accounts are no longer working.  Were the other two regular  POP accounts?

3) you mentioned a popup on your machine this morning inviting you to update your avast version, but, as I understand it the problem is on your wife's computer.  Was any update installed on that machine?

You can get the mailscanner to log your connections by editing the avast4.ini file (in  Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\DATA folder).

In the section headed:

[MailScanner]

add the line:

Log=20

and save the updated file.

The log will be in Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\DATA\log\ashmaisv.log

Before sharing the log with us please be sure to mask any personably identifiable information in it.

[sandb937]

answers :

1) Use secure Connection...Never <--- per comcast

2) Well the other two accounts are pop3 accounts from our own domains

3) She says yes there was an update. but she is unsure if it was a virus definition update or a software update

as far as the other stuff i did edit the file on her machine. then i reactivated the Internet mail and Outlook exchange in the avast and she is connecting still...so i guess its good for now but would still like to get to the bottom of what issue is.

[alanrf]

So the comcast account is now connecting from Thunderbird with the Internet mail scanner on - is that correct?

If so I am glad that it is up and running again.

There is no harm in leaving the logging option set on in the avast4.ini.  The log is cleared at each system restart so it will not build into a huge file and will have the information if the connection problem ocurs again.

[alanrf]

Just one extra thought.

I know it is unclear whether a program update or just a VPS update occurred earlier today.  The avast logs should have the details.

I noticed in the TB forum you mentioned clearing the Thunderbird entries in the ZoneAlarm program table and letting permission be asked again since you are aware that ZoneAlarm can sometimes become confused after a program update. 

When using the avast Internet Mail scanner it is equally important to perform the same step for ashMaiSv.exe  (the process name for the avast Internet Mail scanner) which is the process that actually initiates the connection to the real mail server.  If it were being blocked by ZoneAlarm after an update it could certainly give rise to the symptoms you saw today.