Author Topic: Cannot connect to Avast Website  (Read 38407 times)

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Offline oldman

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Re: Cannot connect to Avast Website
« Reply #45 on: September 24, 2007, 09:41:22 AM »
@ aussie ness

With all the cases of virut showing up, you might want to add these lines to your hosts file

127.0.0.1  proxim.ircgalaxy.pl
127.0.0.1  leon.htn.pl
127.0.0.1  ntkrnlpa.info
127.0.0.1  xp.attrezzi.biz
127.0.0.1  l.mezzicodec.net

just make sure after you have saved it, the hosts file appears in windows explorer without an extention.

aussie ness

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Re: Cannot connect to Avast Website
« Reply #46 on: September 25, 2007, 10:40:10 AM »
Ok something weird happening here. I opened the hosts file (no extension) to see if it was as we had left it..........didn't we just type 127.0.0.1 localhost and saved it???
Now it has squillions of entries in there of bad URLS (I suspect) eg? www.coolwebsearch
Spybot must have put these there. Perhaps to make sure I don't go to bad sites.
I also have two more hosts files. They are
hosts.20070919-190333.backup
hosts.20070919-190333.backup
What's going on? Does the system make a backup when I open/alter the hosts file?
My computer is running much better since completely removing Norton and maybe because I added more spyware apps as suggested.
Sandviper.....my hosts file used to say all that (from memory) but we made a new one that only said 127.0.0.1 localhost....although now it has squillions of new URLS (see above)
oldman......should I still add the lines as suggested....also is that a typo? I'm not sure what a virut is? Did you mean viruses?
ness

Offline oldman

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Re: Cannot connect to Avast Website
« Reply #47 on: September 25, 2007, 10:55:57 AM »
Now it has squillions of entries in there of bad URLS (I suspect) eg? www.coolwebsearch
Spybot must have put these there. Perhaps to make sure I don't go to bad sites.


If the new entries are between two lines something like this #start of entries added by spybot and # end of entries added by spybot, then Yes spybot added them. And you guessed it, to protect you. Spybot does have a rather large data base.


also have two more hosts files. They are
hosts.20070919-190333.backup
hosts.20070919-190333.backup
What's going on? Does the system make a backup when I open/alter the hosts file?


As for the backup files, I'm not sure how often windows makes one.


should I still add the lines as suggested....also is that a typo? I'm not sure what a virut is? Did you mean viruses?

Yes, you should add the lines. No. it's not a typo. It's the name of a nasty, nasty virus. This thread  http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=30492.0 shows the result of an infection. You can also learn a bit more about the hosts file near the end of that thread.

The updated vps does include detection for this variant.

My computer is running much better since completely removing Norton and maybe because I added more spyware apps as suggested.


I ran your hjt log through a analyzer and it was good. I suspect that the norton left overs was slowing you down a bit.


aussie ness

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Re: Cannot connect to Avast Website
« Reply #48 on: September 25, 2007, 11:05:05 AM »
Yes, is between start and end of entries by spybot.......oddly so were the other entries that blocked me from getting onto any good spyware/anti-virus sites!!!!!!! Seems odd that this should happen now......but I did update my spybot to the latest version.
Will definitely check out the thread you recommended. Apologies if I offended you...your my new best friend so wouldn't want to do that!
Thanks for having a look at the hjt log. It's basically Greek to me......but I do recognize alot of my programs there.
ness

Offline oldman

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Re: Cannot connect to Avast Website
« Reply #49 on: September 25, 2007, 11:12:06 AM »
Yes, is between start and end of entries by spybot.......oddly so were the other entries that blocked me from getting onto any good spyware/anti-virus sites!!!!!!!

Actually they where above the spybot references (1st page)  ;)

 
Apologies if I offended you...

Why would you think that you have offended me? It's always good to make friends.

aussie ness

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Re: Cannot connect to Avast Website
« Reply #50 on: September 26, 2007, 09:30:34 AM »
Quote
Yes, is between start and end of entries by spybot.
Yes, there were actually. Guess we'll never know who put the bad ones there.
Ness

Offline oldman

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Re: Cannot connect to Avast Website
« Reply #51 on: September 26, 2007, 11:43:19 AM »
No probably not. It could have something that avast or spybot picked up after the changes were made.

Thinking about it, the backups could have been made by spybot. I don't use the program so I can't check.

The main thing is you caught it before you were really compromised.

Just keep your av and avg as updated and do regular scans and you should be all right. Your new hosts file should help too.

Take care and check in often. There's always something new to learn here.

smcdona2

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Re: Cannot connect to Avast Website
« Reply #52 on: September 29, 2007, 01:47:06 PM »
hi guys, i've had the exact same problem as at the start of this thread. I followed the instructions exactly as before, so that I could connect to the avast site. now what happened to me was that initially it worked fine(ish) i connected to the internet (not through IE, which wouldn't work, but through firefox) and managed to re-register and access internet. however when i restarted my computer the internet would not work at all on either I.E, firefox, messenger, etc.

I had made a copy of my original hosts file, and so i put that back in the folder and removed the one i had added, plus the backup hosts file, but wouldn't work at all. I can't figure out what the problem could be as I have tried editting the host file in every way that's been mentioned but to no avail. One aside, which i dont think is relevent but will let you know anyways, is that I had also installed comodo malware recently which removed an svchost.exe file, however this file was removed from the programs//DAP folder, which i'm sure is the folder for my (formerly used) Download Accelerator Plus program which i uninstalled a long time ago, and shouldn't affect anything.

So... I doubt that had anything to do with internet not working, i know it isnt a hardware problem, i doubt its a virus/trojan/spyware problem because i'm quite well covered, so I can't figure out what it could be?? Im not an expert at all when it comes to editting system files, so any help whatsover would be greatly appreciated. In running on XP SP2, and really just want the ability to connect to the internet again! All hardware conections are fine, and have tried repairing the LAN connection and have cleared the cache of temp internet files. If info is of any help windows messengers repair thing lists hosts file and dns in error state and asks if it can clean up the hosts file. I let it though nothing happens and is still in error state.

Any Suggestions???

Offline oldman

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Re: Cannot connect to Avast Website
« Reply #53 on: September 29, 2007, 02:04:09 PM »
I take it this is aussie ness?

smcdona2

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Re: Cannot connect to Avast Website
« Reply #54 on: September 29, 2007, 02:42:12 PM »
No im not Aussie Ness, though yes am having the same problems she was

Offline Lisandro

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Re: Cannot connect to Avast Website
« Reply #55 on: September 29, 2007, 08:31:36 PM »
smcdona2, please, follow the general cleaning procedure:

1. Disable System Restore on Windows ME or Windows XP. System Restore cannot be disabled on Windows 9x and it's not available in Windows 2k. After boot you can enable System Restore again after step 3.

2. Clean your temporary files. You can use CleanUp or the Windows Advanced Care features for that.

3. Schedule a boot time scanning with avast. Start avast! > Right click the skin > Schedule a boot-time scanning. Select for scanning archives. Boot. Other option is scanning in SafeMode (repeatedly press F8 while booting).

4. It will be good if you download, install, update and run AVG Antispyware. Some users recommend SUPERantispyware, Spyware Terminator and/or a-squared (take care about false positives).
If any infection is detected, better and safer is send the file to Quarantine than to simple delete than.

5. If you still detecting any strange behavior or even you're sure you're not clean, maybe it will be good to test your machine with anti-rootkit applications. I suggest AVG, Panda and/or F-Secure BlackLight.

6. Also, if you still detecting strange behaviors or you want to be sure you're clean, maybe making a HijackThis log to post here and, specially, scan and submit to on-line analysis the RunScanner log would help to identify the problem and the solution.

7. After you're clean, use the immunization of SpywareBlaster or, which is better, the Windows Advanced Care features of spyware/adware cleaning and removal.

8. Finally, when you're clean, check for insecure applications with Secunia Software Inspector to update insecure applications and avoid reinfection.
The best things in life are free.

Offline oldman

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Re: Cannot connect to Avast Website
« Reply #56 on: September 29, 2007, 10:39:56 PM »
No im not Aussie Ness, though yes am having the same problems she was

Sorry. When I was reading the post it sounded like aussie ness had problems and had to reregister.

A few things to check.

Make sure the hosts file is clean and the copy as viewed through windows explorer has no extention.

Check to see if internet explorer isn't set to work off line.

What firewall do you use? Does it allow ashwebsrv.exe or any avast related items?

In xp some sevices have to be set to automatic. Check on the service tab.

C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashServ.exe (avast! antivirus service)
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\aswUpdSv.exe (avast! Update Service)
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashWebSv.exe (avast! Web Scanner service)
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashMaiSv.exe (avast! e-Mail Scanner service)

The two first of them should be Automatic loaded and the two last Manually loaded.

And possibly a proxy setting. Do you use a proxy?

smcdona2

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Re: Cannot connect to Avast Website
« Reply #57 on: September 30, 2007, 12:42:39 PM »
Hi just to update you all since i no longer have immediate access to internet i cant reply very quickly here. The only new news is that when running messengers connection troubleshooting it ok's everything (including the hosts file now??) up to the DNS. Also when i click on repair connection in the Network Connections folder, I now get the following message:

"Windows could not finish repairing the problem because the following action cannot be completed: Clearing the DNS cache For assistance..."

I dont know if this is part of the same problem or something different but i thought i would let you know. I will report back with hijack logs and the like that you requested, and try you guys step by step procedures. Many thanks for your help so far.

To Oldman - hosts file definatley looks clean, and has no extensions. internet explorer is not set to work offline. And i use commodo firewall, and choose whether to accept/deny every program/process and I definately have not denied anything from avast. About the 4 avast things i'll have to check up on them, though avast e-mail scanner keeps bringing up 4 error messages each time I reboot.

I will try again to fix it tommorow, and will report back to you guys as soon as I can. Any final words of advice??

smcdona2

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Re: Cannot connect to Avast Website
« Reply #58 on: October 02, 2007, 11:43:04 AM »
well i tried your guys advice, thanks for your help though i still cant connect to the internet at all so think i'll have to reinstall XP tonight. any advice on the best way to install an OS without losing (or how to make a note of all the drivers, etc.) that i'll need? thanks

Offline oldman

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Re: Cannot connect to Avast Website
« Reply #59 on: October 02, 2007, 02:27:11 PM »
An over install is possible with xp, but I'm not sure if it will change your situation.

Do you, or did you have another av installed. If so how was it uninstalled?

Have you tried teminating webshield? Left click the "a" icon, select webshield, terminate button.

Uninstall reinstall avast?

What are the mail provider errors?