Author Topic: (SOLVED) Lost all internet access after using "stop provider" Web Shield from  (Read 6980 times)

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TechMob

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Avast Home free (latest version)
OS = Vista home premium 32 sp1 with all current updates
Windows defender and firewall and no other security software

I had been using AVG8 but switched to Avast today.
It worked fine until I right clicked on the icon in the system try and selected Web Shield from the stop provider and said yes to "Persist the Changes" which stopped my ability to browse the internet or get email.  I did this to troubleshoot a problem connecting to Steam which I later discovered to be a port issue in my firewall.

I wasn't aware that I could reinable the Web Shield through the main interface so I uninstalled and reinstalled the software which reinabled the Web Shield but the internet or email was still not working.

I downloaded the aswclear software and uninstalled again, used the software, restarted and reinstalled again. The internet still doesn't work though I can ping google.com and other websites successfully.

I can connect using another computer through the same router so that part is working.

I've tried stopping all of the shields and nothing helps. 

Even after uninstalling Avast I still can't connect. Turning the windows firewall off doesn't help either.

I suspect something in the rerouting of the web traffic through the avast proxy is causing the problem.

Thanks
« Last Edit: October 10, 2008, 09:13:18 PM by TechMob »

Offline lukor

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Hi, I am kind of lost know. Do you have avast! currently installed or uninstalled?

TechMob

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It's currently installed.

Offline DavidR

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You could try running the AVG Remover, download tool from here, http://www.grisoft.com/ww.download-tools there is a 32bit and 64 bit windows version, ensure you use the correct one.

This to make sure there are no remnants after avg8 removal via windows add remove programs, I assume this is how you switched to avast ?
Windows 10 Home 64bit/ Acer Aspire F15/ Intel Core i5 7200U 2.5GHz, 8GB DDR4 memory, 256GB SSD, 1TB HDD/ avast! free 24.2.6105 (build 24.2.8918.824) UI 1.0.799/ Firefox, uBlock Origin, uMatrix/ MailWasher Pro/ Avast! Mobile Security

TechMob

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Yes, I uninstalled AVG using the add/remove program function.  I downloaded the removal tool from AVG and ran it and restarted the computer with no luck.

Like I said in the first post, Avast worked fine and I had internet/email access until I selected Web Shield from the stop provider and said yes to "Persist the Changes" 

Steam was downloading updates at the time that I made the change and continued to completion even though Firefox, Internet Explorer, or email couldn't access the internet.  Once steam finished and the computer was restarted then it also couldn't connect to the internet.

thanks

Offline lukor

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So, WebShield provider is not stopped, and yet the internet is not working. Right? Do you see he WebShield's process in the task manager (its name ashWebSv.exe)

Lukas.

TechMob

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That's correct, the AshWebsv.exe is showing up under task manager "Processes"

TechMob

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I just found a folder in the c:\windows\temp directory named _avast4_ that contains a file named "Webshlock.txt". 
The file appears to be empty. If I try to open it I get the message "The process cannon access the file because it is being used by another process."

Hope this helps


Offline lukor

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And what happens when you stop webshield provider from the "On-Access Protection Control" dialog ?

TechMob

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Still no internet access and the file I just mentioned disappears.

Offline lukor

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dont worry about the webshlock.txt file, it is perfectly normal. It should be there during the lifetime of webshield process.

What about e-mails? Are you able to send/receive emails? The rediction method (implemented in aswrdr.sys driver) is used for both Mail Scanner and WebShield, if something in the redirect is corrupted it might hit emails as well.


TechMob

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No email either,  Gotta be out for a while. I check back in when I return.

Thanks

Offline lukor

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you may try the following:

1. stop WebShield - click yes to persist the change
2. stop MailScanner - click yes to persist the change

3. disable avast! self protection -- settings/troubleshooting

4. open the command prompt (START -> Run -> cmd ) as administrator

type:

sc config aswrdr start= disabled

5. restart


Any change? You network should now work -- however you have just uninstalled WebShield and Mail Scanner. :(



TechMob

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Solved  :)

Just before I left, I realized that another computer on my network was also unable to access the internet or email. The one that I'm currently posting with was totally unaffected. 
This revelation gave me something to think about on the way to the job. Since they all are connected to the same switch and go through the same smoothwall firewall either the firewall settings had been altered or a problem with the switch had occurred. 

When I returned, I immediately switched cables between the working system and a non working system on the switch to no effect. So the switch was not the problem.  I checked their ip addresses and started looking around in the firewall to try to find if any settings had been changed.  None were obvious but I did notice that the one ip that had internet access is one that I had added to a list that in essence forces a connection.  I added the other 2 ip addresses and the internet immediately came up on both of the other systems.  ;D

After thinking about it, at the time yesterday that I first disabled the Web Shield (when the problem first started) I was logged into and had the smoothwall firewall configuration window open on the same system that I was currently configuring Avast on.

Is it possible that Avast somehow interacted with smoothwall?  I haven't found any obvious changes made within smoothwall other than what I just did to correct the access problem.  The only change yesterday was to open the necessary port for steam.

Thanks again for your assistance and let me know what you think about what occurred
Monty

Offline lukor

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Good!  :D

Don't know what actually has happened, but when you stop WebShield provider, all active connections running through the proxy are terminated -- perhaps that might have something to do with the imroperly saved FW config. Just guessing though.

Cheers, Lukas.

Edit: thanks for marking the topic as SOLVED, if only everyone would do this!