Recurring Web scanner crash

[Avastuser77]

Hi,

First of all, many thanks for a great free virus scanner, much appreciated.

I've got one problem though: the Web scanner service crashes a short while after I've started Firefox for the first time. No matter what website is in the browser or what I'm doing, after about one minute I get the message "avast! Web Scanner stopped working and was closed".

When I look at the resident providers after the crash, the Web Shield is working, but maybe the Web scanner is only an element of the Web Shield?

Some info:

Avast 4.8 Home Edition, Build Feb2009 (4.8.1335)
Windows Vista Ultimate x64, SP1
Firefox 3 (version 3.0.6 at the moment)

[DavidR]

Have (or did) you another AV installed in this system, if so what was it and how did you get rid of it ?

What is your firewall ?

[Avastuser77]

I had NOD32 installed, and uninstalled that using the uninstall link in the ESET start menu folder. After that I used TuneUp Utilities and CCleaner to get rid of possible left-overs.

I use the Windows Vista firewall.

I also uninstalled a small tool called Comodo Safesurf before I installed Avast. That was a left-over from a trial install of Comodo firewall.

[DavidR]

I don't know if this was the removal tool you used - NOD32 Removal Tool - http://www.nod32.nl/download/tool/nod32removal.exe, right click on the link and select Save As or Save File (As depending on your browser), save it to a location where you can find it easily later.

The Vista firewall has outbound checking disabled by default, so unless you enabled it, then it shouldn't be an issue ?

I'm not familiar with how the comodo safe surf works or more importantly if there might be any remnants of that left. You could use HiJackThis to see if there are any remnants (toolbar), etc.

Program & Tutorial - Also useful as a diagnostic tool - FileHippo Download - HiJackThis and post the contents of the HJT log file here. - HJT Information HiJackThis Tutorial.
Download and run HJT and post the contents of the log file (cut and paste or attach the log file) into this topic, you may need to split it over two or more posts depending on how large it is.

[Avastuser77]

Thanks for the tips, I'll try them out. Why do you think it's got something to do with left-overs from other Antivirus or Firewall software? Couldn't it be a conflict in the Web scanner module of Avast? A number of software problems I've encountered so far are related to 64-bit Vista, or maybe it might have something to do with my Firefox configurations, with lots of Add-ons, Greasemonkey scripts etcetera.

[DavidR]

Because of the error "avast! Web Scanner stopped working and was closed" I'm thinking possible clash.

There are many people using Vista64 in the forums and yours is the first to report this problem.

If you tried IE7 as opposed to firefox and see if the same thing happens. You could also use the Firefox (Safe Mode) which loads firefox with no add-ons.

[Avastuser77]

Thanks again, I'll try IE next time after a reboot.

I've executed the NOD32 removal tool and it didn't find left-overs. I also ran the HijackThis software and I couldn't find anything odd in the list, except maybe for this:

O23 - Service: Spyware Terminator Realtime Shield Service (sp_rssrv) - Crawler.com - C:\Program Files (x86)\Spyware Terminator\sp_rsser.exe

I forgot that Spyware Terminator also has a realtime protection module. Could that be the culprit?

[DavidR]

I don't use ST so I can't say for sure, but it also has an AV element and although many say it is on-demand I feel that it and the crawler (doesn't have a glowing reputation) toolbar element should be installed. So I would suggest uninstalling and doing a custom install avoiding these elements. Or for the time being leave it uninstalled.

I also think there are better applications than ST, though the free versions of SAS and MBAM don't have any resident protection, depends on how important you feel this is.

You can post the HJT log as an attachment and we will take a look at it.

[Avastuser77]

Thanks, as soon as I'm finished with work I'll look into it again.

[Avastuser77]

I just had the opportunity to uninstall Spyware Terminator at home and did it. Rebooted, cleaned with TuneUp and CCleaner, started FF3 for the first time, waited for a while (without going to any other website than my standard iGoogle homepage) ... Web scanner crash recurred.

I'm really starting to suspect the crash is not due to external software interference. The only software I can think of that's conflicting is the latest version of Firefox and/or its Add-ons/scripts. But I can't delete all those as well, losing my many settings.

[DavidR]

Well I can't think of anything else, which is why I asked for the HJT log in full to be posted.

Did you try running the safe mode version of firefox,  or running IE, you didn't say ?

[Avastuser77]

Sorry, I'll try that. In the mean time I've got another suspicion: my homepage is iGoogle and the first thing I usually do is check my Gmail. It might have something to do with Google's services. But I'll try IE and Firefox in safe mode first.