Avast prevents my brother from browsing, also refuses to update

[XE800]

After exchanging AVG with Avast, he has been experiencing strange problems. When Avast is enabled, surfing with Internet Explorer is impossible (although online games like CS still works through Steam). Also, updating Avast is impossible, just gets "Can't connect to server" or something like that. I have tried disabling Windows Firewall with no effect. Disabling Avast enables browsing again. He is using Windows Vista Home Premium, and so am I. We are on identical hardware, got the same OS and updates, still he experiences these things while I do not. Any ideas?

[DavidR]

I would suggest that a) avg is completely removed, b) your firewall isn't blocking the web shield.

AVG8 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.

I know you say the firewall is disabled (but the can't connect is classic firewall blocking), not advised and the Vista firewall has outbound checking disabled by default, so shouldn't get in the way, however if he has enabled outbound protection:

Does it allow ashWebSv.exe internet access ?
- If it does delete the entry for it and reconnect to the internet, this will force the firewall to ask permission again.

So I would say it is more than likely remnants of AVG causing a conflict.

[XE800]

After a lot of research it seems the real villain was Norton, which was included with our laptops when we bought them. Seems some process or other had survived the uninstall (this was ages ago, when installing AVG), and decided to go for a comeback when it noticed AVG was gone. Uninstalled it again, and although it gave me an error at the end and pointed me to a page that wouldn't load, things seem to be working now. Internet is back up again, Avast updates and the trouble my brother had with finding servers when playing Team Fortress through Steam is also gone.

Edit: went to Remove Programs again, just to check, and to my dismay Norton was still listed! But this time, when trying to uninstall, I was told the app seemed to be uninstalled already, and given the option to remove it from the list. Which I agreed to. Hopefully it is gone for good.

[Tarq57]

Run the Norton Removal Tool. http://majorgeeks.com/Norton_Removal_Tool_SymNRT_d4749.html
This is a common problem, and sometimes doesn't surface for a time after uninstalling Norton.
Be advised the tool will remove all Norton products from the computer.

[DavidR]

<snip>
Edit: went to Remove Programs again, just to check, and to my dismay Norton was still listed! But this time, when trying to uninstall, I was told the app seemed to be uninstalled already, and given the option to remove it from the list. Which I agreed to. Hopefully it is gone for good.

Norton can be harder to get rid of than your average virus, so I suggest you run the oll suggested by Targ57