THIS PROBLEM IS NOW SOLVED , i wont delete the OP just yet incase anyone else is having this problem
i was reading through forums and for some reason the news of .lnk exploit seemed suspicious to me so i downloaded this:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2286198and now everything is fine , apparently some hacker was forcing me to shut down webshield by changing its options or something...not sure
moderator please close this thread
also, thanks to everyone who tried to help me here
------the original post,now useless---
hi.
so about 2 days ago(possibly after one of avast updates) i started getting Connection Reset errors in all browsers(IE6,Firefox,Chrome)
today i found that the only way to fix that is to Stop(not pause) the Web Shield in avast
is this some sort of virus that avast tries to block or what? (i scanned the pc with both Avast! and AVG free 9.0 ,no virus found)
would be nice if someone can help me get the web shield working again,thx
ps:
i have Avast! 4.8 Home Edition (Now Updated to newest version 5.something)
also , when im getting the connection error i can still go to google.com and use messenger programs , also send/recieve files
edit::
before someone says it might be because i have multiple AV's .. i only installed avg for that one scan and uninstalled after,so that is not the issue
edit2:
~~ the list of things i've tried so far ~~
uninstalled all security related sw
install and run MBAM
updated Avast! to newest version
Updated IE6 to IE8
installed xp service pack 3
uninstalled browsers (firefox/chrome)
added Avast! to firewall exceptions (also tried disabling the firewall)
install and run CCleaner
flushed DNS
added sites to Web Shield 'exclusions'
UNINSTALLED avast!
added sites to Hosts file
(noscript doesnt help either.)