Author Topic: Web Shield with low self-esteem being distracted by FireFox? (she's turned off)  (Read 3584 times)

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Teasy

  • Guest
Hi there!

This is the system I'm having the problem on:
- I'm using Avast Free 5.0.677 (with auto-update)
- on Windows XP (Home) with SP3.
- And I'm running FireFox 3.6.12 for browsing.
- I rarely reboot this computer,
thanks to Windows her hibernate feature.
- I have not used any other antivirus programs
besides Avast on this computer.

And these are this computer's hardware specs:
- MB: Asus P5K-SE, CPU: Q6600 2.4G, MEM: 2G, GFX: GF 8600GT

Here's the problem:
- After extensive browsing,
- and occasionally turning Avast on and off
to speed up some other processes,
- sometimes Avast's Web Shield
doesn't want to be turned on again
( she has a high 'sex appeal' though ).

When I open her UI, on the Summary page, I see at the top:
- ATTENTION
Your system is not fully protected.
Please use the Fix Now button
to start fully protecting your system.
: Clicking that Fix Now button has no effect unfortunately.

Looking further below, I see:
- Real-time shields:   (!) off   (o) Turn on
: Clicking the Turn on button has no effect either.

And when I look further down, I see:
- Urgent: Web Shield off
avast! has detected that your Web Shield is turned off.
To ensure you are protected against internet viruses,
turn on the Web Shield now.   (o) Turn on
: Clicking this Turn on button has no effect either.

More things that I have tried:
- I have tried turning off all Real-Time Shields
and back on again, without a change.
- I have also tried closing FireFox
( and waiting until it *really* closed,
leaving no traces in memory )
before toggling the Real-Time Shields,
which was also without change.

A possible cause:
- Perhaps Avast is using a locking or hooking mechanism
that is 'lost' or 'detached' by an action related to FireFox.
- Perhaps this locking/hooking mechanism uses
a Windows' native component (like explorer.exe/iexplore.exe?),
and can therefore, after having been 'detached',
no longer 'reattach',
until those particular integrated Windows processes
are restarted:
- by a manual explorer.exe/iexplore.exe? restart
: this doesn't seem to work :(
- by logging off/on
: i can't try this yet ^^ ( need a few more days )
  ( few days later ) this works a charm! :D
- by restarting this computer
: this always works, yay :D

More possible causes:
- At first I thought the 'stickiness' (inability to 'turn on') occured
because she (Avast her Web Shield) found some suspicious files
and I noticed that Avast started 'fighting' with FireFox,
a bit like this stick figure:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T-3eVhL2zk
: well, a little different :P

Diving deeper:
- I did notice that Avast's FileSystem Shield was initially configured
to have (always) 'Move to chest' for any suspicious files
( in her 'Expert settings' ),
which may have caused some fighting (unsure).
- But I am not entirely sure that this is related,
as in her Web Shield 'expert settings'
an abortion will be undertaken when an attempt is made
to establish a connection with a suspicious 'object' :P
( E.g. 'Abort connection' ).

Getting closer:
- I have recently noticed the same problem occuring
without a suspicious file having been spotted,
and without visiting a website containing suspicious 'objects'.

Some background information:
- This problem has not occured before (with Avast 4),
and only started occuring after upgrading from Avast 4 to 5.
- I am running the same programs (fore/background)
as when I was running Avast 4, without disability.

Since this problem occurs occasionally,
but does seem to occur (oO),
and as such, currently, requires me to close all programs
just to get her (the Web Shield) turned on by my 'actions' :P

Perhaps this information alone
can benefit others having the same case of disability,
and if so I would be grateful :)

And I hope this explanation will be helpful
to those working on Avast directly
to keep it working in mint condition ^^

Thanks for reading, and enjoy yourself :)

Teasy
« Last Edit: December 16, 2010, 01:31:57 AM by Teasy »

DavidCo

  • Guest
You say
Quote
by restarting this computer
: this always works, yay

Does clearing FF cache etc also work

CharleyO

  • Guest
***

Welcome to the forums, Teasy   :)

First try a repair of the avast program.


To do a repair of avast :

Control panel > Add/remove programs > click once on avast to select it > click on Change/Remove > scroll down the left pane and click on repair > click OK> follow directions


By the way, an interesting writing style you have.   :)


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Teasy

  • Guest
You say
Quote
by restarting this computer
: this always works, yay

Does clearing FF cache etc also work
That's a good idea, DavidCo.
I did not think of that.

I have tried it when the problem occured,
but it had no effect on Avast being stuck :(
FireFox, however, was feeling a bit light-headed thereafter ^^

Welcome to the forums, Teasy   :)

First try a repair of the avast program.
<..>

By the way, an interesting writing style you have.   :)
Thank you for your kind words and warm welcome, CharleyO :)
I thought I'd apply some novel creativity
in a seemingly mundane troubleshooting report :P

I had not tried the 'repair Avast' previously,
since I figured it would not significantly influence
a running Avast instance.

Anyway, I have tried the repair option
via the Add/remove programs dialog
when the problem occured,
but it had no visible impact
on Avast's Web Shield incapacitation.

After some more attempts at playing the fiddle,
my computer was free for me to decide to try logging off.
This worked a charm
and Avast her Web Shield was back in her full glory!

If the problem occurs again,
I will try to uninstall Avast while she is in limbo,
and reinstall her again,
hoping that the active instance will be affected
by the (un)installer's caress.

So far, the same problem has not occured again,
but most likely I will feel an urge
to report back here if it does ^^

I have updated my initial post
to reflect the newly acquired information.
I hope that Avast's new Web Shield mechanism
will be able to catch FireFox like before,
because she's quick too!

Thank you for taking the time
to read and reply, DavidCo and CharleyO :)

CharleyO

  • Guest
***

You are welcome and be sure to let us know if the problem returns.


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