Author Topic: Disabling Shields in an effort to get some speed...Desperate for help  (Read 6272 times)

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KPaw

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I'm beyond frustrated.  Since installing Avast a couple of days ago my computer is slow and internet surfing reminds me of the old dial-up days.   I run  Windows XP and there is not a trace of my former virus program on my computer.   I have also done the repair on Avast... So, I am experimenting with the shields to see if one is causing a problem .. but how do you disable a shield without the icon being "x"'d out and indicating your system is at risk.

Every web page is slow to load and many time out... Never had this issue pre-Avast..

Can anyone help me?


Gargamel360

  • Guest
how do you disable a shield without the icon being "x"'d out and indicating your system is at risk.
Settings>>Status Bar>>then choose the component you wish to not be informed of.

Something affecting browsing speed is probably the Web Shield.

Have you tried to re-install?  How do you know nothing is left from previous install?

KPaw

  • Guest
Thanks for getting back to me.  I ran a remove utility that a number of people recommended.

Am I the only one to notice this incredible slowness?  Or have other people experienced this? 

I'll have to uninstall and go to a different product as I can't put up with this...

Very frustrated but thanks again.

smokin3.0

  • Guest
I'm also having speed issues
fresh install of winXP pro sp3 with all current critical updates
fresh install of avast 6.0.1203
100mbit cable

speedtest with all shields enabled


speedtest with shields disabled

Offline mikaelrask

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To: smokin3.0 and kpax

Do you have any third party firewall installed?

like outpost or comodo?

it could be that how is slowing down the speed as well.
Windows 8.1 amd a10-5700 64 bit
12 GB ram 1 tb hard drive. Avast 18, MBAM

smokin3.0

  • Guest
Hi mikaelrask,

no 3rd party firewall installed only the default one which comes with xp
which i have disabled

Gargamel360

  • Guest
Thanks for getting back to me.  I ran a remove utility that a number of people recommended.
Am I the only one to notice this incredible slowness?  Or have other people experienced this? 
I'll have to uninstall and go to a different product as I can't put up with this...
Very frustrated but thanks again.
Well, ok, a re-install might fix this but do as you will.

I'm also having speed issues, fresh install of winXP pro sp3 with all current critical updates, fresh install of avast 6.0.1203, 100mbit cable
"Speed Issues"? 100 Mb/s....your speed issue is you are too fast, pardon me while I turn green with envy. ;D

More seriously, the Web Shield fudges Speed Test results some, giving a result that is not accurate to your true bandwidth, that has been seen before.  
But some people have had trouble with the Web Shield and monstrous connection speeds such as that, though.  Some users have just disabled the Web Shield  in the face of such speed loss.....I can sympathize with that, you want to get what you pay for with that kind of bandwidth after all, and the ~75% loss you show (while probably not totally accurate) is along the lines of what I would consider unacceptable, if I was lucky enough to have such speeds available to me.
In lieu of completely disabling it, you could also try playing with the packers settings on the web shield to try and find a balance of speed and security (it checks all by default).

ady4um

  • Guest
Since both KPaw and smokin3.0 are using XP, I'd like to ask if you notice any reduced performance when you are not using any web browser.

It has been reported that the latest stable version of Avast ( 6.0.1203 ) has some problems under XP with some defraggers and some other intensive-disk-activity tools. The problem seems to be already found, and there is a patch available for such situation.

If the performance of other activities (not web browser) is acceptable / normal (read as "the HDD led is not working ALL the time and almost all is NOT really slow"), then the problem is something else (and I apologize for the OT then).

An alternative would be to use a previous stable version of Avast ( 6.0.1125 or 5.1.889 for example ) to see if it happens under that versions too.

KPaw

  • Guest
Hi mikaelrask,

no 3rd party firewall installed only the default one which comes with xp
which i have disabled

Ditto for me.   Unfortunately, I'm going to have to un-install and go out and buy Norton again today.   No way can I put up with this and I spent all day yesterday on it...too bad as I really like the Avast interface....

Offline Asyn

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http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=81547.0

It has been reported that the latest stable version of Avast ( 6.0.1203 ) has some problems under XP with some defraggers and some other intensive-disk-activity tools. The problem seems to be already found, and there is a patch available for such situation.

http://public.avast.com/~kurtin/patches
« Last Edit: July 18, 2011, 12:38:19 PM by Asyn »
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Avast Wissenswertes (Downloads, Anleitungen & Infos): https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=60523.0

KPaw

  • Guest
Re: Disabling Shields in an effort to get some speed...Desperate for help
« Reply #10 on: July 18, 2011, 12:38:07 PM »
Hi Ady4um and thank you for your assistance.   I just closed out IE and tested out some other programs and I don't notice any loss of speed outside of the browser at all.   I also just tested Chrome and Firefox and, although I was just using both for a very short time, the slowness appears to be isolated to IE9...

KPaw

  • Guest
Re: Disabling Shields in an effort to get some speed...Desperate for help
« Reply #11 on: July 18, 2011, 12:46:14 PM »
I so much appreciate the help on this forum but I'm not a super techie person at all and some of what I am reading on the threads is all foreign to me.... can somebody tell me what I should be doing?   Right now I have every shield off and now Windows is giving me security alerts... Help.

Thank you again and I apologize for sounded so frustrated - it's a billion degrees here and I spent all day yesterday on this and I just never expected all these issues from Avast and even as I type this the thing is so slow.  Even google.com won't load...

sbwhiteman

  • Guest
Re: Disabling Shields in an effort to get some speed...Desperate for help
« Reply #12 on: July 18, 2011, 02:11:24 PM »
Hi KPaw,

Although I'm not the expert that some others are, it sounds to me like Avast is in conflict with some other piece of software on your system.  Since you've spent so much time on the problem you've probably already tried this, but if not I would suggest the following procedure:

First, run the manufacturers' uninstall tools of all security programs that have ever previously existed on the system.  You mentioned Norton -- theirs is here: http://us.norton.com/support/kb/web_view.jsp?wv_type=public_web&docurl=20080710133834EN&ln=en_US
Others may be found at the manufacturer's website or at: http://thewebatom.net/uninstallers/security-software/

Then, uninstall Avast, boot to Safe Mode, run the Avast uninstall utility (http://www.avast.com/uninstall-utility), boot to regular mode, reinstall most recent version.

Then, if the problem persists, turn off half your autostarts (At a command prompt run msconfig and uncheck half the items under the Startup tab -- leave Avast checked.), reboot, and see if the problem goes away.  If not, re-enable those startups and uncheck the other half (excepting Avast), reboot.  If you find the problem goes away when half the autostarts are unchecked, you know the problem is with one of those programs.  Progressively re-enable half of those until you figure out where the conflict is.

Good luck!
« Last Edit: July 18, 2011, 02:14:40 PM by sbwhiteman »

KPaw

  • Guest
Re: Disabling Shields in an effort to get some speed...Desperate for help
« Reply #13 on: July 18, 2011, 02:40:53 PM »
Hi SBWhiteman, much appreciated.   

Odd thing is, I can't even get to the  Avast homepage!!!!!!... it just times out... however, no problem in Chrome so the issue is surrounding IE 9 mainly.   I have to leave this for now but will re-visit this issue tonight.  Many thanks to you once again.

jim256

  • Guest
Re: Disabling Shields in an effort to get some speed...Desperate for help
« Reply #14 on: July 18, 2011, 03:11:46 PM »
You have noted ie9 a few times, and said you're running XP.  9 is for Vista and 7, but not for XP on the MS download site.  Is that an issue?  Not sure how it would affect Avast.  I have slow wireless on 2 lower-end laptops if I have intelligent streaming turned on in web shield, but no speed issues with intelligent streaming off.