no IE or Firefox after Avast 6.0 update

[jwalt313]

My IE and Firefox on XP were working great until the Avast 6.0 update.  Now I cannot access the web on either but my Outlook works fine.  HELP!

[DavidR]

What version of avast did you have before ?

What is your firewall ?
Does it allow avastSvc.exe internet access ?
- If it does delete the entry for it and reconnect to the internet, this should force the firewall to ask permission again.

[jwalt313]

I cannot be sure which free version it was, but I do have the auto program update set so can I assume that it was the most up to date wersion?
I am using the Windows firewall.  How do I tell if it allows avastSvc.exe internet access?

[DavidR]

It doesn't have to be exact, avast 4.8, avast 5.0, avast 5.1 avast6 ?

The reason I ask is there hasn't been an update of the avast program for some time.
So if you are on auto update, you should have been notified of a program update being available.

The windows XP firewall has ZERO outbound protection (not advisable), so that shouldn't be getting in the way and another reason in knowing what the previous version of avast was.

[jwalt313]

It was Avast 5.1

[jwalt313]

If there is a firewall in the free Avast 5.1 by default, then I was also using it as I did a default install

[DavidR]

OK, it will probably be best to do a clean reinstall:
- Download the latest version of avast, 6.0.1203 http://files.avast.com/iavs5x/setup_av_free.exe and save it to your HDD, somewhere you can find it again (if you didn't save your last download). Use that when you reinstall.

- Download the avast! Uninstall Utility, aswClear.exe find it here and save it to your HDD (it has uninstall tools for both 5.x and 6.0.x).

• 1. Now uninstall avast! (using add remove programs, if you can't do that start from the next step), reboot.
• 2. run the avast! Uninstall Utility from safe mode, first for 5.x if previously installed and then for 6.0, once complete reboot into normal mode.
• 3. install the latest version, reboot.

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- Booting into safe mode http://www.pchell.com/support/safemode.shtml

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Avast free or Pro are stand alone antivirus solutions, only the Avast Internet Suite (paid option) includes a firewall.