Avast Free + Integard (by Race River) = No Internet

[Nnixx]

:'(

Since 11th September (after Avast update downloaded) I could not get to the internet via browsers, iTunes or update Spybot, Malwarebytes or Avast.

The only thing that could connect to the web was Outlook 2010 for email.

Since I have Integard child filter installed, I disabled it and everything was working 

So I raised a support ticket with Race River because I thought it must have been an Integard issue. 

Continued to check as it seemed more like a firewall block as I wasn't getting any Integard error screens and discovered that if I disable the Avast Web Shield everything is back to normal access wise and Integard works as should blocking inappropriate sites etc. 

So my uninstalling Integard and reinstalling, losing all my settings and customisations was a waste of time as the issue is Avast. 

Windows XP SP3 with latest updates, Avast 6.0.1289 latest defs, Integard 2.0.0.9047, database 56.83

[Nnixx]

 
Ok I could see a few other threads about internet being blocked but read in this one http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=84558.0 about allowing Avast in the personal firewall.

So I went to Integard and added AvastSvc.exe with no restrictions under the program rules and it seems to have fixed my problem.

[DavidR]

Glad that you have found a resolution. The forum search tool is a very handy resource.

Thanks for the feedback.

[Nnixx]

Strange though that AvastSvc.exe suddenly needs to be included in the list of 'allowed' programs when previosuly it wasn't.

I should have twigged to it being something to with Avast as suddenly the logs show huge volumes of data (100s of MB) being processed by Avast, like verything going to and from the net is now being processed by Avast in some way.

Also discovered by accident that some huge MDMP files were created in the last day or so, probabhly when Avast failed to auto update or soemthing. 2.8GB worth of dump files

[DavidR]

Not strange at all, I have seen it many times in the forums with many different firewalls. Sometimes they appear to get digital amnesia, where even when they were allowed before now they are blocked. Though Integard, is a content filtering application, I guess it is acting a bit like a firewall.

Where were these mdmp files located ?
If the mdmp files are in avast folder and they are old they should be able to be deleted.

However those mdmp files are an indication that all isn't correct, whilst not serious enough to have a hard error displayed to the screen.

[ady4um]

Strange though that AvastSvc.exe suddenly needs to be included in the list of 'allowed' programs when previously it wasn't.

This is not really strange. Avast changed the way http traffic is checked, so now AvastSvc.exe needs to be in the firewall rules (or, for a less preferable possibility, a specific setting needs to be changed in Avast so to go back to the previous behaviour).

[Nnixx]

Where were these mdmp files located ?
If the mdmp files are in avast folder and they are old they should be able to be deleted.

However those mdmp files are an indication that all isn't correct, whilst not serious enough to have a hard error displayed to the screen.

I can't remember where I found them, but they were all dated 12th and 13th September and were roughly 4 hours apart - which correlates to how often I have Avast check for updates.

So probably tyring to check for updates in the background and failing so dumping.

I already deleted them.  

I guess I could remove AvastSvc.exe from the allowed programs list in Integard and see if it reproduces the a dump file when it tries to 'phone home'.

Also why was Outlook not affected ? Is it because it's a separate sheild monitoring mail ?

[DavidR]

The avast update failure I don't think wouldn't generate these, normally you will get a Red pop-up that the update failed, but the avastSvc.exe isn't related to the update anyway, that is the avast.setup file which controls the updates.