Avast broke Internet Explorer!

[Tristan6]

I installed the free version of Avast two days ago.  The evening after performing a thorough scan with found nothing, I went on-line.  Although a diagnostic I ran on Internet Explorer found that there was nothing wrong with my connection, no pages would load.  It would say "done" in the lower left-hand corner, but nothing ever loaded.

I then uninstalled Avast (not an easy thing to do) but whatever it did to my browser was not reversed.  IE still will not load.  I finally tried a second browser (Firefox) and it appears to work, but I prefer IE and do not want to be forced to use Firefox on a permanent basis.

Also, for reasons I cannot fathom, whatever Avast did to my system (Windows XL) seems to have affected System Restore.  It will not offer me any restore points prior to the day I installed Avast (something that has never happened before).

Why did Avast break my browser and what can I do to fix the problem?  I know I can reinstall Internet Explorer, but would rather not have to go to that extreme.  Can anyone shed light on what might have happened?  Any assistance would be very much appreciated.

Tristan6

P.S.:  I find the Captcha words with the inkblots almost impossible to decipher.  Took several attempts to post this.

[DavidR]

It would be nice to know in more detail what you mean by avast! broke Internet Explorer ?
e.g. can't connect to the internet or something completely different.

[Pondus]

what antivirus did you have before installing avast ?
did you remove it before installing avast ?

I then uninstalled Avast (not an easy thing to do).....................

ad/remove programs should work fine
if not try this.....read and follow the instructions   http://www.avast.com/en-no/uninstall-utility

[Tristan6]

(In answer to first reply)  As I explained in my first post, Internet Explorer will not load pages.  If I try to open a page using Favorites or typing the URL into the address bar, an hour glass appears next to my cursor but absolutely nothing happens.  In the lower left-hand corner of the browser window it will say "done" but nothing appears.  The page remains blank. 

If I try to open a web page that I have saved on my hard drive I can do so.  But nothing on the Internet.

I honestly don't want to have to uninstall/reinstall IE because I will lose all the updates that have accumulated, and because I'm on a dial-up connection that will take forever.

Before and after posting I did a thorough search on the Internet to see if other people have experienced this problem.  There are numerous posts on this forum of people who have had the exact same thing happen, but the threads do not explain what is causing the problem or how to fix it.  Other people report uninstalling Avast and being able to surf once again.

http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=48290.0
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=65587.0
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=80712.0
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=45756.0
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=52510.0
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=46039.0
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=94238.0
 

Some of the replies to these posts talk about Windows Firewall, but Windows XP has a built-in firewall that does its thing and I've never had to mess with it.  I did try turning it off to see whether I could then surf, but not deal.

I uninstalled the Avast and then ran a professional uninstaller to see it anything had been left behind.  It reported that everything Avast installed has been removed.  So it has to be something that Avast DID to IE while it was installed. 

Final note:  I've just downloaded aswclear.exe from the Avast site and will try that.  Will report back on whether it worked.

Thanks,

Tristan6

[DavidR]

Aside from your very last link the newest topic is 9 months old and some almost 3 years, so those are a waste of time as they are for old avast programs.

So the last one is at least recent and did show a conclusion as it is marked [Solved].

The most common cause is the firewall blocking avast rather than avast blocking internet access. If you only have the windows xp firewall ?

That shouldn't be an issue as it has ZERO outbound protection/checking, so that shouldn't be the issue.

-  also see Cause for apparent Web Shield blocking internet connection, http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=57443.0.

You didn't answer Pondus's questions about previously installed AVs and their removal as this to can conflict causing conflict, which presents itself as blocking. If there is a conflict then removing one part of the conflict (uninstalling avast) will end the conflict and allow browsing, but what it doesn't do is find the true reason.

[Tristan6]

My previous anti-virus program was Avira.  For some reason the most recent Avira has system requirements that my computer does not meet, so I was forced to look for another free anti-virus.  I had Avira setup so that it did not monitor my computer in real time since it slows things down to a crawl when on dial-up.  But of course I uninstalled it before installing Avast.

What has been supremely frustrating in this whole affair is that mystifyingly all my System Restore points that must have existed prior to my installing Avast simply disappeared into thin air!  I haven't had to use System Restore very often, but each time I did I always found that I had at least a week's worth of restore points.  When I tried to restore after uninstalling Avast, I found only one restore point dated the morning after installing Avast.

I've read that some malware will delete your Restore folder, but I performed a complete scan with Avast prior to attempting to go on-line and it found nothing.  So my computer should not be infected with anything that is deleting my Restore folder.

Also the aswclear.exe executable is not going to help me since I already uninstalled Avast and therefore there is no Avast folder to delete.  So that solution will not work.

Tristan_6

[DavidR]

The aswclear.exe (uninstall utility) doesn't just delete the folders, but checks other areas, registry and file not in the avast folder, so yes it can and does have a purpose.

- Uninstall possible remnants of previously installed AVs (avira also) see, http://singularlabs.com/uninstallers/security-software/, this has a collection of manufactures removal tools, so that should remove any remnants, registry, etc.

We are making suggestions to ensure there are no remnants (process of elimination) so that a clean reinstall is likely to be successful, but if you are reluctant to try those suggestions then we are both wasting out time.

Did you check the information from the link I provided in my last post, Cause for apparent Web Shield blocking internet connection (yet another process of elimination) ?

[Tristan6]

In response to DavidR, I've checked my registry to see if Windows Temp folder is where is it supposed to be.  The values for HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment are exactly as they should be and the Temp folder is indeed still there.  No solution there.

When I ran the professional uninstaller there was one left-over key in the registry which I left as is since I didn't think it would have any impact on how IE functions.  Here it is:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\SessionInfo\000000000000c7b6\StartupHasBeenRun]

I'm assuming this registry entry documents my futile attempts to take all Avast components out of Startup so it would not load on Boot.  Should I delete it?

I did solve the mystery of why my System Restore points disappeared.  I'd performed a routine ScanDisk, defrag and and Disk Cleanup the night before installing Avast.  I never knew that Disk Cleanup erases all but the most recent restore point.

I also checked my Eventlog.  Found nothing that could shed light on why IE cannot surf.

I did go to the web site you directed me to and downloaded and ran the removal tool for Avira.

Finally before I run aswclear.exe in Safe Mode, instructions say to browse to Avast folder and click on "Delete."  I cannot browse to Avast folder since it is uninstalled.  Going into Safe Mode is something I don't want to do more than once since the noise the hard drive makes in Safe Mode freaks me out.  If there is no folder called "Avast" then how can I run aswclear.exe?

Thanks

Tristan_6

[DavidR]

I don't recognise the second registry key you posted as anything to do with avast. I have a similar entry (different session info number \SessionInfo\000000000000c7b6\ ) and I obviously have not been trying to remove avast.

So this I believe is unrelated and you should leave it alone.

This is the normal installation folder C:\Program Files\AVAST Software\Avast, so you could copy and paste that into the window rather than browse.