On two of my systems where i have installed windows7 (home premium and ultimate), IE8, Avast 5.0 and Acrobat Reader 9.3.0, Internet Explorer freezes whenever i try to read a PDF in the browser itself. When i uninstall Avast it works allright.
I could of course instruct Acrobat reader not to open in Browser but that’s not what i want.
It only happens when Avast 5 is installed on the system. The problem occured aswell in vs 5.0.377 as in 5.0.396
Anyone have the same problem ?
does turning web shield off make any difference?
No … doesn’t help … even if i turn off all shields it still happens… 
It only doesn’t happen when i uninstall Avast 5
When IE freezes up, please run Task Manager (taskmgr.exe), select iexplore.exe process, right-click on it, choose Create dump file and upload .dmp file to our ftp (http://support.avast.com/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=18). Thanks.
I’ve had similar problems since installing AV 5 - loading a PDF in IE 6 will often
freeze completely. IE is “not responding”. Have to kill it via Task Manager.
Trying over and over has the same effect. Opening the same page/PDF in Firefox 3.0.17
works without problems. So does saving/downloading the PDF and opening
it in Acrobat Reader. XP 32-bit, Acrobat Reader 9.3. IE 6 fully patched.
Recently had one case where I was able to eventually get IE to load and
scroll the PDF: I closed all other open IE instances, as well as OE, and
disabled all shields. Retried loading the PDF from web page, worked OK.
Cleared the cache, closed IE. Reactivated shields. Restarted IE and then
it was able to load and scroll the same PDF from the web without freezing.
Go figure.
Then tried again with the same file - freeze-up.
Example: Opening this page http://stmichaelscathedral.com/
and clicking on the “Bulletin” link opens another instance of IE
and loads the PDF from here:
http://stmichaelscathedral.com/weeklybulletin.pdf
Usually IE stops responding after or during loading of the PDF.
Personally I would advise not opening a pdf file in the browser as there are just too many exploits with adobe pdf reader, I would save it to my HDD and open it there.
I would go a step further and choose another pdf reader that isn’t such a target for those seeking to exploit it. I use FoxIt pdf reader (have done for some time now), there are other free pdf readers out there.
Why is it people always suggest to do something else instead of solving the problem … i have no intention of NOT reading my PDF in my browser and i have no intention of installing another PDF reader.
It just should work … so i hope they find a solution.
Matrix-Z: so could you please generate dump file and upload it on our ftp? See my previous post for the instructions. Thanks.
i am uploading them right now in the folder ‘incoming’… will take 45 minutes ?! :-[ …
There were two instances running of iexplore.exe () … i created a dump fiule for both of them :
iexplore.DMP & iexplore(2).DMP
Hope it helps …
() On my other system (windows 7 ultimate) that is also the case whenever i open IE with just one tab.
** update ** files are send … did you receive them ?
I am running into the same problem having posted a note earlier (Article 54988). I have found it to be site specific (viewing pdf files doesn’t freeze IE8 on all web sites). Installing Version 4.8 solved the problem. It occurs on two computers both with Vista 32-bit but different pdf programs (Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro and Adobe Reader 9). I will see about sending a dump file as previously asked. I tried individually turning off the Version 5 shields, resetting IE8 settings, etc. From viewing this forum, I suspect Version 5 still has a few problems with IE8. Here is my post: Well here is another problem in Version 5 (Internet Security Ver 5.0.394) that doesn’t exist in Version 4.8 It is happening on two different computers both running Vista 32-bit and the latest IE8. Downloading a pdf file for viewing within certain web sites (two examples: groups.Yahoo.com and www.caesarstone.com) results in being able to view the file within IE8 but as soon as the document appears - IE8 hangs (freezes). Ending the task with the Task Manager terminates the “not responding” process however if in the IE8 restart process one selects the option “Restore your last session”, the previously hung pdf document comes back with full functionality. After this, viewing any other pdf documents runs without hanging IE8. I think leaving the site and coming back in results in IE8 hanging again when viewing/downloading a pdf file. This doesn’t happen on two other Internet sites, my own web page and the local ski club’s web page - viewing pdf files within these sites isn’t a problem - as soon as the pdf document appears, IE8 continues to respond properly. Since this seemed to be a web site specific problem, I began to suspect Version 5 and sure enough installing Version 4.8 doesn’t produce the hung IE8 problem. The two computers use different pdf programs, Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro and the free downloaded Adobe Reader 9. I went through a number of standard IE8 solutions like resetting the IE8 settings to its default settings all to no avail (Tools → Internet Settings → Advanced). Installing Version 4.8 was the only repeatable solution to the problem.
no issue here opening a PDF in IE8/32 (Win7) and Avast running.
We know about the problem and I think it was already assigned to someone…
I would guess that the pdf/IE8 problem has been seen by a few and should be in the avast resolution queue. In response to some that say they have no problem, be cognizant that I find it to be very site specific, e.g., it isn’t a problem on all web sites (sample of 4 web sites, two exhibit the problem). To add to the confusion, I’ve uploaded my iexplore dump file (krgoodwin_iexplore.dmp) - a small file at 232 megs! What it odd is that when IE8 exhibits having froze, the task manager shows two iexplorer processes, one small at 8104K and one large at 51568K. The larger process seemed to be the active one so the dump file is from that process. When I terminate the Yahoo forum application (http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/…) and then during the IE8 restart process ask it to restore the the last session (which results in IE8 & the same pdf file working fine), I see that four iexplore.exe processes are running. Anyway I am in way over my head when it comes to dump files, especially ones that are 0.2 gigs.
I would expect that most of the exploits work just as well when opening the file with standalone Adobe Reader as with the browser plugin, e.g., http://www.adobe.com/support/security/advisories/apsa09-07.html .
I would go a step further and choose another pdf reader that isn't such a target for those seeking to exploit it. I use FoxIt pdf reader (have done for some time now), there are other free pdf readers out there.
That’s probably a good idea. Even better, run the reader in a non-administrator account that’s denied access to everything except what it needs to run.
Many of the exploits are crafted into the browser call to launch adobe. Yes, there will be some that work simply by opening it with adobe, which is why I also suggested the alternative pdf reader.
Me being an XP user I can use DropMyRights on any given application (I do on all my internet facing applications, browsers, email, etc.), but I must first open the application rather than let the default file association trigger FoxIt pdf reader when I try to open a pdf file, as that would circumvent my use of DMR. There are many that don’t like running on a limited user account ;D
yeah OK, I never ever run Windows on a limited account and always opened pdf files directly in Firefox using adobe reader, never had any problem, never 
… even during periods of time with known vulnerabilities 
No problems in XP SP3 and IE8-Firefox 3.6
What net-facing apps have you encountered that don’t work properly in normal (non-admin) user accounts? Their publishers need to fix them.
BTW, DMR with the default (“N”) option doesn’t provide as much protection as is commonly assumed, since the spawned process,while deprived of admin rights, still possesses the admin account’s user rights (that is, the rights pertaining to its username, such as the ability to modify files owned by that username). Thus, if, for example, you previously installed app “xyz” using administrative username “abc”, its files are probably owned by “abc”. If you then DMR a browser using the default options, the browser’s process still possesses the right to do whatever it pleases with those files. It appears that you need to use the “C” or “U” DMR options to close this loophole.
I have encountered this problem on four computers running Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows Vista Home Premium SP2, and Windows XP Professional SP3 (2). Each test used Avast 5 Professional.
Most of the computers are unavailable for debugging, and have been downgraded to Avast 4.8 pro (thanks for keeping the download link on your website). I have set up one of the XP machines to specifically reproduce the problem. The problem appears to affect all PDFs opened inline within Internet Explorer 8 (my test PDF was the Avast User Guide). Terminating the process in task manager (which results in IE reloading the tab), appears to circumvent the issue in simple PDFs.
Disabling all of the shields in Avast 5 doesn’t fix it. Uninstalling Avast 5 does. Avast 4.8 does not cause the issue. I have checked it against Adobe Reader 9.2 and 9.3. Resetting Internet Explorer Settings and Clearing Temporary Internet Files does not affect the issue. Doesn’t affect Firefox 3.5.7 or Firefox 3.6.
Summary: same as krgoodwin except:
- Reproduced on More Operating Systems
- Reproduced on Avast 5 Professiona (instead of Internet Explorer)l
- Reproducable with all PDFs
@krgoodwin …
I have avast 5.0 on two different systems (Windows 7 ultilmate and windows 7 Home premium and on both adobe reader 9.3, IE8 and avast 5.0 latest build).
It can be reproduced each time on both systems … unless i uninstall Avast 5.0 …
Seems an Avast 5.0 thing to me !!