Hi, I’ve been happy with Avast for a while now; it consumes little ram and CPU while providing good protect. However, the I have a feeling the File System Shield is resulting in significant slower start ups, and the Web Shield and Network Shield are resulting in significantly slower browsing. Basically, I believe Avast is doing TOO much even things which may be unnecessary to providing adequate computer security. I’m wondering what I can do to limit the impact Avast’s shields have on my system to significantly increase the speed of start ups and browsing. For instance, what types of things would be safe to exclude from Avast’s shields while not having a negative impact on my computer’s security?
- What is your OS, 32 or 64-bit? How much RAM do you have?
- What version of Avast did you install? 5.0.677 is the current version.
- What product of Avast did you install? Free, Pro, AIS?
- What other security software do you currently have or did you have in the past on this machine including antivirus (AV), firewall (FW), and other security programs? If they were in the past, how did you remove them (the vendor’s uninstaller’s tool or another way)?
Check to see what other programs you have at Start Up to see if they are all necessary or if you can disable some of them. Most likely, not all of them are needed and this will speed up Avast at Start Up.
In addition, do you regularly clean your system? CCleaner, a freeware system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool is something that many of us use here. There is a Slim version available as well at http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/builds. It removes unused files (cache, temporary Internet files, etc.) from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. Additionally it contains a fully featured registry cleaner.
I would not recommend disabling shields from Avast, especially until I get your reply back. Thank you.
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Windows XP Media Center Edition Version 2002 with SP3; 32-bit; 1.93 GB
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5.0.677
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avast! Free Antivirus
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avast! Free Antivirus, Online Armor Free, and Sandboxie make up my primary security. Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware and Super Anti-Spyware are my on-demand scanners. I use Secunia PSI and FileHippo Update Checker to keep my programs up to date. I’ve used add/remove programs to remove security programs; if I ran into trouble I would use the vendor’s uninstall tool if available to finish the job. I use Revo Uninstaller now; if I run into trouble I’ll use the vendor’s uninstall tool if available. I’ve used Microsoft Security Essentials and Avira AntiVir in the past. They aren’t recent, though.
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At first glance, I do notice some start up objects that are likely unnecessary and I’m sure there are others. I’m going to look into this in the distant future (hopefully) when I do a complete system restore and remove all of the unnecessary programs that are pointlessly taking up hard disk space, adding the programs that are necessary to me, and work on my anime. This thread is part of the preparation for this. I would like to add avast! Free Antivirus, again, but would like to sort out the difficulty with slowdowns first as a result of its’ shields.
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I do use CCleaner regularly. I use Wise Disk Cleaner to clean up junk files over a longer period of time.
Despite the above information, my browsing and start up time did seem faster before using avast! Free Antivirus.
Additional Information: I think it might be worth mentioning I run the latest (non-beta) version of Mozilla Firefox with a few add-ons. The add-ons are as follows: Adblock Plus, Ghostery, BetterPrivacy, NoScript, FasterFox, CompactMenu 2.0, Download Statusbar, Keyscrambler, OpenDownload. It might be worth noting these same add-ons were used also before using avast! Free Antivirus.
In addition to the aforementioned, it might also be worth mentioning I use Auslogics Disk Defrag and Auslogics Registry Cleaner as my defragmenting and registry cleaning programs. I use Recuva to recover files.
Did you fully remove Microsoft Security Essentials and Avira AntiVir ???
They leave lots of residual stuff on your system:
How to manually uninstall Microsoft Security Essentials
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2435760
Download Avira AntiVir Removal Tool
http://www.avira.com/en/support-download-avira-antivir-removal-tool
I’ll go ahead and give it a try just to be sure. On a side note: What does the “Wipe Free Space” option in CCleaner do and should I use it? I don’t quite understand it.
I don’t see anything obvious in the registry pertaining to MSE and Avira.
http://www.piriform.com/docs/ccleaner/using-ccleaner/wiping-free-disk-space
I would recommend running the vendor’s uninstaller tools for MSE and Avira just to be sure – run each one separately and reboot in between each uninstall. Let us know how this works for you. Thank you.
I haven’t been able to locate an uninstall tool for Avira Antivir Personal and Microsoft Security Essentials. Could you post a direct link if you know?
Go back and read my Reply #4 on: Yesterday at 06:50:36 PM
The link you provided for an MSE uninstall tool does not provide an MSE uninstall tool, rather the link informs how to manually uninstall the program which I’ve already said I’ve tried. I’ve found no traces of the program that I can personally tell.
The link you provided for an Avira uninstall tool also does not provide an uninstall tool, rather the tools provided are specialized scanners to located and remove traces of specific malware.
MSE Uninstaller: See 21b here → http://uninstallers.blogspot.com/
Avira Uninstaller:
- Avira RegistryCleaner: http://www.avira.com/en/support-download-avira-registrycleaner
- How to Remove Antivir Antivirus: http://www.pchell.com/virus/uninstallantivir.shtml
- Uninstall Avira Antivir Completely:
http://www.themisteriosos.com/uninstall-avira-antivir-completely.htm
Please uninstall one at a time and reboot in between each uninstall. Let me know if you have any additional questions. Thank you.
Appremover didn’t seem to do anything; it didn’t even locate Avast (my current antivirus).
I already have Reno Uninstaller, but I can’t seem to use the program to remove any previously uninstalled programs; the programs need to be uninstalled from the list.
Avira’s RegCleaner found 11 entries.
The only two entries that seem to be relevant to Avira are:
hkey_current_user\software\nvidia corporation\global\nview\windowmanagement\avira_antivir_personal_en
hkey_local_machine\software\microsoft\esent\process\avira_antivir_personal_en
Two entries do not specify the entire entry.
The rest of the entries are either associated with Avast and something called “avipbb”.
None of us recommended that you use Appremover or Revo…we suggested that you use the vendor’s uninstaller’s tools to remove their software.
I’m glad you were able to find remnants for avira. The avipbb file is also related to avira, and this can be deleted.
Did you run the MSE uninstaller as well?
The sites you recommended also recommended appremover and revo uninstaller.
That being said, the “MSE uninstaller” was useless. It didn’t show any sign of progress for a while and my computer’s services were using massive amount of CPU making it seem like everything froze. I’ll stay away from foreign websites. If there is a legitimate uninstaller tool for MSE it should be located on Microsoft’s website which I’ve yet to find.
It was a pain running Avira RegCleaner. It often terminated itself due to an error and often afterwords other programs I attempted to run would also terminate themselves due to an error. What in the world are all of the listed domains? Their legitimacy look questionable. The report file for the scan is attached.
MSE Uninstaller: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2435760/
That is quite the report. Have you tried running this is Safe Mode? Did you run CCleaner after running this with the Registry cleaner portion then reboot?
My other suggestion is updating and running an MBAM scan and an Avast boot-time scan just to make sure you are clean.
“My other suggestion is updating and running an MBAM scan and an Avast boot-time scan just to make sure you are clean.”
I performed a full-scan with the most up-to-date versions of Malwarebytes’ Antimalware and Super Antispyware. The results were completely clean with the exception of a few Adware Tracking Cookies that Super Antispyware found, which I successfully took care of. I have not run a scan using Avast’s boot-time scan recently. I’ve used that feature once thus far and it took upwards 8 hours to complete. I actually created a thread about it once and didn’t find a solution. I will have to create another thread in the near future. However, that scan too was completely clean. I can’t see myself getting malware-infected after the last time using Avast’s boot-time scan seeing as I run Sandboxie while surfing the internet. Furthermore the MBAM and SA scans were clean, and Avast’s real-time protection has not yet alerted me.
“MSE Uninstaller: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2435760/”
That site doesn’t actually contain an uninstall tool, rather it provides directions for manually removing the program (e.g. registry keys). I went ahead and followed the directions, though. The only two things that I could find that are potentially relevant to Microsoft Security Essentials in the registry are:
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Microsoft Antimalware\
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Microsoft Antimalware\Quarantine\
“That is quite the report. Have you tried running this is Safe Mode? Did you run CCleaner after running this with the Registry cleaner portion then reboot?”
I have tried running CCleaner. I have not yet tried running the Avira RegCleaner in safe mode; I will do so.
Ran Avira RegCleaner in safe mode. Faster scan, same exact results. The results are attached.
Again, the domains found in the registry concern me. All of the domain names are associated with rogue anti-virus and adult content. I haven’t the slightest idea how these domains found their way into my registry, but I’m thinking it’d be a good idea to delete all of them, yes?
I thought this would be helpful. Those might have been added by one of your AV programs. Black list??
*How Can I Add a Site to Internet Explorer’s Restricted Sites Zone?
Zone information for Internet Explorer can be found in the following portions of the registry:
• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ZoneMap\Domains\
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ZoneMap\Domains\
*However, I don’t know what registry value was placed on them. Hopefully they were set to restricted and don’t come back after you delete them. Before you delete them you should go to Internet options/security/restricted sites and click on sites to double-check or open Regedit and look at the the registry value. If they are all set to 4 then they were restricted. If they were set to anything other than restricted (1, 2, or 3) that would be very suspicious.
Assign the registry value the appropriate Internet Explorer security zone. Each Internet Explorer security zone is represented by a number. The Restricted Sites zone is number 4; here’s a list including other zones:
Zone
Value
Intranet
1
Trusted Sites
2
Internet
3
Restricted Sites
4
Personally, I would reset Internet Explorer (without re-setting personal settings). Internet options\Advanced settings\Reset. And delete those registry entries. This is just my opinion and observation. Please wait for SafeSurf to instruct you.
@ Sode no Shirayuki,
Hold off on making changes to your machine right now. The problem we have is that you still have remnants of other AV in your system and this can create problems, but I do not know about these Avira registries; they may be from a blacklist, but I am not sure. I therefore want to rule out malware and consult with one of our specialists. I’d like you first to do the following:
Check the information on the first post of this thread under Virus/Worms for you to check your machine for malware: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=53253.0.
Follow the directions of obtaining an MBAM log (make sure you update MBAM first) and the OTL logs. Post the MBAM log here and the two (2) OTL log as an attachment (Additional Options > Attach > Browse (the OTL logs will be on your desktop > Post).
I will review your logs, but I am also going to refer you to our Certified Malware expert, named Essexboy after you post your logs; I am not saying that you have malware, but I want to rule it out and the these logs will give us a better picture. He will give you further instructions, however he comes on the forum late UK time. He will respond to you in this thread, so remember to check this thread daily. I will continue to provide assistance in the meantime, then remain in the background while he works with you. If he finds no malware, I will continue working with you.
Please do not make any further changes to your machine once you have provided the logs.
Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you.