Hello, This is my first post, so please don’t hate on me.
I am pretty dang sure that Firefox is getting slowed down by Avast. It takes around 1.5 minutes to launch firefox, and that is after clicking on it multiple times. I have tried slimming down plugins, startup programs and more. Yesterday, on a guess, I turned off Avast’s filters, one by one, and checked Firefox’s startup speed. Sure enough, when I turned off the Avast file system shield, Firefox startup dropped down to about 15 seconds. After multiple trials with the shield on and off, I was able to confirm this.
Is there a way I can exempt firefox from being scanned on program startup, but have it scanning later so that I get full protection?
DETAILS:
Windows 10, 64 Bit
Avast free set to auto update, so I guess it is the most recent version.
No purchases, but some customization to engine sensitivity (problem occurred before modification too)
Also, anyone know how to make the captcha easier to read on this forum? That thing is impossible.
You either set a exclusion for FireFox or you don’t.
There is no way to temporary disable it from being scanned.
Setting a exclusion is however a huge security risk.
The captcha needs to be hard to read.
It helps to keep spammers away from this webboard.
But don’t worry, it will only be there the first three posts.
What would be the most secure way to set this up? Should I just exclude the exe file and nothing else, or should I find a list of the startup files and block those?
Thanks about the captcha, that’s a relief. Though a captcha beating program has been developed now.
About the captcha, it depends on the captcha that is used.
I can easily program one in BASIC that draws something each time in a slightly different way.
Let them try to beat that
This old system (see signature below my post) from clicking the firefox start it takes aprox 12 seconds to get loaded. How are your system resources CPU, RAM, other security based applications, etc.
Excluding the firefox executable isn’t really going to cut it, you can exclude the .exe, but what you can’t exclude are its actions.
What you need to do is exclude the Process (including actions), avastUI > Settings > Active Protection > Web Shield > Customize > Exclusions - Scroll down to - Processes to exclude and check that option and enter the firefox executable (there is more than one).
That is the only to stop avast scanning the actions, but this is not advised as you essentially have no protection, even though the web shield is running nothing is scanned when using Firefox.
Considering this is a report of being slow to start disabling scanning of firefox completely really is a sledge hammer to crack a nut.
How many add-ons do you have installed ?
Have you made any changes to the web shield default settings ?
Ok. If you read my post, you both would see that my questions answered your questions. Eddy, I know for a fact that it is Avast, I used refresh, reinstalled the program. Turning off FILE SYSTEM SHIELD is what speeds it up. No strain on CPU, No strain on RAM, no other security apps that run automatically IE, Chrome, Opera, Vivaldi, Edge all load at a normal pace (Chrome has the same addons as firefox). DavidR: It is the file system shield, not the webshield.
How would I set the file system shield to skip scanning firefox program, but keep an eye on downloads/cache
As I said in my reply excluding the firefox executable won’t stop avast scanning its actions.
There is no exclude process function in the File System Shield (as in the web shield) - I rather suspect that excluding the firefox executable in the File System Shield (FSS) will have the same impact you found by disabling the FSS.
I’m at a loss as to why this is happening, when my old system loads FF in around 12 seconds. Considering you say you have reinstalled avast, presumably all settings will have been set back to defaults.
try this, right click your C drive - properties - tools - error checking - check both boxes and restart computer
let it finish error checking and see if that helps any.
Download Avast Uninstall Utility to your Desktop.
Download the correct version of Avast
Avast Free
Avast Pro
Avast Internet Security
Avast Premier
Disconnect from the net
Uninstall Avast via control panel
Run the uninstall tool and accept the reboot to safe mode
Once complete reboot your system
Reinstall Avast
I did this and happy to say that it finally fixed my firewall problem. But the bonus is… it has fixed the starting firefox problem as well - only 2 seconds the second time I tried ;D Hope it works with you
@Peedy03
Thanks for your help, what version of avast are you using? I have free so I though firewall would be disabled because I have not bought it and there is a circle with a line through it next to it in the menu.
Also, It seems that the file system shield is to blame, any connections.
Thanks again, you seem to be the only one reading all of what I wrote.
If it really is the file shield that is causing the slowdown, it has likely to do with FF itself (and all add-ons/plugins) that it is loading.
Even when you have disabled them, they are still loading.
Disabling means that they should not run in real time, but they do load.
When I had this problem, I did a refresh on firefox. When you do a refresh on firefox, it deletes all add-ons and plugins just like a fresh install. You then have to download all add-ons again. That didn’t fix the problem.
Even after uninstalling firefox and reinstalling, it still took up to 40 seconds to load firefox. Meaning, when I was on the desktop, I clicked the the firefox icon and no window would appear for the 40 seconds or more. I don’t mean the the browser opens and freezes for 40 seconds, I mean you would be just staring at your empty desktop for that time. I hope this explains it more.
Yesterday when I saw this post, I did not touch any settings in firefox, but disabled the shields in avast to test it, and it took only 2 seconds for the browser to open. Later, when I then did a fresh install of avast (again not touching any settings in firefox) it fixed the problem. The firefox browser now only takes between 2 -3 seconds to open with all of avast shields active
I could be wrong, but I do believe that the problem was with Avast as that is the only thing that was changed yesterday.
I am using AIS which does come with the firewall, and unfortunately free doesn’t. I only mentioned the firewall problem in this post as when the firewall stopped working for me, that is also when I first noticed that firefox’s loading time was way too long. I am sure (maybe not so sure lol) that the problem(s) started just after Windows 10 released the November update. I had problems installing it and had to undo it, and that is when I the trouble begun with avast.
I am so glad now I came across this post, as it was driving me nuts so thank you.
so thank you.