Disabling Shields in an effort to get some speed...Desperate for help

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
1

I’m beyond frustrated. Since installing Avast a couple of days ago my computer is slow and internet surfing reminds me of the old dial-up days. I run Windows XP and there is not a trace of my former virus program on my computer. I have also done the repair on Avast… So, I am experimenting with the shields to see if one is causing a problem … but how do you disable a shield without the icon being “x”'d out and indicating your system is at risk.

Every web page is slow to load and many time out… Never had this issue pre-Avast…

Can anyone help me?

2

Settings>>Status Bar>>then choose the component you wish to not be informed of.

Something affecting browsing speed is probably the Web Shield.

Have you tried to re-install? How do you know nothing is left from previous install?

3

Thanks for getting back to me. I ran a remove utility that a number of people recommended.

Am I the only one to notice this incredible slowness? Or have other people experienced this?

I’ll have to uninstall and go to a different product as I can’t put up with this…

Very frustrated but thanks again.

4

I’m also having speed issues
fresh install of winXP pro sp3 with all current critical updates
fresh install of avast 6.0.1203
100mbit cable

speedtest with all shields enabled

http://www.speedtest.net/result/1390317286.png

speedtest with shields disabled

http://www.speedtest.net/result/1390314233.png

5

To: smokin3.0 and kpax

Do you have any third party firewall installed?

like outpost or comodo?

it could be that how is slowing down the speed as well.

6

Hi mikaelrask,

no 3rd party firewall installed only the default one which comes with xp
which i have disabled

7

Well, ok, a re-install might fix this but do as you will.

“Speed Issues”? 100 Mb/s…your speed issue is you are too fast, pardon me while I turn green with envy. ;D

More seriously, the Web Shield fudges Speed Test results some, giving a result that is not accurate to your true bandwidth, that has been seen before.
But some people have had trouble with the Web Shield and monstrous connection speeds such as that, though. Some users have just disabled the Web Shield in the face of such speed loss…I can sympathize with that, you want to get what you pay for with that kind of bandwidth after all, and the ~75% loss you show (while probably not totally accurate) is along the lines of what I would consider unacceptable, if I was lucky enough to have such speeds available to me.
In lieu of completely disabling it, you could also try playing with the packers settings on the web shield to try and find a balance of speed and security (it checks all by default).

8

Since both KPaw and smokin3.0 are using XP, I’d like to ask if you notice any reduced performance when you are not using any web browser.

It has been reported that the latest stable version of Avast ( 6.0.1203 ) has some problems under XP with some defraggers and some other intensive-disk-activity tools. The problem seems to be already found, and there is a patch available for such situation.

If the performance of other activities (not web browser) is acceptable / normal (read as “the HDD led is not working ALL the time and almost all is NOT really slow”), then the problem is something else (and I apologize for the OT then).

An alternative would be to use a previous stable version of Avast ( 6.0.1125 or 5.1.889 for example ) to see if it happens under that versions too.

9

Ditto for me. Unfortunately, I’m going to have to un-install and go out and buy Norton again today. No way can I put up with this and I spent all day yesterday on it…too bad as I really like the Avast interface…

10

http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=81547.0

http://public.avast.com/~kurtin/patches

11

Hi Ady4um and thank you for your assistance. I just closed out IE and tested out some other programs and I don’t notice any loss of speed outside of the browser at all. I also just tested Chrome and Firefox and, although I was just using both for a very short time, the slowness appears to be isolated to IE9…

12

I so much appreciate the help on this forum but I’m not a super techie person at all and some of what I am reading on the threads is all foreign to me… can somebody tell me what I should be doing? Right now I have every shield off and now Windows is giving me security alerts… Help.

Thank you again and I apologize for sounded so frustrated - it’s a billion degrees here and I spent all day yesterday on this and I just never expected all these issues from Avast and even as I type this the thing is so slow. Even google.com won’t load…

13

Hi KPaw,

Although I’m not the expert that some others are, it sounds to me like Avast is in conflict with some other piece of software on your system. Since you’ve spent so much time on the problem you’ve probably already tried this, but if not I would suggest the following procedure:

First, run the manufacturers’ uninstall tools of all security programs that have ever previously existed on the system. You mentioned Norton – theirs is here: http://us.norton.com/support/kb/web_view.jsp?wv_type=public_web&docurl=20080710133834EN&ln=en_US
Others may be found at the manufacturer’s website or at: http://thewebatom.net/uninstallers/security-software/

Then, uninstall Avast, boot to Safe Mode, run the Avast uninstall utility (http://www.avast.com/uninstall-utility), boot to regular mode, reinstall most recent version.

Then, if the problem persists, turn off half your autostarts (At a command prompt run msconfig and uncheck half the items under the Startup tab – leave Avast checked.), reboot, and see if the problem goes away. If not, re-enable those startups and uncheck the other half (excepting Avast), reboot. If you find the problem goes away when half the autostarts are unchecked, you know the problem is with one of those programs. Progressively re-enable half of those until you figure out where the conflict is.

Good luck!

14

Hi SBWhiteman, much appreciated.

Odd thing is, I can’t even get to the Avast homepage!!!.. it just times out… however, no problem in Chrome so the issue is surrounding IE 9 mainly. I have to leave this for now but will re-visit this issue tonight. Many thanks to you once again.

15

You have noted ie9 a few times, and said you’re running XP. 9 is for Vista and 7, but not for XP on the MS download site. Is that an issue? Not sure how it would affect Avast. I have slow wireless on 2 lower-end laptops if I have intelligent streaming turned on in web shield, but no speed issues with intelligent streaming off.

16

Good point Jim…!
IE9 doesn’t run on XP.

17

My mistake and a stupid one. IE 8 (9 is on my laptop). Very sorry.

So I was told to do the following and I have done it all except I don’t have a ALWIL Software file…so where do these replacement files go??? Thank you.

ap2011-17-07-002: Patch for slowdown with RAXCO PerfectDisk/Retrospect/Norton Ghost software, Windows XP only! (Free/Pro/IS)

  1. Disable avast! self-defense module (Settings → Troubleshooting → Enable avast! self-defense module)
  2. Download 32-bit or 64-bit package and unpack *.sys and *.sum files into \Windows\System32\drivers and \Program Files\ALWIL Software\Avast\setup\inf folders (overwite existing)
  3. Enable avast! self-defense module and reboot

NOTE: the patch is intended for build 6.0.1203 and it will invalidate itself with new program update

18

OK, I found the setup\inf folders; however, “paste” is greyed out and it won’t let me past the files!

Now what do I do???

Thank you again sooo much.

19

“ALWIL Software” = “AVAST Software” for Avast 6.

If you disabled the defense module of Avast AND you have administrative permissions, you should be able to copy those files to those locations according to the instructions.

20

yes i still see reduced performance if I’m not using my default browser firefox, my astraweb newsgroup subscription maxes out at around 25mb/s with shields on and in the 90mb/s with them off.
i think i might format again and install ubuntu for the HTPC, web browsing I’m happy with the DL speeds just not with the NTTP
I’ve also just tried to disable the NTTP shield with no change had to disable them all for full speed.