First, my system information:
Toshiba Mobile Celeron laptop
256 MB RAM, 30 GB hard disk
Windows XP Professional, SP2, fully patched
Avast Home 4.6.623, virus definitions 0514-1
Browsers: Firefox 1.0.2 and Internet Explorer 6
I searched the forum for an answer first, so let me apologize in advance to the regulars here if I missed a post somewhere.
With Web Shield enabled, I am unable to reach the Compaq web site (www.compaq.com) using Firefox (I also tested Mozilla 1.7.6 with the same result). The browser’s status bar indicates “Waiting for www.compaq.com…” but never navigates to the site. I don’t have the problem with IE6. If I disable Web Shield, the problem goes away.
This URL is actually redirected to h18000.www1.hp.com, which resolves to 161.114.19.252. If I enter either of these into Firefox’s location bar, I am taken to the site as expected even with Web Shield enabled. But www.compaq.com fails every time with Web Shield active.
I also tried another laptop running Windows XP home and the same version of Avast. The behavior was identical when trying to reach www.compaq.com (fails with Web Shield active, succeeds with Web Shield disabled). Finally, I tested on a Windows 98 machine (without Web Shield) and navigation to the Compaq page worked OK.
Also, my PC normally sits behind a firewalled router on a broadband connection with no software firewall, but I also tested on a “naked” (un-firewalled) dial-up connection with the same results, so I think I can safely rule out a misbehaving firewall as the problem.
It would appear that there is some kind of incompatibility between the Gecko based browsers and this version of Avast’s Web Shield.
Thanks for listening.
Ray