i installed avast this morning on my laptop after getting fed up with avg. after the new installation (i did not remove avg, just disabled it from starting up) i can no longer access the internet. upon the initial scan at bootup, avast detected two virii which i chose to delete. after windows completed the startup, avast popped up a few messages about not being able to scan e-mail. when i launched mozilla thunderbird it gave a message stating it could not connect to the server. i then disabled avast and tried again with the same result. i then shut down the firewall (zone alarm) with the same result. i then uninstalled avast (using add/remove programs in control panel) and rebooted. after the restart i have no internet access at all. my wireless utility shows i have a strong wireless connection to my router, but i cannot access it through the web interface.
can anybody give me any suggestions as to what i can try to get my connection back? my configuration is as follows:
win xp pro sp1, netgear wireless nic (802.11a, g & b - tried each) , netgear router, zone alarm.
i am guessing that the files which were deleted upon the initial startup scan may have been accidentally flagged as virii.
I see that your system is not up-to-date. I suggest you visit MS update and install ALL security patches/updates as soon as evreything is working again.
You can try as I suggested in THIS POST.
It may restore everything.
actually, all xp security updates etc have been installed. i recently tried the xp sp2 update, but it would not work with the 802.11a. i did a search prior to my post and ran across the post you linked to. i am in the process now of re-installing the nic drivers - have to download them on my desktop and then transfer via disk. the sneakernet lives.
still no internect connection. to make sure it was not the wireless card that was not working properly, i unistalled the nic and drivers. i then plugged the laptop directly into the router and still had no connection. i then uninstalled the network adapter through the device manager and removed all network protocols (i think i did this correctly - went to control panel/network connections/advanced/advanced settings and unchecked all the boxes in the ‘bindings for local area connection’ window. i restarted and then re-installed the wired nic (actually, xp did it automatically). when xp started the network setup wizard it gave an error ‘cannot comlete the network setup wizard’ with no furhter explanation as to what was wrong. when i checked the computer ip address it shows 169.254… rather than the 192.168…
i ran sfc, but i had no luck fixing anything. i finally restored from a backup and that fixed the connection - backup my pc just paid for itself. i decided to try installing avast again, and i still cannot get to the internet with it running. i have disabled zone alarm and avast still does not allow an internet connection via web browser. as soon as i disable avast i am able to connect. strange thing is with avast running i am able to send and receive email.
i found out the file that avast flagged as a virus was newdotnet6_30.dll. when avast warned me about this virus i chose to move it to the virus chest. after that i could not access the internet using ie or firefox. when i restored the file i could browse the web again.
newdotnet6_30.dll is MALWARE !!! If you have to put that back in order to be able to connect again, than your system is infected. I suggest you click on the link in my signature and follow the instructions in the malware removal section.
It looks like your problem is not caused by Avast after all.