Hotmail slows, slows, then stops

system · 2008-01-21T03:46:48.000Z

Hi. I’ve got a problem with Avast and Hotmail not playing nice, but it seems to be a bit different from what everyone else is reporting. I just recently (last week) had to reformat my machine. Before the reformat I saw this exact thing. I loaded Avast, everything was working, then after some time, Hotmail starts responding more slowly and more slowly. Eventually, it quits. What I mean by that is I get the screen listing all my emails (preview turned off) and I can even see the rollover underline and hear the “mouseclick” that I’ve clicked to open an email. But the email never opens. Hotmail just sits there. I don’t get the little green status bar either. The only way to get to an email is to quit Hotmail and start again. Then it will work for awhile and quit, with the “awhile” getting shorter and shorter, until finally, after several days there’s no access at all.

I’m using IE v6.029 to view my emails. OS is WinXP SP2. After about a month of the first install, I wound up uninstalling Avast and it solved the problem. I’ve now reformatted, reloaded Avast and a week later the problem is back. What gives?

system · 2008-01-21T19:33:38.000Z

Hi :

I have been using Avast & Hotmail for several yrs without problem, so it is
best to ask HOW have you configured Avast’s Internet Mail “Provider”,
especially its “Heuristics” Menu ?

alanrf · 2008-01-21T21:31:20.000Z

The Internet Mail provider plays no part at all in viewing Hotmail via the IE Web browser, so those heuristics do not come into play.

However, I can also say that I have no problems with Hotmail Live accounts being viewed in either Firefox or IE7 (sorry I no longer use IE6) with WinXP SP2.

Perhaps you could try a little more “fine tuning” to see if the problem can be isolated rather than uninstalling avast.

The avast component that will be scanning the connection when accessing Hotmail via the Web is the WebShield. Does it make any difference to accessing your Hotmail if you turn off the Webshield?

system · 2008-01-24T11:57:17.000Z

Well, you may have something there, alanrf. I turned off the websheild and everything seems to be running faster. Actually, I lie. I turned everything off, because I suspected Avast was interfering with my Coldfusion server. Now, don’t freak, CF is the ONLY non-vanilla thing on this box. And it’s a very plain, stand-alone developer version using IIS. (no, this is not a server, it is my home pc. I design web sites.) I just learned the hard way that Avast can NOT be installed when installing the server. However, you can load Avast AFTER loading CFserver. And before the latest reformat I didn’t have CFserver running, so it’s not part of the email problem.

So, if the webshield is the issue, what’s going on? Is there some sort of tweak I’m not in on?

system · 2008-01-27T21:09:30.000Z

Well, it’s not as simple as just turning off the services. I had everything terminated. Had a red x on my blue Avast ball down in the systray. Windows was whining with popups about how I didn’t have any virus protection. Problem with hotmail still there. Totally removed Avast using Add/Remove Programs and the problem is gone. For a couple days now. Of course, that means I’m flying without virus protection at the moment. I really liked Avast. It seemed to be the least intrusive, until the Hotmail problem. Anybody got any ideas?

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