After a Firefox upgrade in a WinXP SP2 partition, Web Shield was not running and the message “no task is currently using this provider” was displayed in the respective window. After clicking ‘start,’ the message became “this provider is waiting for a subsystem to start.” Meanwhile attempting the standard manual proxy configuration that channels all http Firefox traffic through Web Shield results in getting cut off the internet (message: “the proxy you set refuses connections” or something to this effect). I can only access the net by opting for ‘direct connection to the internet’ in my Firefox connection settings, which is not what I want to do.
As a matter of fact, the same upgrade performed earlier in another WinXP SP2 partition on the same pc went without a glitch and continues to do so several weeks later.
It seems like the ashWebSv.exe service is not running.
Use Control Panel / Administrative Tools / Services and check for “avast! Web Scanner” service. Is it there?
Do you use avast! Home or Pro?
First, thank you for the reply. Second, you were right! The ashWebSv.exe service was somehow disabled. I set it back to ‘automatic’ hoping that this would solve my problem. Well, it did. Halfway at least. Now I can’t say anymore that I cannot get Web Shield to run as it runs just fine. However, Firefox, after re-opting for the standard manual proxy configuration (to filter Firefox http traffic only), greeted me with an unfriendly
The proxy server is refusing connections.
Firefox is configured to use a proxy server that is refusing connections.
* Check the proxy settings to make sure that they are correct.
* Contact your network administrator to make sure the proxy server is working.</blockquote>
So back to the drawing board. Now I can get Web Scanner to run but I can’t get it to work, i.e., filter Firefox http traffic. Any further ideas?
Thanks for your input. Unfortunately your suggestion did not solve my problem. However, it did lead to an interesting discovery that helps pinpoint the source of my troubles. When I went to the list of services to set Web Scanner to ‘Manual,’ I discovered that (while still on ‘Automatic’) it hadn’t started despite the fact that in the avast! list of installed providers Web Shield was shown as running. Resetting the Web Scanner service to ‘Manual’ did not make any difference (even after a reboot) and an attempt to kick-start the service produced
Services
Could not start the avast! Web Scanner Service on Local Computer.
Error 1053: The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion.
Well, the good news is that this new twist makes the title of this thread relevant once again. The bad side, however, remains the relative shortage of clues as to what to try next. Any ideas?
Maybe you try to repair your installation: go to Control Panel > Add/Remove programs > avast! antivirus > Remove. Then choose Repair function in the popup window (Repair). You must be connected to the internet while repairing.
If this does not help, can you uninstall / boot / install / boot again?
I did what you suggested but without success. The repair did not solve anything and the reinstallation left matters at their pre-reinstallation state save for the need to apply for a new registration key. It also brought up the following question:
What can prevent avast! Web Shield (or for that matter any Windows service) from starting manually?
Install again by this command on the folder you’ve donwload and save the install file: setupeng.exe /forceinstall
Where setupeng.exe is the name of the executable
Maybe other residents, like antiviruses, antispywares… the firewall could have a huge impact… Old applications that were bad uninstalled…
Pardon my ignorance, but could you elaborate a bit on
5. Install again by this command on the folder you've donwload and save the install file: setupeng.exe /forceinstall
Where setupeng.exe is the name of the executable
Is this to be done from a command line? If yes, how should be the respective command be formulated given that setupeng.exe is on my desktop?
Can’t you move it to C:\setupeng.exe ?
Then, open the command line (DOS window), go to C: (the root directory).
From there, run (type): setupeng.exe /forceinstall
and click enter.
All done as per your instructions. (Thanks for your continuing help.) Result: The Web Scanner service refuses to start. What now?
What is mind boggling is that in a second partition in the same PC with OS, avast!, and Firefox versions identical, the Web Scanner service is up and running as soon as the pc boots. What do you make out of this?
On another note, what are the advantages of installing avast! from the command line? What about the /forceinstall option? Can it be used with any/all software installations?