i just installed Avast Free 6.0.100 on a new 64bit windows 7 pro desktop computer
I am having a problem when network shield is checked the other xp pro machines on my network do not see this network computer
In fact it says it cannot find the name of my workgroup. All computers are set to the same workgroup. If i uncheck the shield in avast it finds it just fine. why is this happening? and how to fix
robin
Nope, it doesn’t. Free avast does not include any firewall. Which previous AV you had installed? Also, if the network profile is set to Public, file/printer sharing will be disabled by Windows Firewall.
not set to public- set to home networking
this is a brand new computer and avast was the second thing I installed
First were the security updates
I did a test
stopped the network shield
rebooted
everyone sees each other
Put back the check mark in the network shield
rebooted
same problem xp machines cannot see windows 7
robin
it’s still possible that the network shield messes with local connections, as it scans them. What happens if you turn it off, filesharing works again, I mean other computers become visible again on your LAN? edit: I see you already tested that.
Errr… what you have really tested is that W7 wins the master browser election. Once you reboot, the master browser is gone and until a new one is elected, you will not get anything listed. The XP machines will compete among themselves to become master browser for quite some time (same OS level).
IOW, for a more useful diagnostics - browse to \computername\sharename - does it work?
there’s a way to get Win7 just behave like XP, ie use credentials and workgroups instead of homegroups, allowing normal file sharing with XP systems. There’s no reason why this shouldn’t work. I suspect the network shield from detecting a Win7 system and acting in order to only allow LAN connections to other Seven systems… just a guess, I can’t test that as I only got W7 systems here.
The HomeGroup feature failure is optional. Workgroups still work just fine.
…yeah excuse me but I disagree on that, homegroup is anything you want but certainly not a failure, been using it for almost two years now and it’s just brilliant. Not going into details, would be off topic here.
A thing that is not backwards compatible just… uhm, sucks. It is not even full-featured in all versions of W7 (you can create HG just on HP/Pro/Ent/Ult, others can only join) - the fail gets epic here. And completely useless in mixed environment (XP, Vista).
Anyway, to get back to the track here: For a more useful diagnostics of what is actually blocked or not - browse to \computername\sharename (of course replace according to your setup) - does it work?
A thing that is not backwards compatible just... uhm, sucks
I coudn’t care less, I ditched XP then Vista, so :
you can create HG just on HP/Pro/Ent/Ult
you care for Basic and Starter ??? ;D
wierd though only happening in the 64bit machine, not the other one i have avast free on which is home premium 32bit
i uninstalled Avast free and put MSE on and now everyone sees each other
btw homegroups works great from one windows 7 computer to another but not from windows 7 to xp and yes i have it set up via the workgroup name- they are all named “blahblahblah” (this is not the real name just using that as an example) and all my xp machines plus the windows 7 home premium see each other with no problems
very strange
robin
As already noted, HomeGroup features are not supported anywhere else than on W7. With XP machines on your network, they are useless.
as i stated i did not set windows 7 up with homegroups because i want it to network to the 3 xp pro machines i have, i set it up with workgroup name change only
robin
So, lets try again:
IOW, for a more useful diagnostics - browse to \computername\sharename - does it work?
Never got an answer. >:(
now it does since i removed avast and put mse on
I am telling you Avast is the cause
robin
Your prerogative. Really impossible to troubleshoot anything if you fail to answer even the most basic questions repeatedly.
Enjoy MSE.
wait a sec i did answer your question. I tried your suggestion and it did not work. I then uninstalled Avast and tried it and it saw the network with no problems. I then installed MSE and it still sees the network.
So there is a conflict somewhere with Avast Free and this 64 bit Windows 7 Pro sp1.
I have Avast free and on 2 XP Pro Sp3 computers and Avast internet security on another xp pro sp3 all 32bit and all of them see each one. I have windows 7 home premium on a laptop running Avast Free and that one also sees the network and the network sees it with no problems. I am not knocking Avast because i put it on all my clients computers (all so far are running 32bits), I am saying there is this problem on this 64bit one
I also use MSE on those that do not play friendly with Avast and those who have absolutely no clue how to use an antivirus program because lets face it, Avast is a bit complicated for the beginner use to swallow unless someone else is setting it up for them and MSE is just plain very easy.
robin
No, you did not. A have asked you over and over again whether browsing manually to \computername\sharename worked. Never got any answer. Still did not get the answer in yet another post you added. Look, if you do not want to answer questions, then do not ask for help. Tired of this game.
yes i did, see my last post. going manually in “Run” to \computername\sharename (my computer name and the folder that is shared’s name- of course i am not putting it here for my own protection ) would not work with Avast on the computer, in fact all it did was hang and all i got was a round arrow cirle, then it came back and said it cannot find the sharename
Went to the Xp Pro computers- ran the same command - got same problem on their sides (both computers could not see this Windows 7 computer
uninstalling Avast it worked- went right to the sharename on both sides with no problems
Put Avast back on- same problem
Uninstalled Avast again using Avast Uninstaller from their website. Used CCleaner to clean out reg files from Avast and any temp files it left
Rebooted- all was fine
At this point I put MSE on to see if another antivirus program was causing the problem. MSE also has network checking in its program
That works just fine and I can see all the shared files on the network and they can all see me.
As stated on both my posts I answered your question and I do appreciate your help.
robin
Thank you for this post, Robinb.
I have been beating my head against a wall trying to get my Homegroup to work consistently.
After reading this thread, I tried turning off the Network Shield module and rebooting my desktop.
Now, my 3 networked computers are communicating just fine. I am able to print again!
Please avast, maybe include an option in the network shield module to specify allowed machines on the network for greater control?
Thanks!