system
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Hi. I am running windows 7 64bit edition on my pc and have recently updated to the new avast, I have version 2014.9.0.2007 and I am having trouble. Since the update my web browser Firefox will not access the internet. I also have a windows gadget running for sky news and that will not access the latests news either. Also i use a program called vuze which will now not open. To get all these to work I have to shut off the shields and it works properly. It is urgent that I get help in how to access the internet as I don’t want to browse and be unprotected and I have raised a ticket but heard nothing back for days. Cheers for any help.
Pondus
2
Do you have a firewall…if so what?
system
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I just have windows firewall that seems to be disabled by the new avast. The new avast has its own built in firewall tho.
Which version of avast?
Free, Pro, AIS or Premier?
Any other security software?
The avast firewall and the Windows firewall work well together. 
system
5
It is avast internet security. The latest version. It worked fine with the last version but seems to have broke since I did the upgrade. I have tried repairing it and also uninstalling and reinstalling it. Still no joy. It must be something to do with the firewall or web shield as if I disable them it works. But not sure how to fix it.
system
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Oh and no, no other security software.
system
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This would seem to contradict the dictem that running 2 firewalls together is not a healthy option.
2 firewalls will be at loggerheads together.
Would it be safe to assume that the avast firewall is merely a front end for the windows firewall…?
system
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Hi KeySerSozeRS,
I have absolutely no idea if this will work for you: but it did for me. What I did was uninstall Avast, clean out the Prefetch folder, then reinstall Avast.
system
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What or where do I find the prefetch folder.
system
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C:\Windows\Prefetch. Delete all the contents of the folder (including the layout.ini). Reboot. (NOTE: If it won’t reboot, press the reset button on the front of the computer). It will take longer to reboot as the Prefetch folder will re-populate itself.
system
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That hasn’t worked. I have narrowed it down to the web shield. If I turn each shield off individually it seems to work fine if the web shield is turned off. So it’s nothing to do with the firewall. But I can’t find anywhere for the settings for the web shield or why it is stopping my computer from accessing the interent.
system
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Have you tried restoring the default settings in windows firewall.?
system
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Yep tried that and still nothing. Turned on my pc today and it started working fine for about 10 mins then suddenly stopped and avast crashed. And I had to restart my pc and it wasn’t working again. Really sick of this. Is there a way to revert to previous version until this problem is fixed.
system
14
They’ve always said that the Avast! FW complements the Windows Firewall, a number of people have voiced in previous versions that the Avast! Firewall wasn’t strong enough/effective enough on its own, hence working alongside the Windows Firewall. However I’m getting mixed messages and oppinions on the state of the firewall now with some users saying it’s fine whereas others saying that you use Avast!'s firewall on it’s own. I’d love to hear from someone within Avast! and get some confirmation as my setting have remained the same since moving onto 9 with both firewalls working and I’ve not encountered any problems or had avast wanting to shut off the Windows Firewall.
system
15
I think there are a few red-herrings in the replies. From several other forums, there is clearly something odd in the last two updates of Avast Antivirus, going back to about late August 2013, affecting search engines. Avast! seem to be doing nothing about it, even though the fault clearly lies with them. I have not found a single contribution from avast on any of the forums. Neither have I found a single posted solution that works. When I downloaded 2014.9.0.2007 I noticed a few strange goings-on, such as the fact that Google Chrome was secretly downloaded and installed onto my computer, there was no indication of the file size, no option to change the default download destination, and there was no progress window.
The solution in my case was to disable avast in all browsers, and go back to avg. (I know avg has its own set of “inconveniences”, but at least it seems to protect my web-browsing.) I have still left avast! installed, in case they sort out the problem.
Why does avast appear in browsers’ “Add-ons”, but avg does not? Avg still claims to be fully functional.