NEW version: Avast 17.5.2302

bob3160 · 2017-07-13T12:58:38.000Z

zen16748 post:166:

Hi all,

I’ve been running Avast free version (17.5.2302) under Wndows 10 on a PC for six months with no problems. When running Smart Scan I’m used to getting the Performance Issue warning as this is a carrot to buy the full version. Today when I ran Smart Scan no virus etc were found but I got a Network issue warning. My PC is OK but I’m being told my router is not congifured properly and it mentions a “weak password found” (HNS_WEAK_PASS). Having turned the PC on and off a few times and re run Smart Scan I’m still getting the same warning. I’ve even run a Full Virus Scan and that shows up nothing. I’ve spoken to my internet provider and they say that it isn’t a router issue and could be a false positive or virus. I’ve tried to run Avast in Safe Mode but after a couple of minutes it comes up with an apology as it wont run.

Any advice would be gratefully appreciated.

Weak password usually means that the “default” password is still in use. Most of the time it’s your WiFi username and password
Change that to your own username and password and you shouldn’t get that message any more.
See if this helps you solve the problem:
https://www.howtogeek.com/233421/how-to-change-your-wifi-networks-name-and-password/

system · 2017-07-13T13:28:49.000Z

Hi Bob,

Thanks for the quick response. Sorry I should have mentioned that that being old scholl and having a small set up I have WiFi turned off. Does this mean that I would have to set my own username and password even though I have WiFI disabled? As I mentioned it seems odd that I only received this message today after using Avast for six months and this version for a couple of weeks.

Cheers.

bob3160 · 2017-07-13T13:32:00.000Z

zen16748 post:168:

Hi Bob,

Thanks for the quick response. Sorry I should have mentioned that that being old scholl and having a small set up I have WiFi turned off. Does this mean that I would have to set my own username and password even though I have WiFI disabled? As I mentioned it seems odd that I only received this message today after using Avast for six months and this version for a couple of weeks.

Cheers.

When you receive the message, have you clicked on the resolve button ??? If so where does it lead you ???

bob3160 · 2017-07-13T13:36:27.000Z

bob3160 post:169:

zen16748 post:168:

Hi Bob,

Thanks for the quick response. Sorry I should have mentioned that that being old scholl and having a small set up I have WiFi turned off. Does this mean that I would have to set my own username and password even though I have WiFI disabled? As I mentioned it seems odd that I only received this message today after using Avast for six months and this version for a couple of weeks.

Cheers.

When you receive the message, have you clicked on the resolve button ??? If so where does it lead you ???

Your problem could also stem from using the default username and p/w on the router.
If that’s the case take a look at the following slide from my current presentation and see if that helps:

http://screencast-o-matic.com/screenshots/u/Lh/1499952959834-49696.png

system · 2017-07-13T15:44:16.000Z

Hi Bob,

Thanks for the further info. I accessed my router, enabled WiFi, changed the name and password, applied it, made sure that the WiFi light on my router was on and then quickly turned the WiFi off. When I ran Smart Scan I got the same result. When the scan finishes, with the Network Issues and Perfomance Issues highlighted.

When I click the Resolve All button the first thing it shows is the Resoving Network Issues section. My devices, ie my desktop, is listed in green and pronunced as problem free. However, my router is listed in red and it says the device is not configured correctly. Below that is a red (horizontal) bar with white lettering which says “Weak service password found”. On the far right of this red bar is a small arrow which will toggle a description window.

The description starts:
A service on this device has a weak or default password. This is very dangerous situation, because factory-default usernames and passwords are often used by hackers and cybercriminals.

Catalogue ID HNS-WEAK-PASS

But I have only just noticed that the description window will scroll down, I’ve cut and pasted what follows as best I can:

Username: ●●●●●●●●Administrator
[note: this appers to be data entry box and toggles between a line of dots and Adminsitraor]

Password: ●●●●●●●●
[note: This box doesn’t seem to do much]

Details

Risks:

Attackers can access and control a service on this device.

Solutions

Change the access password for this service.

GO TO ROUTER SETTINGS
[note: This appears to be a link which I have not clicked.]

Is this a part of the usual Avast process or has my version of Avast been hacked and I’m being tempted to click a nasty button?

Regards & thanks,
Dave.

bob3160 · 2017-07-13T16:02:37.000Z

Avast isn’t hacked. Follow the advice.

system · 2017-07-14T15:24:31.000Z

I like the Ransomware Shield
Including it before WannaCry attack would be a great idea.

Asyn · 2017-07-14T17:07:59.000Z

TryIt post:173:

I like the Ransomware Shield
Including it before WannaCry attack would be a great idea.

Avast did protect you from WC via behavior shield.

system · 2017-07-15T13:34:46.000Z

Used Avast for years. Decided to buy the Internet Security and boy what a mistake. The firewall bans my browser/email program/Intel drivers/Nvidia drivers and MS drivers and programs from the internet. Since it is to late for a refund I guess I’ll just have to stick it out. But definitely will not be renewing. Just will stick with the free AV and use a different firewall.

bob3160 · 2017-07-15T13:44:12.000Z

atcsmike post:175:

Used Avast for years. Decided to buy the Internet Security and boy what a mistake. The firewall bans my browser/email program/Intel drivers/Nvidia drivers and MS drivers and programs from the internet. Since it is to late for a refund I guess I’ll just have to stick it out. But definitely will not be renewing. Just will stick with the free AV and use a different firewall.

Probably need to adjust the permission in the firewall.
If you’re using Windows 7 - 10, they come with an excellent firewall. No need for a third party firewall.

system · 2017-07-17T12:18:37.000Z

bob3160 post:176:

atcsmike post:175:

Used Avast for years. Decided to buy the Internet Security and boy what a mistake. The firewall bans my browser/email program/Intel drivers/Nvidia drivers and MS drivers and programs from the internet. Since it is to late for a refund I guess I’ll just have to stick it out. But definitely will not be renewing. Just will stick with the free AV and use a different firewall.

Probably need to adjust the permission in the firewall.
If you’re using Windows 7 - 10, they come with an excellent firewall. No need for a third party firewall.

Adjusting the permissions to “ask” was useless IMO. All it did was increase the startup time for Win7 from 15 secs to over 3 min. I’ll just go back to my old firewall when this expires.

system · 2017-07-17T17:05:21.000Z

Installed 17.5.2302 Free on XP Pro SP3 and ran Smart Scan. After one hour the progress spinner was still at 1%; after two hours, it made it all the way to 3%. Unacceptable, right?

I noted and tried the following: “Try… Settings, Components, Webshield (Customize), Uncheck “Enable HTTPS scanning” then click on OK to save the change.” Unchecked the box, exited, came back, and the box is checked again. Retried in various ways–won’t stay unchecked.

:o Ideas? Thanx…

system · 2017-07-17T17:12:15.000Z

Ooops! Sorry… Box staying checked now… operator error…

HOWEVER, Avast is still taking half of an eternity to run… at the rate of 3% every 1.5 hours, a Smart Scan will take… yeah, half an eternity…

Anybody else on XP having this perofrmance problem?

chris... · 2017-07-18T11:41:51.000Z

Although with the new versions avast (17.x.xxx) the scan of my pc win xp is almost doubled, the time that you indicate does not seem normal.
A full scan of my DD 500Gb takes about more or less 1h30 (without error)

ps:The slowest for me is to take off from 0% (counting a quarter of an hour)

bruceb · 2017-07-18T11:56:57.000Z

Last couple of days on the Dell Dimension 8200 XP PRO SP3 box (P4 at 1.8Ghz, 2GB RAM) the behavior shield was not enabled on boot up. Was able to turn it back on and it seems to stay. Not sure if it is better to wait about 30 seconds or so after the Windows Login box appears to click Login or not. Perhaps Avast can change the Priority that the behavior shield process uses so that it loads up quicker.

bob3160 · 2017-07-18T12:51:07.000Z

bruce_b post:181:

Last couple of days on the Dell Dimension 8200 XP PRO SP3 box (P4 at 1.8Ghz, 2GB RAM) the behavior shield was not enabled on boot up. Was able to turn it back on and it seems to stay. Not sure if it is better to wait about 30 seconds or so after the Windows Login box appears to click Login or not. Perhaps Avast can change the Priority that the behavior shield process uses so that it loads up quicker.

It’s a known problem that should be fixed with the next release:
“hi, we made some improvements in service starting (based on your etl log file), so the problem should be gone in 17.6”

bruceb · 2017-07-18T13:12:25.000Z

Hope you or Avast is correct this time. They said that a couple of releases ago (I thin)

bob3160 · 2017-07-18T13:50:55.000Z

bruce_b post:183:

Hope you or Avast is correct this time. They said that a couple of releases ago (I thin)

The quote was my answer from Avast after having worked with one of their Techs for some time.
I’m just as interested in seeing this fixed as you.

system · 2017-07-18T17:04:48.000Z

I upgraded from version 12.x to 17.5 and the UI is slow to load, which is painful when right-clicking a file and scanning from Windows Explorer. The scan seems to complete about the same time as 12.x, but the UI is slow to show the result.

As a developer I try hard to keep my Windows programs fast, but it’s a shame that in many cases software these days is getting more and more sluggish.

Asyn · 2017-07-19T03:55:27.000Z

New version (17.5.2303): https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=205786.0

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