I am new to Avast Free and a relative computer newbie; so please be patient with me. :
Since revising my compliment of security programs I have experienced problems accessing bookmarked videos in Firefox 3.6.3. I prefer to avoid Internet Explorer 8 when possible. This is a new problem. The specific problem area is the TVKIM.COM portion of Kim Komando’s Club. I receive all supporting text and a black viewing screen with no button for viewing.
It has been suggested that I check my antivirus program settings and change them as required. I need assistance in performing these checks and/or changes. Please give stepwise instructions. (Remember, I am a newbie. :-[)
The following may be helpful for you to guide me:
Dell desktop
Windows XP Home SP 3
Firefox 3.6.3
Internet Explorer 8
Avast Free
Zone Alarm Free
Malwarebytes Antimalware Free
Acronis Home 2010
Ccleaner
Secunia PSI
Superantispyware Free
Yes the link will work in IE8, but only if I enter the address manually or via copy and paste.
Yes I do have Adblock installed in Firefox, but I experienced no problems until after installing new security programs. Since I installed them all at once (due to a problem with McAfee), I don’t have a stepwise comparison to target the problem area.
I am currently chasing all the recommended areas to eliminate possible problem sources. That is why I have posted here.
Since you indicate a familiarity with Firefox, I’ll ad the fact that Adblock did not appear to cause the problem. -->unless I mistakenly changed something within Adblock. → nor do I think Firefox update to v3.6.3 is the problem, as I had the update for about a week before the problem occurred.
The other user of this machine is the owner of the McAfee Security Suite (also referenced as Security Center, depending upon where I look in the user interface) subscription and has not yet approved removal of McAfee.
McAfee developed some issues without missing program components. Both AT&T and McAfee adamantly refuse to repair the issue or allow a reinstall without charging for this service, which should be free by contracted terms.
The other user wants to wait for McAfee to resolve the problem, hence my addition of the security programs and utilities listed in the first post. Therefore I don’t have the liberty to remove McAfee at present.
I have, however, disabled everything except McAfee Site Advisor.
I’ll keep your removal links in mind for the time when I have permission to remove McAfee.
Going back to my reason for posting here, I received a suggestion to ask for instructions to permit video feeds, Is this a feature offered in Avast?
The problem is that disabling a resident antivirus isn’t enough as they load low level drivers and these hook files, etc. so that they can be scanned and it is these low level drivers that can conflict.
I’m totally unfamiliar with exactly what the McAfee Suite does, but there would imagine be some sort of monitoring of web traffic and I don’t know if this might be a cause of the problem or not.
avast doesn’t have any such setting about video feeds, if they adhere to http protocol and are on port 80 they would be scanned by the web shield, so shouldn’t be blocked (as the free version doesn’t have a firewall). Unfortunately not all streaming video completely adheres to http protocol and this could cause a problem.
Your problem however, is somewhat different as you are reporting it apparently works with IE8 and not Firefox 3.6.3, since avast treats both browsers in the same way as far as the web shield is concerned, so if it works with IE8 it should work with firefox.
It sounds to me like Firefox is the culprit. If you have any other security extension installed such as NoScript, Ghostery, etc., try disabling them and reload the problem website (assuming you know the site is clean). If the video player on the site is Flash based, you could try re-installing the latest version of Flash.
Derelict_AZ,
Although I have the Adblock extensiion loaded on Firefox, I’m doubtful that this is the problem. One of the other Kim’s forum members has the same combination of Firefox 3.6.3 + Adblock and has no problems. → An easy test would be to remove Adblock and try to access the videos via Firefox bookmarks. It is not difficult to remove, test the videos, and reinstall Adblock. I’ll give that a try and report back.
I have Adobe Flash 10.0.45.0, the latest version. FAQs for the Komando website indicate that other images loaded, which I can view, verify that I have the proper flash video player installed.
DavidR,
McAfee’s firewall is disabled. It has been replaced by Zone Alarm Firewall. Zone Alarm is intuitive in that it asks: remember allow, allow, remember disallow, and disallow for all traffic (inboound and outbound). User responses are noted. Trusted Zones (and not Trusted Zones) can be user defined. As time progresses, behavioral responses by the user and characteristics of the sites involved create a model for the firewall to use to become less intrusive by making decisions based upon that model.
This is my understanding based on reading the overview and help pages for Zone Alarm. I have a question pending on the same subject as this one on Zone Alarm’s forum. Currently I am following the trail of suggestions given by the Komando forum to attempt to resolve the issue. My relative newbie knowledge base makes this my only course of action. The main things I have going for me are I learn quickly (as can probably be seen in the level of detail I provide) and the kindness of forum members like I am experiencing here.
I would suggest that rather than disabling AbBlock plus, you allow what is being blocked. When you visit a site where there is an issue like this, right click on the ABP icon and select Open blockable items (image 1) and that will show a list of items. Those on the page that are blocked (see example image 2) are in red, you can right click on the red item and select Add exception rule for this item…
This is preferable to completely disabling a valuable ad blocking tool.
Disablilng AdBlock was such an easily reversible operation that it was a very reasonable test to find the culprit.
Following your instructions and images, I found well over a dozen red items. Creating exceptions one at a time rewarded me with one which had to be the central one. It created exceptions for all of them. The result is that the video viewing window works as intended. ;D
Since you have familiarity with Firefox and use images to help with posts, I’d like to share a couple of things that I put under the category of gizmos, whistles, and bells:
The Firefox companion add ons, DownloadHelper and Download Manager Tweak give halting, choppy videos the quality of a DVD.
Jing and its companion, Screencast, allow editable screenshots. Jing performs the screenshot and allows editing in the same program (size, colors, circles and arrows, plus a whole lot more) and a save feature with custom folder and file organization. The resulting file can then be sent to Screencast and saved in your personal formatible library with various security levels available. A hyperlink for each file is provided, allowing its use in emails or forums. Large or intricate images can be provided in this manner just a click away.
These are available in free and pro versions.
I have found these two gizmos to be very helpful to me. If you find them useful, I’ll consider them to be a thank you for your guidance.
Unfortunately no add-on is going to improve and give halting, choppy videos the quality of a DVD as I’m on dial-up ;D I use Orbit downloader which works fine for me.
I use SnatIt, although a paid for option I have been using the product for years (paid for itself in time saved) and makes life very easy, it is highly customisable. SnagIt captures whatever it is you want and has the editing tools built in, so it is very easy to use.