Web browsing very slow. Can I turn the scanner off?

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
1

I installed the Avast 4.8 demo on a new laptop I bought and find that web browsing is slow. If I turn Avast off, the web browsing speeds up.

Is there any way to turn off the scanner for the web? I tried turning off what I thought was the provider (turned off web shield) but the ‘A’ still kept spinning.

-Frankie

2

Hmmm… which is your standard shield sensitivity level? High?
I won’t disable WebShield, I will use the Normal level of the Standard…
Do you use any other security program? Firewall?

3

All shields seem to be set to standard.

I’m using Zonealarm as well with it’s virus scanner off. Might try dissabling that instead and see what happens.

So you feel that Avast shouldn’t really be slowing web browsing down?

-Frankie

4

Even with ZA anti-virus disabled it could/may still load drivers. You could uninstall everything in ZA and do a custom reinstall excluding the AV element.

Also since it has the AV module is this the ZA Pro version or ZA Suite version ?
If so it may also come with the Privacy function (and that could have an impact on the web shield) ?

5

No… not exactly. WebShield could slow down the connection in some scenarios…
But I think the problem is the interaction of WebShield and ZA… Which ZA version do you use?

6

I’m using ZA version 8.0 which is the latest.

Also I forgot to mention I’m using Net Nanny as well!.

So I got Net Nanny, ZA and Avast running.

7

did your laptop come with an anti-virus or security suite pre installed?
which one
are both it and avast running
or
how did you remove?
(and why?)

8

Yes, but the ZA version number isn’t the issue as the Free ZA version doesn’t come with an AV component, The Pro (or Suite) version does and that too has a Privacy component, which could get in the way and conflict with the web shield.

Which is why we asked if you have ZA Pro or ZA Suite, etc.

When you installed avast (or zone alarm if avast was already installed), you may have been asked a question about compatibility depending on the type of ZA that you had.

Zone Alarm - avast! Web Shield compatibility dialogue - Install/Update Question - YES or NO

If you are using ZoneAlarm Free you should click NO, because privacy features are not present in ZoneAlarm Free this will not turn off web shield transparent mode proxy (Note the avast check should now be able to differentiate between ZA and ZA Pro so you may not see this interface if using ZA free).
Use a text editor and edit the avast4.ini file, the default installation location is C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\DATA\avast4.ini (I would advise you copy avast4.ini before editing it, just in case).
If you answered incorrectly, Locate the line containing ZoneAlarmCompatibility= and delete that line (avast will ask again, answer NO) or change the value to =0. Save the edited avast4.ini file.

If you are using ZoneAlarm Pro and Privacy Control in ZoneAlarm is set to High and if you click YES in avast compatibility dialogue box the transparent mode proxy in web shield will be turned off you have to manually configure browser to access internet. To manually configure your browser watch instructional video

For IE - broadband users: - Tutorial - Web Shield Proxy Set-up for IE
For IE - dialup users - Tutorial - Web Shield Proxy Set-up for IE (Dial-up)
For Firefox users - Tutorial - Web Shield Proxy Set-up for Firefox
Opera Users - Tools> Preferences> Advanced> Network> Proxy Servers, see image. E:\Images\CapturedScreenPrint\Opera-WS-Proxy-Settings.gif