# Solved: Problems with AVG and Firefox?



## cworthy_1 (Dec 9, 2005)

I recently upgraded my AVG free trial version to AVG9.0, and ever since that time, my system (running on Win XP Pro) has been incredibly slow. Clicking on links on web pages now sometimes takes minutes to respond, and if I'm not patient and click the link again, it will just freeze up the whole system. Running multiple applications (like Excel and Firefox) is now becoming impossible. Is AVG9.0 the most appropriate anti-virus program for Firefox? If I look at the Task Manager, there are over 20 processes running at any one time, with at least half of them starting with 'avg'.


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## tomdkat (May 6, 2006)

Do you have ZoneAlarm installed?

Peace...


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

tomdkat said:


> Do you have ZoneAlarm installed?..


If so .. Remove it and install Comodo (firewall only)


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## tomdkat (May 6, 2006)

LOL. I've been doing that as well. 

Peace...


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## cworthy_1 (Dec 9, 2005)

No, I have neither Zone Alarm nor Comodo installed. Are they anti-virus programs? Are you suggesting to uninstall AVG and to install Comodo?

Also, I just found out that my internet provider provides a free McAfee anti-virus protection. What do you think about McAfee?


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## tomdkat (May 6, 2006)

ZoneAlarm and AVG 9 are known to not be compatible and CheckPoint is fixing ZoneAlarm.

Since you don't have ZoneAlarm installed, take a look at the AVG Surf Shield and the Search Shield. If you go into the AVG Control Center and double click the "LinkScanner" icon, you will see where you can enable/disable Surf Shield and Search Shield.

Disable BOTH Surf Shield AND Search Shield, restart Firefox, and see how it behaves. If it behaves ok, enable ONE of them (but not both yet) and see how it behaves. This way, you can determine which one is causing you grief.

If you find the "Surf Shield" is interfering, you can decide if you want to continue using AVG with that feature disabled or not. Since you've paid for it, you should be able to contact Grisoft for support with Surf Shield interfering with Firefox.

Which version of Firefox are you running?

Peace...


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

I'd stay with AVG .. If we can get it to work.
Shut down your AVG resident shield and update manager ... and see if it works better.

And I forgot .. I installed without Search Shield.
Zone Alarm or Comodo are Firewalls


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## peck1234 (Aug 27, 2008)

Any active anti-virus will always slow down a computer to an extent.

I choose to use none... 

Malwarebytes FTW with me... : )


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## tomdkat (May 6, 2006)

Looks like someone needs to update their definitions... 

Peace...


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## tomdkat (May 6, 2006)

peck1234 said:


> Any active anti-virus will always slow down a computer to an extent.


In this case, AVG's Surf Shield or Search Shield can sometimes cause browers "stalls" or "lags", for some reason.

Peace...


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## cworthy_1 (Dec 9, 2005)

I disabled both Surf Shield and Search Shield. Web browsing and opening other programs concurrently then definitely ran faster. I then enabled Surf Shield only, and there didn't seem to be any change. I then enabled Search Shield, and that slowed things down considerably. Do I need Search Shield...?

I'm running Firefox version 1.9.1.3726.


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

cworthy_1 said:


> ... Do I need Search Shield...? ...I'm running Firefox version 1.9.1.3726.


Not if you use safe surfing practices.
Once you're at a web site .. It shouldn't slow down downloads.
Update FF to version 3.6.3


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## cworthy_1 (Dec 9, 2005)

How do I update Firefox? My version was installed in April, 2007.

Also, what's the difference between 'surfing' and 'searching'? Does the latter only refer to search engine entries?


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

Click on Help >> Update ... You may have to do this several times.


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## tomdkat (May 6, 2006)

cworthy_1 said:


> I disabled both Surf Shield and Search Shield. Web browsing and opening other programs concurrently then definitely ran faster. I then enabled Surf Shield only, and there didn't seem to be any change. I then enabled Search Shield, and that slowed things down considerably. Do I need Search Shield...?


Great work! 

The "Search Shield" causes the green check marks to appear in search engine results to indicate if the site is ok to visit or not.

Leave "Search Shield" off for now and contact AVG support about it slowing down Firefox.

Peace...


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## tomdkat (May 6, 2006)

cworthy_1 said:


> Also, what's the difference between 'surfing' and 'searching'? Does the latter only refer to search engine entries?


Yep, the "Search Shield" scans search engine results for "bad sites". The "Surf Shield" scans links on websites to make sure you don't click any "bad" links embedded in sites.

Peace...


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

Also .. The "Search Shield" checks to see if the site has been reported as dangerous ...
so it will slow down your browsing.

This is only helpful ..* IF *the site has been reported as dangerous.


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## cworthy_1 (Dec 9, 2005)

I updated FF to version 3.6.3. It seems to run somewhat faster, but I think I will leave Search Shield disabled until I have time to contact Grisoft. One last question... is Search Shield even called into play if I'm not using a search engine?

Thank you both, Tomdkat and Noyb, you've certainly earned your keep today!

cworthy


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## tomdkat (May 6, 2006)

cworthy_1 said:


> One last question... is Search Shield even called into play if I'm not using a search engine?


It shouldn't be BUT I believe it's a Firefox extension of some kind so it might be interfering even though you're not doing a web search.

Good luck!

Peace...


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## cworthy_1 (Dec 9, 2005)

Thanks!


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

If I may add ... No amount of protection is perfect and will stop everything.
For this reason .. You should make sure you have everything backed up.
An external Hard Drive is very handy for this purpose.

If you haven't heard of "Imaging" .. Maybe you should read *This*
I can restore my Windows in about 20 minutes .. from a data file in my external hard drive.


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## cworthy_1 (Dec 9, 2005)

Thanks, I'd been saving my files to thumbdrives, but imaging sure seems like a lot less work.


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

Imaging is great for backing up the "system" .. But you don't want to do this very often.
Just never know when you're backing up (Imaging) a problem you haven't found yet.
For this reason .. I backup my personal Data and system settings separately.

Recovering the system from an Image is a lot faster than using the recovery DVDs.
And since I can do this .. I don't worry too much about getting hit.


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## lunarlander (Sep 22, 2007)

> How do I update Firefox? My version was installed in April, 2007.


Uninstall your version of FireFox, download and install the latest version from mozilla.com.


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