Avast compatability with Firefox?
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Thread: Avast compatability with Firefox?

  1. #1
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    Avast compatability with Firefox?

    Is it possible that the latest version of Avast is not completely compatible with earlier versions of Firefox? I am using Firefox 3.6 and ever since I upgraded to the current version of Avast I have had problems with Firefox going into suspended animation. The browser will not close and I have to go to Windows (Home Premium) Task Manager and use "End Program" to get it to shut down.

    When that happens usually the links are ineffective, but I can navigate to different sites using bookmarks. In that case the Task Bar icon will continue to show the name of the site on which the browser froze, even though the screen content may have rotated through several different sites. It happens fairly frequently, but not "all the time," so to speak, and there is no pattern to the nature of the sites on which it hangs up.

    Other than that I have no symptoms or misbehavior of any sort. Computer is full speed and is doing everything I expect it to do. There was a brief period Sunday when it was giving me a lot of "site not found" messages, as if the whole internet was down, but my Cox connection does that once in a while, and it cleared up completely and has been no problem since.
    Last edited by Bill Heffner; April 2nd, 2012 at 09:20 AM.

  2. #2
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    I assume that this does not happen with Internet Explorer or any other browser you may be using, and the web sites where the problem appears are not likely to contain any malware content.

    How long does it take before you notice the problem when browsing the web using Firefox? You could try disabling Avast temporarily to see if the issue goes away.

  3. #3
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    This may or may not have anything to do with it but have you considered updating to the current version of FF? (11.0 at this moment.) While the 3.6 series is still being patched, it is not the official, latest version.

    Beyond that and what was already mentioned, you might consider backing up your bookmarks and passwords (but hopefully you don't use any browser to store your passwords), uninstalling FF (including deleting your profile), then re-installing FF again and lastly restoring your bookmarks and passwords (which you hopefully don't need to do ).

  4. #4
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    jdc2000: your assumptions are correct. I'm using Chrome mostly, now, and it never occurs at all. I wasn't aware that Avast could be disabled, and looking at it I see about a dozen different "shield" operating. Which ones would I disable?

    Han: every time I have upgraded Firefox it has turned into a major headache for me, and the last time I vowed never to do it again. They have some complex instructions for saving all my bookmarks and settings, but I have never been able to follow them successfully, and it has always been in effect, starting with a new browser.

    I may just ditch the whole idea and keep using Chrome, which seems like a nice browser. FF had some nice addons, but I've been increasingly thinking that it was choking on its own success.

  5. #5
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    The longer I have used Chrome the better I like it. The screen was jumping around quite a bit too, which is not happening with Chrome, so that was apparently FF as well. I know that FF was not the latest version, but upgrading was such a hassle I just didn't feel like doing it. I think I'll just stay with Chrome.

  6. #6
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    FWIW, I've never had any hassles upgrading FF.. it always just installs over top of itself and automatically imports all settings, bookmarks, etc. The only occasional hiccup is if an addon is no longer compatible with the newer version but it will tell you that and disable it. Every time that has happened (maybe twice in the last couple of years) I've just gone the addons download site and found a newer version.

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  7. #7
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    I don't doubt what you're saying here, and I don't doubt that Firefox is an excellent browser. Bear in mind that I quit upgrading after version 3. At that time you had to find your profile, save it, and then copy it back. Doing that was complex, frustrating and didn't always work properly because it seems the profile format changed and the old profile didn't always "take" in the new version. Remember the old saying about dissatisfied customers; they don't complain, they just don't come back. The store may get a lot better, but the customer never knows that because he never came back to find out.

    If I continue to like Chrome, and it's beginning to look like I will, I'll upgrade FF for testing purposes and not care about the settings, bookmarks and such, or perhaps import them from Chrome.

    But it does appear to be a compatibility issue, or a Firefox issue of some sort, because it is completely absent on Chrome.

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