Avast Web Shield

I have AOL AVS installed on my computer right now as my real-time virus scanner. But as some of you may already know AVS does not have a web shield like avast does. I need to know if someone out there uses AVS as their real-time scanner and avast's web shield together. Should'nt there be any conflicts if I turn off every component on avast and just leave the web shield on?

Thanks in advance

 

plain and simple, do not do this.

its a disaster waiting to happen, and quite pointless to be honest.

 

Explain why. I've had 2 AVG real-time and avast on-demand running once in the past with no problems, what's the risk here?

 

One was on demand and not running realtime. Thats why you didn't have a problem. Web shield runs in real time I believe.

 

As far as i know it can work, because they work on different levels. NOD32 IMON and McAfee virusscan worked perfectly together.. tried it for a few weeks.

Edit: TBH, i wouldn't take the risk. In my case i could always take a back-up..

 

avast webshield is a proxy.
maybe you can do a custom install of avast home and just select webshield.
i dont know and wouldnt risk it myself but you can try.
lodore

 

a lot of you are saying you would not risk it but what exactly IS the risk?
What's the worst that could happen? Lodore suggested I could just do a custom install with just the web shield installed, which is pretty sensible so why such a big risk with my system?

 

There might not be any problems by selectively installing certain components of different programs into a particular system. But personally, I would avoid trying to take certain parts of Norton AV, McAfee VirusScan, Trend Micro PCillin, Nod32, Kaspersky Internet Security and try to selectively take parts of each one into a PC. Oftentimes, memory conflicts and BSOD usually result because of overlapping memory address loading which can cause system freezes among other things. You don't know which registry, BHO, system addresses is being updated by multiple components at any given time. Too many active processes especially from different vendors usually result in incompatibility somewhere down the line.

 

I've used antivir classic+avast webshield(custom installation) for over 6 months. No conflict, no slow down. (winxp pro sp2, sempron 2500+, 1gb ram,5mbps cable)

But there are two things needed to be mentioned. First of all, when system boots up, a warning will shows up, saying avast detected other av running. Therefore avast would disable some of its modules. According to my test, web/network/mail shields would be still alive. After clicking on OK, everything is fine. Secondly, as lodore says avast webshield is a proxy, it stores downloaded files on its own cache and scan them, then send these files to browser cache. During the scan, antivir may also catches downloaded malware, because antivir's on-access scanner also scans the directory of avast caches.

Btw, I also tried other combinations, such as NOD32(IMON only)+Mcafee virusscan, NOD32(IMON only)+ antivir classic. Both of them worked flawless in my machine. Therefore, as long as there is no overlap within two avs' modules, the chance of conflict for running both of them simultaneously might be smaller than we thought. Of course, your mileage may vary.

 

If you REALLY feel that its a need just be prepared... I wouldn't suggest it... But it doesn't seem like anything we say is going to change your mind... Yes there may be no conflicts now... But eventually their might... (BD 9 worked with KAV, but not 9.5 or 10.. ) and the fact the less than 5% detection that Avast detects over Kaspersky (AOL uses Kaspersky engine) (Got the numbers using AV-Comparatives results of AVK, Kaspersky and Avast) can be filled in by one or two Anti-spywares. (BOClean for realtime which seems to be the main reason for you wanting Avast, and like AVG AS for a scanner) it's really not a need. And if your not a dangerous surfer the need for the 2 anti-viruses goes down even more...

 

I totally agree with you. But my post above is about my experience of using two AVs and the chance of conflict, not the necessity.

Shek

 

[this is not about the Web Shield - but about the on-access scanners in particular]

This is what may happen, and often really happens:

1. the computer crashes (e.g. due to kernel stack overflow), OR
2. the computer hangs (typically due to a deadlock in the two AV drivers)
3. a virus, that is normally detected by EACH of the AV's is now not detected at all. This is a more subtle problem - but highly critical (and not easy to diagnose). This usually takes places because of various sharing violation issues and similar problems.

So, in general, DON'T DO IT.

That said, I can say that this doesn't really apply to the avast WebShield. You can indeed run the WebShield together with another AV - just make sure to *uncheck* the Standard Shield, P2P Shield and IM Shield components during avast installation.

Cheers
Vlk

 

"just make sure to *uncheck* the Standard Shield, P2P Shield and IM Shield components during avast installation."

That's what I mentioned earlier and figured that there would be no problems, but since most of you are suggesting not to do it at all then I guess I'll take your advice. So screw it alltogether.

Thanks for the input.