OT: Need Help From Computer Experts

[DXM]

I've been having some sort of problems with pages not loading, freezing and having to click reload page or backing out and relaunch the page.
I'm running Firefox with AVG 9.0 and Zone Alarm. This problem started when I loaded upgraded Firefox but tried Chrome and it does the same.

My provider supplied Norton /Symantic Sercurity Suite for free and I had no problem for years. Then they switched to a company called RadialPoint and the first of my problems started. I couldn't play online unless I shut down Anti-virus and Firewall. I switched to Avg and Zonealarm and had no problem until AVG 9.0 was installed. I've run virus checks and everything is clean. It gets bothersome when you try to watch any type of video ie.. youtube and you try to skip certain part by sliding the curser and the video freezer and sits there trying to reload. Never did this before, I have so-called High speed internet. I've done speed checks, my provider claims I should get upto 10 somethings/s ( sorry I think it's mb/s ) I'm averaging 8.3-8.8. I had another anti-virus checker called SuperAntivirus but I removed it maybe clashed, still the problem persists. I called my provider and they say they checked down the pipeline and everything looks good. I asked them are they throttling me and they stated we would never do that, which is BS because they are all over the news that they do throttle. I don't really do much downloading if any.

Any help will be greatly appreciated .

 

[evil tendencies]

Dunno about the specifics, but here's some basic advice:

Post your system specs, including memory, OS and any patches or upgrades to either. Your ISP's name, 'official' connection speed, and any networking hardware is also pretty useful.

Umm, let's see then...the rated speed of your connection isn't really a reflection of what you'll ever get. I think of it like the estimated MPG on a new car - it's useful for comparing to other new cars, but entropy/friction/evil monkeys always tend to gum it up in real life and force a lower actual number.

If you are running Windows, I'd look to the active processes and see if there isn't some stuff to gum up the works that you could jettison. I had a similar problem a few years back, and it turns out that some mal/spyware
was eating up bandwidth. It wasn't found by my virus checkers, but SpyWare S&D was free and very helpful for fixing it.

 

[Niall]

was eating up bandwidth. It wasn't found by my virus checkers, but SpyWare S&D was free and very helpful for fixing it.

This is definetly true. AVG hadn't noticed that I had a tonne of trojans and malware on my PC.
Malawarebytes is a very good program to search for those.

I wouldn't rule out a viral problem with your firefox as recently one of my firefox shortcuts was changed without my knowledge to shut my PC down whenever I clicked it. So you never know!

 

[Tercha]

The undetected virii probably came when you downloaded new scanning software (They sometimes have time bombs that hold you to ransom)....and it is creating a conflict preventing everything operating by being oversensitive, freezed frames are usually caused by the processor maxing out, I used to use SPYBOT S&D (Free) and found it very good and have occasionally got malware which I deleted after getting instructions from the internet. (the enviquip I think it was called (burned in my brain))
Given up now and bought a MAC

 

[Einion]

I had another anti-virus checker called SuperAntivirus but I removed it maybe clashed, still the problem persists.

For future reference, definitely a bad idea to have two pieces of anti-virus software running simultaneously, can lead to major problems.

From having similar issues myself and dealing with this on other computers there's a decent chance you are infected with some malware and that it/they are entirely responsible. So running some kind of independent check is worth the effort.

But it could simply be a Windows issue - might need to be reinstalled to recover performance. It could be a problem with bad sectors in the HD too, so if you don't find anything else obvious it's worth running a scan on the HD if you have a check CD or know anyone who has.

I've done speed checks, my provider claims I should get upto 10 somethings/s ( sorry I think it's mb/s ) I'm averaging 8.3-8.8.

Aww man, that's just mean showing off like that

I called my provider and they say they checked down the pipeline and everything looks good. I asked them are they throttling me and they stated we would never do that, which is BS because they are all over the news that they do throttle. I don't really do much downloading if any.

Well speed checks will tell you your actual bandwidth at any given time, if your connection was hamstrung it would be all the time I think. Contention ratio is a possible additional issue, but it wouldn't account for the problem you describe by itself.

Einion

 

[Chrome]

This Is an AVG 9.0 issue, I had the same when I installed it. Reverted back to my current version and it was fine again. Hopefully they will have a solution ready before this version stops working on the 1st of December.

 

[Müller]

My advice is to get off AVG as soon as possible. It's a horrendous AV software that won't stop anything and will also get you into messes like this one.

My advice is, as always, F-Secure or NOD32

 

[Einion]

My advice is to get off AVG as soon as possible. It's a horrendous AV software that won't stop anything and will also get you into messes like this one.

Come on, really? Even the free one is very highly thought of.

All anti-virus software has problems on some machine somewhere (and not to the level that Norton is infamous for, but that's another day's thread) what matters is how reliable it is overall. NOD32, which I've used and like, has had numerous issues with correctly downloading updates or with using an updated definitions file. But obviously it'll work without a hitch for most users.

Einion

 

[Ritual]

Aww man, that's just mean showing off like that

I've got fibre connection. The maximum speed is 100 Mbit down. Usually it is about 10-20, but I'm quite happy with that! :victory::bashful:

Oh, and I ditched AVG when 9.0 came out. I didn't feel comfortable with it. I run Comodo now. Haven't had any problems with either virus/malware or performance of my computer since.

 

[Müller]

Come on, really? Even the free one is very highly thought of.

All anti-virus software has problems on some machine somewhere (and not to the level that Norton is infamous for, but that's another day's thread) what matters is how reliable it is overall. NOD32, which I've used and like, has had numerous issues with correctly downloading updates or with using an updated definitions file. But obviously it'll work without a hitch for most users.

Einion

father with his PC, he had been complaining over how slow it ran.

He had AVG included with his ISP and had used it correctly since the day he got the PC. He don't download stuff, just takes care of emails and ebay related things online, and he had over 2000 Viruses/spyware/malwares/etc.

Personally I'd stay back from such a software.

It's not like I'm getting paid to tell people that AVG is bad, he asked for advice, I gave it, then he can take it from there ^^,

 

[daGoz]

Another handy (& free) spyware remover is Ad-Aware by LavaSoft. Between it and S&D I have had excellent luck in cleaning pooched up PCs.
As to AV software I am a McAfee man myself niether my home PC nor my work servers have had an infection so far. I find it worth the money to ensure I am well protected.
And the joke of the day - What do I call Norton users? Customers for Virii removal:beerwave:.
Best-o-luck

 

[DXM]

Thanks for all the advice.
I talked to a couple of friends who have the same provider as I and they also noticed this same problem but not as bad mine. It actually might be the providers problem.
I live in an apartment building with cable internet, can a bandwidth hog cause this problem?
I'll try your advice and see what happens.

 

[DXM]

Just loaded Spybot S&D and Malwarebytes. It found a trojan and some other things.
I cleared them and it seems to help a little, I'll see if this was the problem.
Thanks again for the advice.

 

[Einion]

It's not like I'm getting paid to tell people that AVG is bad, he asked for advice, I gave it, then he can take it from there

Yeah, but look back at what you actually said, "It's a horrendous AV software that won't stop anything..."

Not only is that not stated as your opinion it's simply not supported by the facts - hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of users don't have the same problem. (Doing lots more risky things online in many cases I'll bet!) One can't take a specific incident of apparent failure to protect and use it to tar a product as universally bad.

Einion