FAQ

In case you did not find the information you were looking for, you can also check the Firewall and Link Scanner sections. These components are closely related to the WebShield, and the information in these sections can be related to your question:

• LinkScanner
• Firewall

AVG Web Shield is a type of a real-time resident protection. It consists of two features - Web protection and Instant Messaging protection.

Web protection scans the downloaded files even before these are downloaded to your computer. This is done by scanning communication on ports TCP 80, 3128 and 8080 by default.

Instant Messaging protection verifies the files sending via instant messaging are virus free. Currently AVG supports the ICQ, MSN and Yahoo! protocols.

You can change settings of Web Shield component following way:

• Please open AVG User Interface.
• Double-click on the Web Shield component.

1. Web protection
Following settings may be changed on the Web tab:

• Check archives - Does Web Shield check the archive files (e.g. ZIP)?
• Report Potentially Unwanted Programs and Spyware threats - Does Web Shield detect the Potentially Unwanted Programs and Spyware infection?
• Use heuristic analysis - Does Web Shield use the heuristic analysis?
• What is the maximal size of the file that will be checked by Web Shield?

2. Instant Messaging protection
You can select what Instant Messaging application, that are supported, will be protected by Web Shield component:

• ICQ
• MSN
• Yahoo

In case you want to disable Web Shield component, please proceed as follows:

• Open AVG User Interface.
• Double-click on the Web Shield component.
• Un-tick the "Enable Web Shield" option.
• To confirm the settings please click on the "Save changes" button.

In case that some of the following components are in the error state after installation of AVG program on Windows Vista operating system:

• Firewall
• WebShield
• E-Mail Scanner
• LinkScanner

AVG program has been installed in the compatibility mode with older operating systems.
In such cases please take the following steps to resolve this issue:

• Please download the latest installation file of the appropriate edition that you have ordered: 
  AVG Anti-Virus 8.5
  AVG Internet Security 8.5
  AVG Anti-Virus plus Firewall 8.5
  
• Click on the "Download AVG now (paid version)" button.
• When you are prompted, please do not open this file directly from the Internet, but click "Save" button and choose location where installation file should be stored. We recommend saving the file to the Desktop.
• Reboot your computer.
  
• Right click on the downloaded AVG installation package (avg_...).
• Choose the Properties item from the menu that will appear.
• Go to the Compatibility tab.
• Check if there is the compatibility option enabled - if so, please unmark this option.
• Press the Show settings for all users button.
• Check if there is the compatibility option enabled - if so, please unmark this option.
• Press the OK button twice to save and exit.
  
• Double click the AVG installation file.
• Choose the "Uninstall product" option.
• Choose "Remove user settings" when you are asked.
• Finish the uninstallation process.
• Restart your computer.
  
• Launch the downloaded package again.
• Follow the installation wizard.
• Enter your license number when you are asked (we recommend that you use copy&paste method to enter this license number into the installation form).
• If AVG asks you for a computer restart, please do so.
  

If there is any problem installing AVG, our technical support need to get the AVG installation log file to find out why AVG cannot be correctly installed on your computer.
To send us this file, please do the following:
Click Start -> Run, type %tmp% and press OK button. Please find a file called "avg8inst.log" in the Explorer's window that will appear on the screen and send it to AVG Technical Support team.

If the Web Shield component in AVG shows status "Initializing" and does not start, the issue can be caused by another application that is in conflict with this AVG component. It might be possible to rectify the issue by following these steps:

• Open menu Start -> Run (or Search).
• Type 'cmd' and click OK.
• In the opened command line window please type the following and press Enter:
  netsh winsock reset catalog
• Close the command line window and restart your computer.

Note:
In case the command will return message "Access is denied", please log into the computer as a user with administrative rights. For more information, please refer to FAQ 1196.

If the mentioned procedure does not solve the issue, please visit FAQ 1214 which lists all known conflicting applications and recommended solution.