Member Avatar for flagstar

Well, recently I got pissed off with Avira pushing me into installing update in order for me to allow ask.com toolbar to be installed. I hate toolbar because it eat up the browser page and bog down processing speed.

And afterwards, I switched to Avast! which most people recommend it after AVG11. I installed it and I have to say I like it but somehow, after I installed Avast!, one of my MMORPG start to get this unknown lag where i'll always get left behind after a quick arena battle but in my screen, the battle is still ongoing.

Frankly, I'm not sure if Avast! is the culprit for that kind of lagging in CosmicBreak MMORPG but certainly after I installed Avast!, the next day, I get that kind of lag everytime i'm inside arena. It doesn't happen other than arena, just in 'Arena' battle.

My best bet is not joining arena till next maintenance update which is Thursday but I think I'll try again just to be sure. If I got the same problem again, maybe I should disable Avast and try again.

p/s: does avast also have issue with zonealarm firewall?

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Dani AI

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Good troubleshooting by and useful pointers from and — the thread shows the right mindset: isolate components, observe what changes, and prefer targeted fixes over blanket disabling. Below is a concise, practical addendum (diagnosis + low-risk mitigations) aimed at someone who finds an AV-related micro-lag in fast, latency-sensitive MMO activity.

Real-time, heuristic or behavior-style protection monitors many tiny events (file opens, memory and API activity, small I/O and network handoffs). Normally the overhead is negligible, but in arena-style gameplay the client can perform thousands of tiny operations per second; frequent interception and scanning can introduce millisecond stalls that add up into visible desync or “left behind” behaviour even when framerate looks fine.

Quick checklist (diagnose first; tweak carefully):

  • Measure before changing: capture CPU/disk/network during a lag spike with Task Manager or Resource Monitor (or Process Explorer). Correlate the timestamps and note which process shows activity spikes. Use simple ping/traceroute tests to rule out pure network routing/packet-loss issues.

  • Make targeted exclusions only: exclude the game install folder, its updater/patcher and the game cache/temp from on-access file scans rather than disabling whole shields. Avoid wide exclusions (no entire drives). Keep exclusions limited to signed/verified game files.

  • Scheduling and priority: move full or deep scans to off-hours and avoid manual scans while playing. If the AV has scan-priority settings, prefer lower background priority when gaming.

  • Gather evidence if needed: a short ProcMon or Process Explorer trace (few minutes) that shows AV-related file/network events during the lag is useful when contacting vendor or game support.

Final cautions: never leave protections off permanently. Targeted exclusions and proper scheduling preserve most protection while minimizing latency. The methodical isolation that appears in this thread is the recommended model for finding the balance between smooth gameplay and security.

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Member Avatar for jingda

As you have said you can try uninstalling Avast first and see whether that cure your problem.

Your last sentence is true.
Avast are known to have conflicts with ZoneAlarm Firewall. See . Many people around the world have problem with their computers or laptop when Avast and ZoneAlarm are together. I don't use ZoneAlarm firewall because i don't find it very good.

Member Avatar for flagstar

Owh, didn't notice that avast and zonealarm can conflict with each other. I've been long wanted to remove Zonealarm because it's been hogging on my netbook too much and slow down startup tremendously... sometimes it can't even stuck at initialize state which is, no firewall is on till I shut down...

Any recommendation which firewall I should use to replace zonealarm? I'm on XP so I'm sure I need a free firewall at least to protect my own computer...

Here are my security specs currently...
- Avast! Free AV (just switched from Avira)
- MBAM (done quick scan at least 1 month or so)
- Spyware Blaster (updated every 2 weeks)
- ZoneAlarm (6 month ago ?maybe?)

Member Avatar for flagstar

I did remove Zonealarm now and putting in new Comodo firewall which hope to be better in it's performance and it did. Luckily I ask that.

But that didn't solve the main problem until I try to disable Avast! and it's working again (no lag whatsoever). When I switch AV on again, same issue occur...

Did Avast! do something in background when I play MMO? It seems like it's scanning every move other player had and once it's done, it let go of the frame and scan another frame.

How I should correct this? What should I suppose to set on Avast! in order to let me play MMO without any problem?

Member Avatar for jingda

I stop using avast a few weeks ago and switch to panda cloud antivirus. But when i use avast before, it did not slow down my game. I am still to play without lag. You can try disabling avast first and see whether the problem occur. How many antivirus software you have? How many security software you have?

For firewall you can try Online Armour. I don't use firewall on my windows laptop because i use the built in firewall provided by microsoft and the anti virus firewall but i will help you search for free firewall.

Edited by jingda because: n/a
Member Avatar for flagstar

Well that's what happen to me is I have to disable Avast in order to play MMO smoothly but I'm afraid if I do that too often, my computer might get infected during that time. Free firewall isn't going to block all of them but at least keep me safe somehow...

I wanted to use built-in windows firewall but I found too many loophole in it and decide to use third-party software.

Maybe I should switch AV again... Thought about using MSE next but I want to hear others opinion about this aside from Avast and Avira.

Member Avatar for jingda

You cam use Microsoft Security Essentials or Panda Cloud AntiVirus. Have you tried online armour firewall?

Member Avatar for flagstar

Well not yet. I just switched to Comodo and use it's firewall only... It was good and doesn't have conflict with Avast for now. I want to give it a try for at least a month and if it's good, might using it for a couple more months... ^^

Member Avatar for jingda

Hope you solve your problem Flagstar. i am always willing to help you.

Member Avatar for gerbil

Avast has a gaming mode. Are you using that?
It's the job of an AV to examine every new or changed file that is loaded to mem, or downloaded...
As far as Avast and ZA conflicting, the linked post above is TEN years old!! One would hope that two majors would have sorted it out by now.

Edited by gerbil because: n/a
Member Avatar for jingda

Have to depend on the Avast version. For newer version of Avast the problem have been already solved. See this

Edited by jingda because: n/a
Member Avatar for flagstar

Well, I had to switch zonealarm sooner or later since it won't work sometimes, leaving my firewall off till i logoff or shutdown my computer.

I've used Avast gaming option which silent the notification and/or alarm but it won't solve the problem...

I've just looked around the net for now and found out i need to deactivate one of the shield to play any MMO smoothly... Hopefully it'll correct the problem but I can't test it yet since I'm away from my laptop right now.

Member Avatar for jingda

Test it and tell us whether it helps. Good luck, Flagstar

Member Avatar for flagstar

I've tested out all shield included in Avast! (8 in total) and I found out the Behavior Shield that causes the problem. I had also other shield to be enable and confirmed it was BS that causing the problem...

If it's not shield for normal av, I don't mind much about it. I'll just have to disable it in order for me to play without any problem and let other shield run as normal.

Member Avatar for gerbil

Interesting re Avast BS. You might play with it by leaving it on, and going into Expert Settings there and adding a trusted process for your game; leave it checking for low-level rootkits etc.

Edited by gerbil because: n/a
Member Avatar for flagstar

Hrmm... never thought of that. I might try it too and see if it can work if I add an exception for the MMO to run. Unfortunately, I can only done this in next 12 hours or so since I'm working right now and kinda away from my laptop...

Will post here if it's succeed or fail... Thanks gerbil...

Member Avatar for PcTestCard.com

disable Avast or try reinstall the latest video card driver may help.

Cheers!
Bill
Tech Manager

Member Avatar for flagstar

PcTestCard.com, I've no problem with graphic card or whatsoever. I just had problem with Avast for making MMO game slow.

I just had to disable one shield but trying Gerbil's solution if I can still use that shield while playing MMO.

But thanks for replying anyway, cheers!

Member Avatar for jingda

Maybe there is some setting for the shield like Gerbil said. YOu can add a trusted software or process. It has been quite some time i last you Avast, I now using Microsoft Security Essentials.

Member Avatar for flagstar

I just checked the Behavior shield setting and yes, it have an exception list which lets certain process to run without doing any behavior scan (I also used Avast in my office so I can check the setting...)

the MMO process was cosmic.exe and the execute program is cosmicbreakEN.exe but just in case i'll put them both into trusted process list. If it's not working, I'll just have to disable it when I play MMO and enable it again afterwards. I don't see any problem with little quick setting. I've got used to it when playing other MMO also...

Member Avatar for jingda

Hope you solve it. Nice thinking Gerbil

Member Avatar for flagstar

Owh, it worked... I can enable the shield back without messing up MMO battle. Well, it's slower rather than get more smoother with disable that shield but I don't mind. At least I don't have to open and close Avast and just straight playing to it...

Thanks again for helping... You guys really help me out and solve my issue.

And no issue with Avast conflicting with comodo either, it actually help me more. I'm just use it's plain firewall but eat up very low memory without bogging down other program but still protecting my computer from malicious threat...

Member Avatar for gerbil

Cool; thanks for that testing, flagstar. I don't play online, so it's nice to have your feedback.
I have a few files in that trusted status setting. And no conflicts with Comodo.
Apologies, Jingda, i didn't realise that Avast was still having issues with ZA up until so recently as shown in your last posted link on that matter..

Member Avatar for jingda

You are welcome Gerbil, see you around.:)

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