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Maxwell LMaxwell L 

Firewall PID request

Hello,

For the past few months I've been getting these firewall popup requests from different PID that don't exist. The firewall request doesn't have a path, description or signature as apposed to the regular firewall request. I tried finding the PID number with the tasklist command but they just don't exist. I've tried auditing every process when these popups keep happening (they sometimes popup ten in a row, one after the other) then checking in the event log - and still, nothing. Recently I had a few popup after I allowed Microsoft's backgroundtaskhost.exe but I don't think it's connected. 

I spoke to a few AVG tech support people and they were stumped, one said to allow them (I didn't) and the other said to uninstall and reinstall AVG. Not only did I do that, I reformatted for good measure and it's still happening. I was asked to reference this # 11157133 post. 

I have AVG Ultimate, Malwarebytes, Steam, nVidia Experience, a few games and a bunch of Windows apps (btw they also don't have a signature - but that's a different problem). I use Google Chrome with AdBlock and Poper Blocker. I don't have any filesharing software and I don't think I've been on any sketchy sites. 

Here's a link to Google Drive with photos of the popups in question. 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1P2eIdsf1h1DQHeeOKoIR-lNFcL7bFRRU?usp=sharing

Thanks and have a good day.

Best Answer chosen by Maxwell L
Maxwell LMaxwell L
Another update:

My new PC (the one with AVG still installed) wouldn't sleep for the past week. I tried changing the power settings to enable sleep when sharing but it still didn't work. Then I tried running "powercfg /requests" and it showed that "MoUsoCoreWorker.exe" was the problem. MoUsoCoreWorker.exe is linked to windows update, I tried updating but windows couldn't, displaying the error message "We could not complete the installation because an update service was shutting down." (or something like that). Thinking about my previous experince with the old PC I went a head and uninstalled AVG and voila! it started updating. Oh and before uninstalling I tried changing the firewall setting to "Auto Decide" but it did nothing.

So if you're experincing blue screen of death (BSOD), Windows not updating, Windows not sleeping, Windows apps crashing, try uninstalling AVG. It just works.

All Answers

Rakshith RajkumarRakshith Rajkumar (AVG)
Hi Max,

We will help you in this.
The reason why you get this pop up with the question 'Allow' or 'Deny' is because in the AVG Firewall settings, 'ask' option has been selected.
So every time there is a communication through the firewall, you get this pop up.

And having more than one security application is not recommended as it will conflict with each other.
Maxwell LMaxwell L

Hi Rakshith, 

You didn't help with this. I have the firewall set to 'Ask' on purpose so I know exactly what program is trying to get access to the internet. That's the only reason I've been buying AVG for the past 8 years. 
If you want to really help us (there's more people asking the same question) figure out the following: 

  1. Why doesn't the name of the program appear, just the PID
  2. Why doesn't the path appear, just the PID
  3. Why isn't there a trace of the process anywhere on the computer 
  4. Why do some of the PID popups try to connect to an avast address (check the Google Drive link). If a process is trying to connect to an avast address - logically the process belongs to AVG but there's no signature or path or company etc. (seems like a bug in the program)
  5. Why when you 'Deny' or 'Allow', there's no rule created
I highly doubt that all this is because of a conflict between AVG and Malwarebytes, especially when one of the processes in question is trying to connect to an avast address.
 
Also I found a forum (https://malwaretips.com/threads/help-with-this-pids-request-by-avg-firewall.102373/) where a dude linked AVG to BSOD he's been getting along with the PID popups. On my old computer I've been experiencing the exact same problem, so I'll be uninstalling AVG on the old one and will update if there's any change.

It seems to be a serious problem with the software, I suggest you all get a developer to look at these cases. Again, here's a refrence # 11157133 to another post with a few people experincing the same issue. 
Shawn EnglemanShawn Engleman (Avast)
Hello Maxwell. Thank you for taking the time to communicate your concern. My name is Shawn and I am writing to you on behalf of the AVG Senior Support team. I will help you.

Specific to your concern, I consulted with our development team, and will clarify your questions as follows:

Questions 1 through 3 - This is happening because the program asking for permission was not running anymore (at the moment of displaying the firewall dialogue)
Question 4 - speculation is that program trying to connect to Avast address is avast/avg vpn (fra-something-something is Frankfurt server), is all that can be understood from the shared screenshot
Question 5 - because there is no running app that could be associated to the given PID

I hope these answers help clarify your concern. Let me know if there is anything else I may help you with. Regards, Shawn
Maxwell LMaxwell L
Hi Shawn, thanks for the reply. 

It does help a bit to understand why this is happening, but if only your way to solve the problem is to change the firewall settings to automatic then it doesn't really help since Windows can do the exact same thing and there's no point in paying for the service. 

By the way I have an update about my old PC that was having severe issues. Just to recap, about 8 months ago it stopped communicating with the Microsoft store. You would go into a Microsoft app (like minesweeper) and it would crash immediately. It wouldn't update Windows no matter what I tried (msreset for one), I had two Microsoft technicians trying to solve the problem and they ended up suggesting a reformat. Another major problem was the blue screen of death that started appearing once in a few days then it started appearing a few minutes after restarting. Only way I could use the computer was in safe mode, I tried for weeks to solve the problem using every guide on the net I could find. Then I tried uninstalling AVG and suddenly like magic everything started working again. Windows updates started to actually install, Windows apps started working, even the BSODs stopped. It was mind boggling. 

Anyway I guess this is my last year with AVG, so thank you all for 9 years of service. 
Maxwell LMaxwell L
Another update:

My new PC (the one with AVG still installed) wouldn't sleep for the past week. I tried changing the power settings to enable sleep when sharing but it still didn't work. Then I tried running "powercfg /requests" and it showed that "MoUsoCoreWorker.exe" was the problem. MoUsoCoreWorker.exe is linked to windows update, I tried updating but windows couldn't, displaying the error message "We could not complete the installation because an update service was shutting down." (or something like that). Thinking about my previous experince with the old PC I went a head and uninstalled AVG and voila! it started updating. Oh and before uninstalling I tried changing the firewall setting to "Auto Decide" but it did nothing.

So if you're experincing blue screen of death (BSOD), Windows not updating, Windows not sleeping, Windows apps crashing, try uninstalling AVG. It just works.
This was selected as the best answer
Shawn EnglemanShawn Engleman (Avast)
Hi Maxwell. Thank you for writing back and I apologize for the delayed response.

I shared your follow-up concern with our development team, specific to changing the firewall setting to automatic, and to be assured this will be fixed in a later release of AVG version 20.9.

Specific to your shared disruption of updating your Microsoft Windows operating system(s), I can only speculate, that there may have been an outdated version of AVG installed on your computer(s), which windows updater detected and would require removal of your AntiVirus to perform the Windows update. If your AVG AntiVirus is updated, there should not be any disruption.

Again, this is purely speculation, and if again you experience such a disruption, to contact us so we may further investigate.

I trust his explanation and information help clarify your concern. Regards, Shawn
Nev NammerzNev Nammerz

I'm also getting the same issue. And it seems like many others are in the same boat. But according to this thread, the issue may have been solved with the most recent update:

https://support.avg.com/answers?id=9060N000000ga4ZQAQ
Midhun AloorMidhun Aloor (Foundever)
Hello Nev,

As informed in the thread you've shared, this issue was fixed in the latest update (20.8) of AVG Internet Security/AVG Antivirus Free.
Kindly ensure that your AVG Internet Security has been updated to the latest version & check if the issue still persists.
Thank you for understanding.
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