I'm using Windows 10 on my desktop PC, and after updating Avast Free Antivirus yesterday, I noticed a significant slowdown in loading websites. Some pages like ESPN, Reddit, and the NYTimes either take forever to load or time out completely. I've tried multiple browsers, but the issue persists. Interestingly, my laptop (without Avast) and even my phone have no trouble loading these pages. I also noticed that Gmail is lagging when I try to select emails.
I uninstalled Avast and used their removal tool to ensure it was completely gone, but the problem remains. I've tried running the flushdns command in Command Prompt with no success. I also did an internet speed test and found my download speed to be 80 mb/s but the upload speed is only 0.08 mb/s, which seems strange. My desktop is hardwired, but when I switched to Wi-Fi, everything loaded much faster. This leads me to wonder if there's something wrong with my ethernet connection or drivers, especially since the issues started right after rebooting. Can anyone help me troubleshoot this?
1 Answer
It sounds like you might want to ditch Avast for good. I've read that it can really bog down the system, especially these days. You could try using Microsoft Defender instead—it's pretty solid on its own. Also, make sure your browsers are up to date or consider trying a different one to see if that helps with the page loading times!
I updated the OP with some new things I've tried. If it works with Wi-Fi but not hardwired, could that be causing issues with my ethernet drivers?