"Download Helper" Addon Problematic

[Bigaldoc]

Recently I began to have a problem playing a video now and then while in Fx 3.5.8 which, from what I found at a Mozilla sponsored site is also happening in 3.6 as well. It's happened once or twice here in the Lounge as well, specifically with YouTube links.

Last night I was trying to play some YouTube videos where people have done one-person multitrack barbershop tag recordings like YouTube - Danny Boy Barbershop Tag. Some were working just fine and on others I would get this popup:

2010-03-05_012559.png

I didn't have the problem with IE8, only Firefox. Whether I tried to open (with anything) or save, the system did nothing. It wasn't hung but Fx was trying to do something because I could click the Stop command and continue other things without problems. On some videos it didn't happen. Puzzling. I found Firefox trying to incorrectly initialize "Application/Octet-Stream" download with Youtube where the two "suspects" seem to be the addon Video DownloadHelper :: Add-ons for Firefox OR the latest version of Avast.

This morning I've disabled the Download Helper Addon and the problem has stopped, BUT I've had that addon installed for a long time at its current version, so I really think this may lie with the recent update of Avast, about a few weeks ago now. I'm continuing my investigation but I thought I'd go ahead and make a heads-up post on this topic. (There are TWO suggestions for Avast configs in the Mozilla link that I haven't tried yet.)

[Bigaldoc]

I should probably put this in Scuttlebutt but people there would wonder why, so...

For those unfamiliar with the genre, a barbershop "tag" is explained in these two links:

        Tag (Barbershop) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
        Hanger (barbershop music) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The reason I love barbershop harmony, in addition to the harmony, is that I'm a tenor and the tenor usually gets to sing the "hanger!" In barbershop, the equivalent of a musical "jam session" is called "woodshedding" where four guys (or gals) just get together and sing tags. Of course, you have to have some experience to do so. A good, well sung tag can raise the hairs on the back of your neck and has even been known to "ring" or cause vibrations. Whooee ...

[Bigaldoc]

Conclusion: It's NOT the Download Helper addon - it IS Avast 5.

I'll post results later this afternoon here: Possible Avast 5 Problem.

Right now I've gotta run to an appointment. Later... Thanks...

[HansV]

Since the problem appears to be caused by Avast, please post replies in the thread Possible Avast 5 Problem in the Security and Backup forum. I'll lock this thread to prevent duplication.