Author Topic: Problem with most recent Avast update and Vista  (Read 22208 times)

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petero

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Problem with most recent Avast update and Vista
« on: June 05, 2008, 02:14:22 PM »
Vista has a long history of problems with AV programs, and it appears Avast is the latest victim.

After this morning's automatic update, my computer hung up.  I manually restarted it, but after about 5 minutes it hung again.  This is the problem I was having:

http://www.vistaforums.com/Forum/Topic13079-9-1.aspx

The symptom is that the system gradually hangs up, with the disk activity light continuously on.  If you press <ctrl-alt-delete>, after about a minute an error dialog appears with this title:

"Login process has failed to create the security options dialog." and dialog message "Failure - Security Options".

My solution was to boot to Safe Mode and uninstall Avast.  This has apparently cured the problem, with no hangs in the 1.5 hours since I uninstalled.

Obviously having no AV program isn't an option, so I'll reinstall Avast without the latest update.

I'm running a Dell Inspiron 1525, Vista with all updates (but not SP1), Avast setup file version 4.8.1201.0 and today's update.

Peter

Offline Lisandro

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Re: Problem with most recent Avast update and Vista
« Reply #1 on: June 05, 2008, 02:27:49 PM »
Two days ago I had problems booting Vista... tried twice... the logon screen does not appear.
I've choosed 'Last known good' configuration and now seems ok.
Which firewall do you use?
Can you check your Windows Update history to see which were the latest updates that could, eventually, bring some trouble to avast?
Did you have any other antivirus is this computer in the past?
The best things in life are free.

petero

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Re: Problem with most recent Avast update and Vista
« Reply #2 on: June 05, 2008, 02:40:42 PM »
I reinstalled Vista from the Dell factory image partition two days ago, then applied all available Vista updates, except one (KB943899) that causes problems on Dell PCs.  So the installation is very new and fairly clean.

The factory image included McAfee, which I uninstalled using McAfee's uninstall tool.

I'm running the current version of Zone Alarm.

After posting, I reinstalled Avast, but did not see a way to prevent it from updating.  The system hung again within a few minutes.  I've now uninstalled it again.

Peter

Offline Lisandro

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Re: Problem with most recent Avast update and Vista
« Reply #3 on: June 05, 2008, 02:50:13 PM »
After posting, I reinstalled Avast, but did not see a way to prevent it from updating.
Program settings > Update (Basic) > set to manual.

The system hung again within a few minutes.
Did you use this tool to remove McAfee?
This article provides the steps to remove SecurityCenter from your computer.
http://ts.mcafeehelp.com/faq3.asp?docid=71525
Also for direct download: http://download.mcafee.com/products/licensed/cust_support_patches/VSCleanupTool.exe
and http://download.mcafee.com/products/licensed/cust_support_patches/MCPR.exe (2007)

If you need, you can find many free versions of these registry cleaners here:
http://www.snapfiles.com/Freeware/system/fwregtools.html

Sometimes, McAfee won't be completely removed if, before, you do not uninstall Avast, including the use of its "Uninstall Application" if necessary (www.avast.com/eng/faq-install-uninstall-avast.html).
The best things in life are free.

petero

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Re: Problem with most recent Avast update and Vista
« Reply #4 on: June 05, 2008, 03:14:35 PM »
Yes, I used McAfee's tool to uninstall all McAfee applications.

Thanks for the Avast uninstall tool.  I happened to find it after posting, and I've just run it from Safe Mode.

However, after rebooting, my system has the original error again - continuous disk activity and the <ctrl-alt-delete> error message.  That's very strange, since removing Avast the first time solved the problem.  Apparently removing it the second time didn't solve it.

I have to say that Vista has been a nightmare for me.  I've got over 20 years experience as an IT manager and network administrator, and have never had this many problems with any other version of Windows.  I've had more problems with Vista in the three months I've had this machine, than I've had with XP since it was released.  Much as I hate to move backwards, I'm starting to lean towards installing XP Pro.

Peter

Offline Lisandro

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Re: Problem with most recent Avast update and Vista
« Reply #5 on: June 06, 2008, 01:21:02 AM »
However, after rebooting, my system has the original error again - continuous disk activity and the <ctrl-alt-delete> error message.  That's very strange, since removing Avast the first time solved the problem.  Apparently removing it the second time didn't solve it.
Did you try to uninstall avast from Control Panel before using the tool?
The best things in life are free.

PapaSmurf

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Re: Problem with most recent Avast update and Vista
« Reply #6 on: June 06, 2008, 05:37:14 AM »
I'm running the current version of Zone Alarm.

Sorry for the intrusion, but I had a similar situation due to ZoneAlarm.
The current version of ZA is bloated with its' own anti-virus and anti-spyware.
Are you certain that you just have the firewall? ZA became so conflicted for me that I ended
up removing it and all its' components, then I found just a lite firewall and installed it.
Seemed to cure my troubles. There were no more conflicts. This is just my experience but
it may be worth checking.

petero

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Re: Problem with most recent Avast update and Vista
« Reply #7 on: June 06, 2008, 02:21:34 PM »
However, after rebooting, my system has the original error again - continuous disk activity and the <ctrl-alt-delete> error message.  That's very strange, since removing Avast the first time solved the problem.  Apparently removing it the second time didn't solve it.
Did you try to uninstall avast from Control Panel before using the tool?

Yes, I used Control Panel first, then the Avast tool you pointed me to.

Because the problem would not go away (whether caused by Avast or not), yesterday I once again did a clean factory partition reinstall (the second one this week  >:(), then loaded all the Vista updates including SP1.  I'm going to load Zone Alarm and Avast, then let the system run for several days to see if the problem recurs.

A search of Dell's or MS's support shows that nearly every AV or firewall vendor has some history of problems with Vista, so it's hard to pin down what causes a problem.  Avast is my prime suspect because the problem occurred after the usual daily update, and disappeared after the first uninstall.  But Vista has so many problems that I could easily be wrong!

PapaSmurf:

Yes, I'm definitely using the free firewall-only version... although Zone Labs is making it more and more difficult and confusing to do that.

Peter

sunrisecc

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Re: Problem with most recent Avast update and Vista
« Reply #8 on: June 06, 2008, 03:02:28 PM »
I have Vista Ultimate SP1 and installed Avast two weeks ago after removing AVG. My firewall is Vista's. I installed Avast without the mail options. I have had no problems at all including the automatic updates. I even just rebooted and there was no problem.
The only caveat was that it did take about an hour to build manually the VRDB.

Offline Lisandro

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Re: Problem with most recent Avast update and Vista
« Reply #9 on: June 06, 2008, 04:20:20 PM »
Avast is my prime suspect because the problem occurred after the usual daily update, and disappeared after the first uninstall.  But Vista has so many problems that I could easily be wrong!
The last years the problem was always with bad driver function of ZoneAlarm.
They have acknowledge once but not all the times.
If you uninstall ZoneAlarm you will see that avast won't be guilty.
The best things in life are free.

petero

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Re: Problem with most recent Avast update and Vista
« Reply #10 on: June 06, 2008, 04:28:14 PM »
Avast is my prime suspect because the problem occurred after the usual daily update, and disappeared after the first uninstall.  But Vista has so many problems that I could easily be wrong!
The last years the problem was always with bad driver function of ZoneAlarm.
They have acknowledge once but not all the times.
If you uninstall ZoneAlarm you will see that avast won't be guilty.

If I didn't use any software that's had problems with Vista in the past year... there wouldn't be anything left to run!  ;D

What firewall do you use?  I've used Zone Alarm for years, so I don't know what else is good.

Peter

Offline Lisandro

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Re: Problem with most recent Avast update and Vista
« Reply #11 on: June 06, 2008, 04:42:15 PM »
What firewall do you use?  I've used Zone Alarm for years, so I don't know what else is good.
I've tried Comodo and PCTools into Vista. Neither of them run smoothly...
I gave up to Windows Vista firewall itself.

I've blocked some outbound connections this way:

Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Windows Firewall with Advanced Security

While providing complete inbound AND outbound protection, by default, the Vista firewall does not contain any rules for controlling of outbound traffic. That is, every program is allowed to go out.

Configure Vista Firewall to support outbound packet filtering: http://searchwindowssecurity.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid45_gci1247138,00.html

Or use Vista Firewall Control 32-bit: http://www.majorgeeks.com/Vista_Firewall_Control_32-bit_d5578.html
The best things in life are free.

petero

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Re: Problem with most recent Avast update and Vista
« Reply #12 on: June 06, 2008, 05:00:53 PM »
Thanks, Tech!  I'll stick with Win Firewall for now and see how it goes.  Maybe I can make it all the way through the weekend without a factory restore.

Peter

Offline Lisandro

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Re: Problem with most recent Avast update and Vista
« Reply #13 on: June 06, 2008, 05:14:31 PM »
Thanks, Tech!  I'll stick with Win Firewall for now and see how it goes.  Maybe I can make it all the way through the weekend without a factory restore.

Peter

You're welcome. Feel free to come back any time you need help or just to change experiences 8)
The best things in life are free.

PiCo

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Re: Problem with most recent Avast update and Vista
« Reply #14 on: June 06, 2008, 09:53:14 PM »
This is a very nice software to handle Windows Firewall -> http://www.sphinx-soft.com/Vista/index.html

Choose the free version :)

edit//Oh I see it has been posted and I can't finde the delete button :(
Anyway, Vista firewall ctrl!
« Last Edit: June 06, 2008, 09:54:53 PM by PiCo »