aswserv.exe cpu bound

[gprzybyl]

On a windows xp sp1 machine running avast rc-2a I had a user running into a problem where when he would log in aswserv.exe would go cpu bound and come very close to hanging the machine.  When I logged in as administrator I brought up control panel to remove avast.  I noticed that aswserv.exe went 99% cpu and just stayed there.  I rebooted and turned on detailed info for the resident shield scanner.  I then went back into the control panel/add remove programs and noticed that aswserv once again hung after it reported scanning spysweeper.exe.  I then uninstalled the spysweeper program and the spybot program (as it was the next one after spysweeper) .  After that I had no problem bringing up the add remove programs wizard nor does the machine hang when the user logs in.  It appears that aswserv.exe has a problem scanning spysweeper.exe or spybot.   I have not reinstalled these programs on the user's machine to verify this but if you want to set up a test case at your place I would be willing to help identify the pieces needed to do so.

[gprzybyl]

It appears that my initial guess was wrong after removing spysweeper and spybot yesterday this morning the aswserv.exe process went cpu bound.  What can I do to troubleshoot this problem?  

[Vlk]

Well... the only reliable way I see is to create a dump file with the aid of a debugger. It would take you 15-30 minutes though

Here are the instructions for installing and using the debugger: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=1040;start=msg5657#msg5657 . The procedure should be identical as the one described in that thread - with one exception - you wouldn't be debugging ashSimpl.exe but (obviously) aswServ.exe instead.

All I need is the dump file.

If you don't feel you can do it - just don't worry about that, hopefully we'll find another solution.

BTW it would be a good idea to turn off the Standard Shield provider before attaching the debugger to aswServ.exe - otherwise, the system may hang badly...


Thanks a lot
Vlk