aswTdi.sys crash with IE8

[smeversole]

Over the past week, I have experience 6 system crashes.  Analysis of the minidump files all state that the crash was "probably caused by: aswTdi.sys ( aswTdi.sys+a59 ).  The crashes all happened while browing the internet.  I have IE8 (8.0.6001.18702), and I am running avast! version 4.8 Home Edition - Free Antivirus, Build Sep2009 4.8.1356

I can reproduce the crash when attempting login at www.webkinz.com (hey, I have young kids), so I switch to Firefox for use of that webapp (seems to have avoided the problem).  However, tonight it occurred while reading the news online.  Is anyone else having this problem?  Any fixes to be found?

[smeversole]

My OS is MS Windows XP SP3 (v5.1 Build 2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.090206-1234 : Service Pack 3)

[igor]

Could you please upload some of the minidumps to ftp://ftp.avast.com/incoming ?
Thanks.

[smeversole]

3 minidumps uploaded.  Thanks.

[smeversole]

I'm going to downgrade from IE8 to IE7 to see if that reduces the frequency of crashes.

[YoKenny]

How much RAM does the system have? 
IE8 uses more memory for each tab opened to provide session isolation.

[smeversole]

1GB

[smeversole]

Since downgrading to IE7 and reapplying SP3, no crashes.  Webkinz works now.

[sparge]

Over the past week, I have experience 6 system crashes.  Analysis of the minidump files all state that the crash was "probably caused by: aswTdi.sys ( aswTdi.sys+a59 ) ...  Is anyone else having this problem? ...

Yes, I had it today. (Edit; sorry, should have said it bhappened when browsing, but using Firefox 3.5.3, not IEanything).The minidump mentioned aswsp.sys,  rather than aswtdi.sys, by name (which made me suspect that Avast was implicated), but did not say it was probably the cause. What it said was:

Unable to load image aswSP.SYS, Win32 error 0n2
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for aswSP.SYS
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for aswSP.SYS
Probably caused by : Pool_Corruption ( nt!ExDeferredFreePool+1f4 )

I switched on verbose output, which advised the use of driver verifier (which I had never used before). I set this up to verify all drivers on the PC and rebooted. This reproducibly gives a driver verifier BSOD without ever completing the boot process, and reports WDM driver error 224 in aswtdi.sys.

I'm using Win XP SP3 Home, Avast 4.8.1351, with VPS file version 091016-0.

I see we can submit minidumps by email for analysis but I haven't managed to find the email address on the support pages so far  

Andy

[Lisandro]

I see we can submit minidumps by email for analysis but I haven't managed to find the email address on the support pages so far 

Andy, you can send them to vlk (at) avast.com
They may contain more information about the problem (maybe a link to this thread).
How big is the dump? Better zipping it or even upload to the ftp server.

[spg SCOTT]

First, 4.8.1356 is the latest program version. You should update.

Second, regarding the minidumps:

Could you please upload some of the minidumps to ftp://ftp.avast.com/incoming ?
Thanks.

Zip them, and name the file something that will be recognised in this topic. (and also tell of the name here.)

oops Tech was faster...

[sparge]

Hi guys,

I went for the email option as FTPing is not something I could do without spending a while doing my homework. I put a link to this thread in the email and the attachment is called sparge_dumps.zip. Good luck, I hope you get it figured out and fixed RSN.

As regards updating, I have my settings for program update set to "ask me when an update is available", so I don't know why I'm lagging. I've just changed to "automatic" and done the business manually.

Andy

[sparge]

Hello? Did the files arrive OK? Has anyone taken a look at them yet?

[sparge]

Andy, you can send them to vlk (at) avast.com
They may contain more information about the problem

Well, did they?

I don't get this forum. Some people send minidumps and get liberal feedback. Others, of whom I seem to be one, seem to discover only a communicative black hole.

[sparge]

Having got fed up waiting for replies that never arrived, in this and other threads, I went away and di something more constructive for a while - but tonight I got a second wind. I believe I have just uploaded a zip of three minidumps to your FTP server, called sparge_dumps.zip. It is the same zip that I emailed to you, as requested and referfenced above, about six weeks ago, even receipt of which has never been acknowledged, let alone any feedback on whether you looked at them and found anything useful.

I was looking at a recent thread tonight in which someone's minidump was receipt-acknowledged, examined, and fed back on, all within the space of 20 minutes of receipt. I'm curious to know what determines who gets the red carpet and who gets the black mark.