Avast WEBforum
Consumer Products => Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security (legacy Pro Antivirus, Internet Security, Premier) => Topic started by: plsrepli on May 28, 2013, 02:45:07 PM
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Hello all,
A friend's Win 7 x64 Laptop won't boot because the aswVmm.sys file is either missing or corrupted.
What I know so far:
Avast program version is unknown but it is a free version.
He can't boot into safe mode.
He can't use the restore to last known good configuration option.
He does not have a Win 7 x64 disc.
He only wants to use a factory restore as a last resort.
Any other ideas? Also, is it possible that a rootkit could have damaged the aswVmm.sys file?
I can't help him "hands-on" because he lives in another state.
Thanks, in advance, for any suggestions,
plsrepli
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did he uninstall the previous used AV before installing avast?
did he run removal tool to make sure all conflicting files are gone before installing avast?
tools found here. http://singularlabs.com/uninstallers/security-software/
if able to, try avast reinstall
remove with this. http://www.avast.com/en-us/uninstall-utility
download and install again. http://www.avast.com/en-us/download-software
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Hello Pondus,
I do not have those answers at this time but can he implement your recommendations without even being able to boot into safe mode?
Thanks,
plsrepli
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Did he do a system image backup as Windows instructs you too? If so he can mount that image. He can also use a Windows Emergency boot disk with will allow him to repair his system even though it will not boot. He can boot off the disk.
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We can do an uninstall of Avast from outside of windows, it is a rough and ready way but should work
Download the following three programmes to your desktop :
1. Rufus (http://rufus.akeo.ie/downloads/rufus_v1.3.2.exe)
For 64bit systems
2. Windows 7 64bit RC (https://dl.dropbox.com/u/73555776/win7%2064bit%20rc.iso)
3. Farbar Recovery Scan Tool x64 (http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/farbar-recovery-scan-tool/)
Insert the USB stick Then run Rufus
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/73555776/rufus.JPG)
Select the ISO file on the desktop via the ISO icon.
Press Start Burn
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/73555776/RufusISO.JPG)
Then copy FRST to the same USB
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/73555776/frstwintoboot.JPG)
Insert the USB into the sick computer and start the computer. First ensuring that the system is set to boot from USB
Note: If you are not sure how to do that follow the instructions Here (http://lifehacker.com/5991848/how-to-boot-from-a-cd-or-usb-drive-on-any-pc)
When you reboot you will see this although yours will say windows 7.
Click repair my computer
(http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee362/Essexboy3/RepairVista_7275.jpg)
Select your operating system
(http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee362/Essexboy3/RepairVista_7277202.jpg)
Select Command prompt
(http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee362/Essexboy3/RepairVista_7277.jpg)
At the command prompt type the following :
notepad and press Enter.
The notepad opens. Under File menu select Open.
Select "Computer" and find your flash drive letter and close the notepad.
In the command window type e:\frst64.exe and press Enter
Note: Replace letter e with the drive letter of your flash drive.
The tool will start to run.
When the tool opens click Yes to disclaimer.
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/73555776/FRST%20Start%20scan.gif)
Press Scan button.
It will make a log (FRST.txt) on the flash drive. Please copy and paste it to your reply.
The first time the tool is run, it makes also another log (Addition.txt). Please attach it to your reply.
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is he able to boot at least to recovery (command prompt) console , so he can see files within the C:\ drive ?
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Thank you essexboy!
Wow... and thank you very much essexboy for taking so much time and effort to respond to my (friend's) issue. That is really a beautiful tutorial but I must ask one more question before I point him to this thread. "Will this procedure preserve his important files that have been created by other installed programs?" Again, thank you so much!
plsrepli
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is he able to boot at least to recovery (command prompt) console , so he can see files within the C:\ drive ?
Hello Darden,
Thank you for responding; however, I'm not sure of a way to instruct him on how to get to the recovery console when he can't even boot into safe mode and/or he doesn't have a Win 7 disc. So, as you can see, I'm not expert in this area. Any hints on how that might be accomplished would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
plsrepl
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Hello all,
Thank you for all your help but I have stopped trying to assist my friend because he wants a "magic button" solution that will make his PC "all better" so I told him where the nearest magic store was located (in his area) and he is now "in-transit" to buy a magic wand. Thank you for all of your efforts!
plsrepli
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Tell your friend the next time buy an external hard drive and keep a clean disk image handy. Anything happens such as this or a bad malware infection just mount the stored image and your up and running like nothing ever happened. But he needs to be sure he makes a bootable recovery disk. Easeus Todo Backup is a great free product.
Microsoft does offer a bootable Windows disk which can be downloaded onto another PC and burned.
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None of my tools will remove anything unless I tell them to, so personal data is safe
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I'm having similar issues and would like to know how to uninstall Avast before I resort to reinstallation of Windows7. Could you assist me in that essexboy?
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I'm having similar issues and would like to know how to uninstall Avast before I resort to reinstallation of Windows7. Could you assist me in that essexboy?
If you start a new topic, I'm quite sure he will.
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Simplest solution I've found:
Boot from Hiren's Boot CD (http://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/) or a live Linux distro.
Delete c:\Windows\system32\drivers\avw*.*
Delete the Avast! directories in c:\Program Files and c:\ProgramData
Problem solved.
(Replying to this thread because it was the top Google search result for aswvmm.sys)
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Simplest solution I've found:
Boot from Hiren's Boot CD (http://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/) or a live Linux distro.
Delete c:\Windows\system32\drivers\asw*.*
Delete the Avast! directories in c:\Program Files and c:\ProgramData
Problem solved.
(Replying to this thread because it was the top Google search result for aswvmm.sys)
Thanks for the solution, it worked, BUT IS NOT avw*.*, instead you have to delete asw*.*
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I'm stuck in the same repair bootloop. I renamed all offending files but while the boot seems to work for a while, in the end it still gives a bsod. Any chances I can simply replace the corrupted aswvmm.sys?
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I'm stuck in the same repair bootloop. I renamed all offending files but while the boot seems to work for a while, in the end it still gives a bsod. Any chances I can simply replace the corrupted aswvmm.sys?
Posting in a 6 year old topic doesn't make sense.
I suggest you start your own topic and explain your problem in detail.
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It does make sense, it's the top Google result and the exact same problem. Thank you
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After renaming / moving the files, I get, after a longer wait period, the following (new) error: inaccessible boot device. I'll check my BIOS next to see what my disk settings are.
I also did 'Sfc /Scannow /OFFBOOTDIR=D:\ /OFFWINDIR=D:\Windows'. It found a few problems and corrected it. A second run did not find any problems (same for chkdsk).
..\system32\logfiles\srt\srttrail.txt is clean now, aswvmm.sys isn't mentioned any longer. I'll move and rename all asw*.* files and folders back to their original location, hopefully triggering the aswvmm.sys log entry again, and see if I can fix Windows another way. And I am still wondering... Can't the file simply be replaced?
Post-edit: putting all avast files back in its place did not repeat the original problem (which is the srt-log reference of aswvmm.sys)