Avast WEBforum
Consumer Products => Avast Cleanup => Topic started by: cowanme on May 01, 2021, 03:53:37 AM
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After I run Free up space > System junk in Avast Cleanup Premium (version 21.1 build 9940), iTunes was broken. I could open it, but:
- I was prompted to log in to my account, twice, even though I'd already been logged in.
- I couldn't change the view (e.g. from Music to Podcasts).
- I couldn't even quit iTunes. I had to open the Task Manager and use "end task" to close it.
When I cleaned up system junk, I had the following selected: Program backup files, Program cache files, Program temp files, Windows temp files, Windows cache files, Windows log files.
This issue has happened three times:
First time: I didn't know what caused it, but was able to repair iTunes and get it running again.
Second time: I realized it happened after I'd run Cleanup.
Third time: To make sure it was, in fact, Cleanup causing the issue. iTunes worked immediately before, was broken right after I ran "Free up space".
I'm using a Microsoft Surface laptop with Windows 10 20H2 build 19042.928. The iTunes version is 12.10.11.2, 64-bit.
I tried going to Settings > Apps and running repair for iTunes, but that didn't work. I had to completely uninstall and reinstall it.
Is this a known issue, and if so, when will the bug be fixed? If it isn't, please open a bug report and get it fixed.
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After I run Free up space > System junk in Avast Cleanup Premium (version 21.1 build 9940), iTunes was broken. I could open it, but:
- I was prompted to log in to my account, twice, even though I'd already been logged in.
- I couldn't change the view (e.g. from Music to Podcasts).
- I couldn't even quit iTunes. I had to open the Task Manager and use "end task" to close it.
When I cleaned up system junk, I had the following selected: Program backup files, Program cache files, Program temp files, Windows temp files, Windows cache files, Windows log files.
This issue has happened three times:
First time: I didn't know what caused it, but was able to repair iTunes and get it running again.
Second time: I realized it happened after I'd run Cleanup.
Third time: To make sure it was, in fact, Cleanup causing the issue. iTunes worked immediately before, was broken right after I ran "Free up space".
I'm using a Microsoft Surface laptop with Windows 10 20H2 build 19042.928. The iTunes version is 12.10.11.2, 64-bit.
I tried going to Settings > Apps and running repair for iTunes, but that didn't work. I had to completely uninstall and reinstall it.
Is this a known issue, and if so, when will the bug be fixed? If it isn't, please open a bug report and get it fixed.
Hi,
first of all let me sincerely apologize for all troubles associated with usage of our product.
In order to be able to help you I would like to ask you to send the log files so we can investigate where the problem is.
You can simply send them by executing our log collector utility from this path C:\Program Files\AVAST Software\Cleanup\tulogcollector.exe and once the logs are collected they will be automatically sent to our server.
Once it is done, please let me know which email address you have used there (into PM) so we can join the logs with your report here.
Thank you.
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I've just sent the logs. I used the email address associated with my Avast account/login.
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I've just sent the logs. I used the email address associated with my Avast account/login.
Hi,
thank you very much for the logs, I already passed them to one of our developers to take a look at it, I will get back to you when we find the problem.
Regards!
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Thank you! I hope they can quickly fix the issue, and don't introduce a new issue in the process. This is the Avast build that fixed the issue of breaking Firefox bookmarks, and it's breaking something else? Better QA, please.
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I've just sent the logs. I used the email address associated with my Avast account/login.
Hi,
thank you very much for the logs, I already passed them to one of our developers to take a look at it, I will get back to you when we find the problem.
Regards!
It's been a week since I sent the logs, and I have heard nothing. I can't use the product I'm paying for. Is there an update on what's being done to fix the issue?
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I've just sent the logs. I used the email address associated with my Avast account/login.
Hi,
thank you very much for the logs, I already passed them to one of our developers to take a look at it, I will get back to you when we find the problem.
Regards!
It's been a week since I sent the logs, and I have heard nothing. I can't use the product I'm paying for. Is there an update on what's being done to fix the issue?
Hi,
sorry that it took a bit longer but we still struggle with finding out what is causing the issues with iTunes on your PC. The thing is that we tried to induce the same situation in our environment to be able to identify which categories/files/folders we should remove from the cleaning in order to fix the issue but so far we haven't found them.
Could you please run a Maintenance scan or System junk scan, just the scan, please do not perform any cleaning operation and compare the attached screenshots with what you will get on your PC to see whether there is anything else found on your PC which we haven't got in our environment?
If that would be too complicated for you, please contact our Support https://support.avast.com/contact/ (https://support.avast.com/contact/) and we will try to manage a remote session to figure out the details directly on your PC.
Thank you for your cooperation!
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I've just sent the logs. I used the email address associated with my Avast account/login.
Hi,
thank you very much for the logs, I already passed them to one of our developers to take a look at it, I will get back to you when we find the problem.
Regards!
It's been a week since I sent the logs, and I have heard nothing. I can't use the product I'm paying for. Is there an update on what's being done to fix the issue?
And here is the last screenshot as I was not able to attach more than 4 images in one post.
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While comparing your screenshots to my cleanup scan, I realized there were a couple of things I hadn't reported in my original post:
- My iTunes library is on an external E: hard drive, though the program itself is installed on the computer's C: drive. I don't know if this is relevant.
- I'd set several categories of system junk to "ignore", while trying to troubleshoot the problem myself before reporting it. These categories were Program temp files, Program log files, and Program cache files. (Omitting these categories from the cleaning did not prevent the problem when I scanned and cleaned afterward. See the screenshot system-junk-categories-before.jpg that shows which categories were included in the most recent System junk scan/cleaning that broke iTunes.) I "unignored" these categories to run the scan to compare the results to your screenshots.
I've made screenshots to compare with the screenshots you provided:
- itunes-temp-files.jpg (cf. iTunes1.png)
- program-backup-files.jpg (cf. iTunes3.png)
- itunes-cache-files.jpg (cf. iTunes4.png)
- system-junk-categories-before.jpg
Let me know if you need a screenshot of the list of log files. Since that category has been "ignored" the last couple of times I used Cleanup, none of the log files were removed and so I think they're not a factor in this issue.
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While comparing your screenshots to my cleanup scan, I realized there were a couple of things I hadn't reported in my original post:
- My iTunes library is on an external E: hard drive, though the program itself is installed on the computer's C: drive. I don't know if this is relevant.
- I'd set several categories of system junk to "ignore", while trying to troubleshoot the problem myself before reporting it. These categories were Program temp files, Program log files, and Program cache files. (Omitting these categories from the cleaning did not prevent the problem when I scanned and cleaned afterward. See the screenshot system-junk-categories-before.jpg that shows which categories were included in the most recent System junk scan/cleaning that broke iTunes.) I "unignored" these categories to run the scan to compare the results to your screenshots.
I've made screenshots to compare with the screenshots you provided:
- itunes-temp-files.jpg (cf. iTunes1.png)
- program-backup-files.jpg (cf. iTunes3.png)
- itunes-cache-files.jpg (cf. iTunes4.png)
- system-junk-categories-before.jpg
Let me know if you need a screenshot of the list of log files. Since that category has been "ignored" the last couple of times I used Cleanup, none of the log files were removed and so I think they're not a factor in this issue.
Hello,
thank you very much for detailed report of the problem, we will try to analyze everything again using the additional information you have provided us with and I will get back you with the results.
Regards.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
Hi,
we released a new set of internal settings where the problematic categories should be already excluded on Friday.
It might get already updated, please try to run a new scan and check whether anything related to iTunes is detected or not. If not, then the settings were already applied, otherwise please wait for at least one more day as the internal settings are updated only once a day.
In any case your issue shall be fixed by that so please let us know if it works for you.
Thank you!
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Thank you.
Hi,
we released a new set of internal settings where the problematic categories should be already excluded on Friday.
It might get already updated, please try to run a new scan and check whether anything related to iTunes is detected or not. If not, then the settings were already applied, otherwise please wait for at least one more day as the internal settings are updated only once a day.
In any case your issue shall be fixed by that so please let us know if it works for you.
Thank you!
I've been running scans since seeing this message, but as of this morning, I'm still getting iTunes files in my scan results for "Free up space > System junk", also for Maintenance scan, System junk category:
- Program backup files: iTunes backup files and Apple programs backup files
- Program log files: iTunes log files
Should these files have been excluded by the program update? I currently have version 21.1 build 9940. Is that the build that should have the changes made to fix this problem?
(I reviewed all the scan results and didn't see iTunes files in any other category.)
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Is no one monitoring this thread now? I don't see a response to my previous post.
I've realized I can manually deselect specific applications, so I've been able to run scans without destroying iTunes by deselecting all iTunes and Apple categories. But this is a kludge. I apparently haven't received the update Stellarman mentioned that would automatically exclude the iTunes files.
It's concerning that each of the last two Cleanup updates broke different applications (previously Firefox bookmarks, and most recently iTunes). What's next? Is there any way I can control when and whether I download and install a Cleanup update? I used to get notifications that updates were available and then I could install them at my convenience. There doesn't seem to be any setting now for controlling when updates are applied.
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Is no one monitoring this thread now? I don't see a response to my previous post.
I've realized I can manually deselect specific applications, so I've been able to run scans without destroying iTunes by deselecting all iTunes and Apple categories. But this is a kludge. I apparently haven't received the update Stellarman mentioned that would automatically exclude the iTunes files.
It's concerning that each of the last two Cleanup updates broke different applications (previously Firefox bookmarks, and most recently iTunes). What's next? Is there any way I can control when and whether I download and install a Cleanup update? I used to get notifications that updates were available and then I could install them at my convenience. There doesn't seem to be any setting now for controlling when updates are applied.
Hi,
sorry for the late reply, I has not been there for a while.
This is really strange that you did not get the configuration update we released a while ago. Could you please check c:\Program Files\AVAST Software\Cleanup\Setup\config.def whether it includes this particular string?
[DiskCleaner]
disableSubCat=jumpLists|stardockFences|stardockObjectDockPlus|microsoftOfficeBackupFiles|mSOfficeUnsavedFiles|webApplications|vivaldiWebApplications|edgeWebApplications|braveWebApplications|iTunes|farmingSimulatorOldAutoSaves
If not, than it means you did not get the config for some reason and we will have to investigate it further. As a temporary fix you can also insert the exact same string into the config.def file to simulate the state with the new configuration which shall fix you iTunes issue until we will release the new Cleanup version which will also include the program fix.
When it comes to your second question, yes, there will be also a way how to control the updates released in the new version, so then you can control them completely on your own if you like.
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Is no one monitoring this thread now? I don't see a response to my previous post.
I've realized I can manually deselect specific applications, so I've been able to run scans without destroying iTunes by deselecting all iTunes and Apple categories. But this is a kludge. I apparently haven't received the update Stellarman mentioned that would automatically exclude the iTunes files.
It's concerning that each of the last two Cleanup updates broke different applications (previously Firefox bookmarks, and most recently iTunes). What's next? Is there any way I can control when and whether I download and install a Cleanup update? I used to get notifications that updates were available and then I could install them at my convenience. There doesn't seem to be any setting now for controlling when updates are applied.
Hi,
sorry for the late reply, I has not been there for a while.
This is really strange that you did not get the configuration update we released a while ago. Could you please check c:\Program Files\AVAST Software\Cleanup\Setup\config.def whether it includes this particular string?
[DiskCleaner]
disableSubCat=jumpLists|stardockFences|stardockObjectDockPlus|microsoftOfficeBackupFiles|mSOfficeUnsavedFiles|webApplications|vivaldiWebApplications|edgeWebApplications|braveWebApplications|iTunes|farmingSimulatorOldAutoSaves
If not, than it means you did not get the config for some reason and we will have to investigate it further. As a temporary fix you can also insert the exact same string into the config.def file to simulate the state with the new configuration which shall fix you iTunes issue until we will release the new Cleanup version which will also include the program fix.
When it comes to your second question, yes, there will be also a way how to control the updates released in the new version, so then you can control them completely on your own if you like.
I do have that exact string in my config.def file. However, even after I restart Cleanup Premium (indeed, after I restarted my computer) and Rescan for system junk, I still get iTunes files in the Program backup files and Program log files categories. I have not tried cleaning those files to find out if iTunes will work without them. As noted above, I can do a mostly complete cleanup by deselecting those file groups before running cleanup. After manually excluding those iTunes files, I tested various iTunes functions and everything works correctly. I can live with the workaround.
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Is no one monitoring this thread now? I don't see a response to my previous post.
I've realized I can manually deselect specific applications, so I've been able to run scans without destroying iTunes by deselecting all iTunes and Apple categories. But this is a kludge. I apparently haven't received the update Stellarman mentioned that would automatically exclude the iTunes files.
It's concerning that each of the last two Cleanup updates broke different applications (previously Firefox bookmarks, and most recently iTunes). What's next? Is there any way I can control when and whether I download and install a Cleanup update? I used to get notifications that updates were available and then I could install them at my convenience. There doesn't seem to be any setting now for controlling when updates are applied.
Hi,
sorry for the late reply, I has not been there for a while.
This is really strange that you did not get the configuration update we released a while ago. Could you please check c:\Program Files\AVAST Software\Cleanup\Setup\config.def whether it includes this particular string?
[DiskCleaner]
disableSubCat=jumpLists|stardockFences|stardockObjectDockPlus|microsoftOfficeBackupFiles|mSOfficeUnsavedFiles|webApplications|vivaldiWebApplications|edgeWebApplications|braveWebApplications|iTunes|farmingSimulatorOldAutoSaves
If not, than it means you did not get the config for some reason and we will have to investigate it further. As a temporary fix you can also insert the exact same string into the config.def file to simulate the state with the new configuration which shall fix you iTunes issue until we will release the new Cleanup version which will also include the program fix.
When it comes to your second question, yes, there will be also a way how to control the updates released in the new version, so then you can control them completely on your own if you like.
I do have that exact string in my config.def file. However, even after I restart Cleanup Premium (indeed, after I restarted my computer) and Rescan for system junk, I still get iTunes files in the Program backup files and Program log files categories. I have not tried cleaning those files to find out if iTunes will work without them. As noted above, I can do a mostly complete cleanup by deselecting those file groups before running cleanup. After manually excluding those iTunes files, I tested various iTunes functions and everything works correctly. I can live with the workaround.
Thank you for reporting that. After a discussion with our developers we found out that we blacklisted only iTunes related items from Program Temp Files category. We are now trying to test whether deleting items related to iTunes from Program backup files and Program log files categories might cause any troubles or not. If we will find out any problem there we will add them to the blacklist in the configuration so they won't be reported anymore.
Until then, please do not delete these categories.
I will keep you updated about the progress.
Thank you.
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Thanks for the clarification.
Since your earlier message didn't specify the "problematic categories", I overgeneralized. I figured that to be on the safe side, I should be sure no to delete any iTunes files in any category. I'm not seeing any iTunes temp files listed when I run the scan, so the .def file string is excluding those.
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Thanks for the clarification.
Since your earlier message didn't specify the "problematic categories", I overgeneralized. I figured that to be on the safe side, I should be sure no to delete any iTunes files in any category. I'm not seeing any iTunes temp files listed when I run the scan, so the .def file string is excluding those.
Hi,
sorry for the late reply. We have added a few new categories to the excluded list and again test it in our environment so now it works correctly and does not delete any important stuff from iTunes (at least in our case).
Please let us know if it works for you or if there are any other items which seems suspicious to you.
Thank you for all you help and have a nice day!
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Thank you. Avast Cleanup Premium is working for me, without breaking iTunes. :)
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Thank you. Avast Cleanup Premium is working for me, without breaking iTunes. :)
Hello, thank you for the reply.
I am glad that we finally got it to the state where it does not break anything and I would like to thank you once again for your time and effort you invested into resolving this issue, we would not be able to do it without you!
Thank you and keep enjoying our product!