Avast8 Install Hangs.. :(

[P-chu]

Considering that of the three PCs (all with some customized directories via junction links) that I've upgrade Avast from 7 to 8, two have had problems working, I have to wonder if there is a problem with Avast8 with version of Windows before Win8. Both could not be fix with the Fix All button. Interestingly, I believe the one that upgraded successfully may have been the only one I did so while still in a Windows user login instead of a Windows admin login.

The Win7 Home Premium PC I was able to uninstall & reinstall successfully to fix. However, in the Win7 Ultimate PC, the problem was more persistent. Also, that machine has customized directories using directory junction links so that the ProgramData folder is in a physically separate hard drive (it is not protected by the System Recovery Point service). Also, I have Avast installed in a separate folder for anti-malware programs.

Initially, the Avast seemed to upgrade successfully. I then ran a Full Scan, and when I came back after more than an hour, I found the monitor black but still active (it did not seem to be blanked) and the PC was NOT asleep. Since I could not wake up the screen for some time, I forced the computer off. After rebooting, Avast would not work (no real-time protection), it could not be fixed, and I could not uninstall it (Windows would hang and become very slow).

I used aswclear.exe to remove Avast in Safe Mode. (BTW, the latest aswclear.exe does not have Avast8 in the list, only the Business Pro Plus after Avast7.) However, I find that the Avast8 Install program would hang indefinitely when it comes to creating a Windows System Recovery Point, and Windows gradually becomes more and more unresponsive over a lengthy time. I've tried turn the System Recovery Point service off and on, and I find that I have no trouble creating a recovery point through Windows. I am considering trying to redownload Avast8, or get back Avast7, or try install without System Recovery Point on.  Run the install "as admin"?

Any other suggestions would be nice.

[Para-Noid]

Try the new uninstall utility for v8.0 and earlier aswClear - http://files.avast.com/test5beta/aswclear.exe

Then try a clean install. 

[P-chu]

(Please pardon this late update.  )

First, Thank you, Para-Noid, for that link. It was most useful.

Second, it actually turned out to be some bad sector or indexing on the hard drive. I was searching for any files associated with Avast after reading in a thread about some asw****.dll not being replaced properly or something, and so I was going to do some manual clean-up (I manage to find two asw****.sys files). While I was doing that, Windows explorer would more than once hang, and after a while, would need to close and restart. With all that has happened after the failed Avast update, and with what I was trying to do, I thought of checking on the "\ProgramData\Avast! Software\Avast" folder. Both DOS and Windows Explorer hanged on that folder and timed-out or worse. So I used the chkdsk utility to schedule a check&fix of any problems on the hard disk during boot-up, made sure "Avast! Software" folder was deleted from ProgramData, and ran the new aswclear.exe file. After that, Avast8 had no trouble installing properly.