XP will not boot until Avast service is disabled

[simplestreet]

We have this problem with 2 of our PCs, but apparently not others. The only specifc similarity between them is that they have an ATI Radeon series X300 graphics adaptor installed, in addition to the one on the motherboard - both use the motherboard's adaptor as default.

that is interesting.... my pc is also using ATI. And face problem while startup.

[Blaine B.]

I was finally able to stop by my Father's place tonight.  I am here right now.

I used the Avast uninstaller to fully uninstall Avast, restarted, then download and installed the latest version.  I know there has been at least one program update since then, because I updated my Avast software at home.

Same problem.

So I created the "feedback" problem report and eMailed the .zip file to Avast customer service.

By the way, my XP system that Avast works flawlessly on is using an ATI Sapphire X1950 XT graphics card.  On the XP system that Avast has issues with, it uses an ATI Sapphire X800 Pro graphics card.

[Blaine B.]

Well, the Avast team doesn't seem to know what is going on, nor do they seem to have much motivation to diagnose an issue on an XP machine.

There are plenty of other virus utilities out there and I am tired of dealing with this issue.  If the staff doesn't care, I certainly don't.

[GTX66]

You are using an OS that is vulnerable to all sorts of stuff. MS is not even supporting it. I would try to update at least to Vista.

[Blaine B.]

How does that even relate to this issue?

[REDACTED]

After recently updating my own system to Avast 2015, I also tried to install Avast 2015 on my father's system running XP Home.  The same thing occurs.  After installation, the system must be restarted, and then it gets hung up on the loading screen.  Turn system off, restart, "use last known good configuration," system boots up properly, but the Avast service is disabled.

Completely removed Avast with the Avast Uninstall Tool and everything is back to normal.

The developers STILL do not know why it only affects this one system?  The system I am using Avast on as well is very similar in terms of specs and also is running XP Home!

[DavidR]

What other security based software is installed (firewall, anti-malware, etc.) as this sounds more like a conflict or we would be likely to see much more on the forums.

As you can see from my signature, I'm using winXP and the latest avast version without problem on boot.

Have (or did) your father have another Anti-Virus installed in his system, if so what was it and how did you get rid of it ?

[avaster78]

I had such a problem once. I believe it was when i was using XP machine. The problem then indeed was with Avast and i was able point the problem to rootkit scan at bootup. When unchecking this feature, PC booted fine.

[REDACTED]

I am not sure but I may have already tried disabling that.

In order to get Avast running, I have to do a "repair install" which enables Avast during that session, but as as soon as I reboot, it brings it back to the halted Windows loading bar.  It halts and the animation just stops, and it will hang there at the stalled loading bar for eternity unless I do a hard reboot and select "use last known good configuration," in which it disables the Avast service and all is well again, but with a disabled Avast.

As for conflicting software - This system has Malwarebytes, Super Anti Spyware, as well as Spyware blaster installed.  None of these are set to run full-time.  I have the exact same slew of programs installed on my own person machine running XP Home and Avast functions properly and does not stop my system from booting up.

Before Avast, the system had Microsoft Security Essentials installed for real-time protection, but that was completely uninstalled using the uninstall tool from Microsoft.