Free, Only Recently, Causes Error 1723 - Problem with Windows Installer

[REDACTED]

Within the past month or so, Avast Free is interfering with the Windows MSI installer.
Most MSI based installs fail with "Error 1723. There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. A DLL required for this install to complete could not be run."
Some of the actions and files involved were "Action ISSetupFilesExtract, entry: SFStartupEx, library: C:\DOCUME~1\eewiz\LOCALS~1\Temp\MSI5F.tmp" or "Action ISSetupFilesCleanup, entry: SFCleanupEx, library: C:\DOCUME~1\eewiz\LOCALS~1\Temp\MSI61.tmp" or "Action IsMozillaInstalled, entry: MSIIsMozillaInstalled, library: C:\DOCUME~1\eewiz\LOCALS~1\Temp\MSI4F2.tmp ".
Of 13 recent Windows Automatic Updates, only five installed, the other eight failed until I disabled the Avast Shields Control.
Disabling the Avast Shields Control in all cases permits MSI installs to proceed unmolested.
Avast never provides any blocked file pop ups in any of the failed installs.
I have used Avast for five years or more on this XP 64-bit box, and have never had any MSI install issues until just recently.
Of course I can disable the Shields whenever I install new programs, but this defeats the direct purpose of the shields. To protect against rogue installers installing harmful programs.
Anyone, please help if you can.

[Eddy]

Anything in the avast log files about it ?
Already tried a repair of avast ?
Already tried a clean installation of the latest avast version ?
What exact avast version do you have installed ?
Any other security (related) software installed ? (or did you)

[REDACTED]

I checked logs, AvastSvc.log, AvastUI.log, Instup.log, GrimeFighter.log, HtmlRemoteContent.log, StreamingUpdate.log, BugReport.log, arcsrv.log, CommChannel.Protocol.log, UITracking.log and EventLog.log. These were the most recently altered logs during the time period of interest.
I found nothing about blocking activities.
It would be appreciated if you could suggest a log and what to look for.
The blocking dialog does pop up when a truly virused file is copied as it should. The virused file is quarantined correctly.

No, I have not tried a repair or clean install.

The program version is 2015.10.2218. The defs are 150626-0.

I have no other security software installed.

Thank You

[Eddy]

Ok, perform a repair of avast to start with and let's see if that is solving things or not.

If it doesn't, perform a clean installation of the latest avast version.

[REDACTED]

I performed a repair and reboot.
Now I will have to see how things go.
I will report results as soon as possible.

[bob3160]

A reboot of your system is required after you perform a Repair or a Clean install of Avast.

[REDACTED]

Since Repair, install of Flash Player 18, uninstall of Java 7u65 and install of Java 7u80 all failed until the shields were turned off, then they all worked correctly.
Next I will try a clean install.
In safe mode I will uninstall and then run avastclear.exe.
Then in normal mode I will install 2015.10.2.2218 from iso.

[bob3160]

Since Repair, install of Flash Player 18, uninstall of Java 7u65 and install of Java 7u80 all failed until the shields were turned off, then they all worked correctly.
Next I will try a clean install.
In safe mode I will uninstall and then run avastclear.exe.
Then in normal mode I will install 2015.10.2.2218 from iso.

Your method isn't outline properly.
1. Uninstall Avast through control panel Program and Features.
2. Reboot your system.
3. Run the Avast Removal tool in normal mode. It will ask permission to reboot into safe mode (grant the permission) to uninstall the rest of Avast.
4. Install the latest version of Avast
5. Reboot.
That should fix your problem.

[REDACTED]

Uninstalled Avast through control panel Add Remove Program.
Rebooted into normal mode.
Ran avastclear.exe. It rebooted into safe mode and completed successfully.
Rebooted into normal mode.
Installed Avast 2015.10.2.2218 from ISO.
It updated Defs to 150702-3 after installation.
Apparently avastclear.exe does not remove all traces of Avast because Avast said: "Updated (previous version: 150428-0, updated version: 150702-3)".
Even after uninstall and avastclear.exe, Avast still knew that the previously installed Defs were 150428-0.
Opened GUI and updated Defs to 150703-0, no update available for program.
Ran full system scan with no issues.
Rebooted into boot scan with no issues.
Boot scan completed with a normal boot.
Attempt to uninstall Java 7u65: "Error 1723. There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. A DLL required for this install to complete could not be run."
Disable Avast Shields until computer is restarted.
Java 7u65 uninstalled without issue.

Results: Repair Avast did not resolve Error 1723 issue. Clean install of Avast did not resolve Error 1723 issue.
Most Microsoft Installer-based installs and uninstalls still fail with Error 1723 if the Avast shields are active.

[bob3160]

Maybe you need to give the following a try:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/mats/program_install_and_uninstall


You'll also find more information from Microsoft on this error at:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_vista-windows_programs/uninstalling-java-error-1723/9c9325c5-042a-4da2-9bfc-c083b69e0e47?auth=1

[Eddy]

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/971187