avast! Emergency Update.job wrecks my Task Scheduler service

[glnz]

The newest avast! Emergency Update.job wrecks my Task Scheduler service, and I've had to delete it from my Scheduled Tasks (after much effort).  This leaves a security hole in Avast AV.

I have Win XP SP3 32-bit. which I keep updated using the POS hack.  Avast Emergency Update used to run well - I used to see it in Tasks Manager.  No more.

My current avast is 12.1.2272.

I had noticed that other Scheduled Tasks weren't running, and when I tried to "Run" them manually, I got error messages, including that Tasks Scheduler service was off.  When I tried to start Task Scheduler service, I got error messages.  Could not Start the service.

From suggestions elsewhere, I rebooted into Safe Mode, made my Tasks folder normal, deleted everything, including avast! Emergency Update.job, made the Tasks folder System again, re-booted into Normal Mode and ran some tests.  Task Scheduler service was now running, and simple test tasks worked fine.

As soon as I "Repaired" Avast - which re-installed avast! Emergency Update.job - the same problems appeared.

So avast! Emergency Update.job is wrecking the Tasks Scheduler service.

If you want to see some screenshots that I cannot upload here, and a zip copy of the problem avast! Emergency Update.job, go to http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/175752-task-scheduler-service-wont-start-error-5-xp-sp3-32-bit/ .

Avast, you are really making errors all over the place.  Stop making new pop-up ads and get to work.

[Asyn]

No such problems here on XP.

[RejZoR]

Is it really avast! causing this? I had Task Scheduler service shutting off because of NVIDIA ForceWare 368.39 drivers...

[glnz]

RejZor - I'm open to suggestions, but in my tests, my "new" virgin Tasks folder with one simple new task in it works fine, but as soon as I "Repair" Avast and it adds a new task for Avast Emergency Update, my Task Scheduler service stops and cannot be restarted, and none of the tasks starts up. See the other thread at my link above for screenshot. 


What to do?  Maybe the special flavor of the Avast .job file is now too strong. (it cannot be deleted normally.)


Could an Avast person give us the settings for the AvastEmUpdate job file? I could then try to recreate it manually. 

[drake127]

Can you try to repair Avast (restoring our job file) and disable Avast self-defense in our troubleshooting settings and then test Task Scheduler?

[glnz]

Drake - Immediately after the Repair and before I reboot, (a) the two tasks (my simple one to turn on Calculator and your avast! Emergency Update.job) have red Xs in their icons.  I go to services.msc to see if Task Scheduler is started.  It is, so I Stop it and then Start it, but it cannot start.  I get error 5 again.

I will now reboot, but I'm sure that won't help.

[drake127]

Did you disable Avast self-defense before attempting to start it?

[glnz]

Drake - that works.  Immediately after disabling Avast self-defense, I could reStart Task Scheduler service.  And on a reboot it started and my test task started. 

But, obviously, disabling Avast self-defense blows a big hole in security.

Also, FYI, on a different machine with Win 7 Pro 64-bit, I have XP Mode.  In XP Mode I am also seeing problems.  My test Task will not start.  I can Stop and Start Task Scheduler service manually, but it will not Start on a reboot.  CORRECTION - on a reboot of XP Mode, I am getting Error 5 when I try to Start the Task Scheduler service.

Please fix this.

[glnz]

Drake - to add to the preceding - after the above, I have now turned ON Enable Avast Self-Defense Module but NOT rebooted.  For the moment, Task Scheduler service remains Started, and my test Task will Run, but the "new" avast! Emergency Update.job doesn't do anything when I Run it.  AvastEmUpdate does NOT appear at all in Task Manager - not even for a second.

This is really messed up.  Please go back to drawing board and fix.

If you want me to drop Avast and find something else, please advise.  Your program is way too much work.

[glnz]

And now, on a reboot of XP Mode, I am getting Error 5 when I try to Start the Task Scheduler service.

[REDACTED]

glnz: I'm having a very similar problem since the most recent software update as well - on my old notebook, that's also still running on XP SP3, I've noticed it due to a service control manager error entry (7023) in the system log after rebooting ("Der Dienst "Taskplaner" wurde mit folgendem Fehler beendet: Zugriff verweigert", in English ~ task scheduler service stopped: access denied). However, unlike you I can still create task scheduler jobs no problemo, and these also really are executed.

Whereas I've also found another problem, which I've noticed, because I usually delete the content of the prefetch folder, when I want to do a proper reboot: That problem with the avastemupdate job also appears to disable the prefetching, until I have a scheduler job executed, that I've created myself.

So maybe you also want to check your system log for that error entry on boot-up as well as for the disabled prefetching. In any case, there indeed appears to be a problem with this update. And I could imagine that this problem might be that the job was set to be also executed on boot-up instead of on log-on - but unfortunately I can't try that, as one can't edit it... *sigh*

Greetings from Munich!

   Manfred / lini

[glnz]

New York to Munchen:  Manfred / lini - genau!

I get the same System error message on boot up:

Event Type:    Error
Event Source:    Service Control Manager
Event Category:    None
Event ID:    7023
Date:        6/25/2016
Time:        6:59:41 PM
User:        N/A
Computer:    DELLOPTIPLEX755
Description:
The Task Scheduler service terminated with the following error:
Access is denied.

I do not see any errors with prefetch, but then I do not clear my prefetch folder.

Right now, after boot up and the error above, I can go to services.msc and manually start Task Scheduler service, but it is clear that Avast is interfering with this service.

There was a time when I recommended Avast to friends and the IT folks in my office, but that time is long past.  Avast has its focus on marketing and not on quality.  Even without the pop-ups, I would never recommend Avast to an IT person or a non-tech friend - with every update, there are issues like this.

When Avast was testing these recent new versions, did anyone at Avast check the Event Viewer in XP?

How is Munchen?   The Englischer Garten, the Reitschule and Nachtcafe were a LOT of fun 20 years ago, so maybe now changed?  Prost!

[REDACTED]

glnz: Can't really comment on older versions of Avast, as I've only been using it for a couple of months. Before I used to have AntiVir, but they finally dropped the support for XP at the beginning of this year (or respectively wouldn't prolong the license anymore), so I had to install a new anti-virus software.

First tried AVG, but I already hadn't really liked that in the past and thus wasn't all too surprised, when I found, that this hasn't changed - and then for my taste its memory footprint also is just too big. So I tried Avast, and so far that seemed pretty ok (and also reasonably small in terms of memory footprint). The only problems I had noticed so far were that it once installed its (or parts of its) SafeBrowser feature, although I had deselected that - and after one or two of its updates I had to revert to the "last known good" boot option, as regular booting would crash. After these boots to "last known good" regular booting would work again no problemo, though. Hence so far I wouldn't really want to complain, especially as I'm using the free version.

However, I'd certainly not be unhappy, if the Avast developers would find the time to look into this recent bug...

Well, and as for Munich: The city hasn't changed all that much. Of course a lot of bars, restaurants, cafés, shops et cetera have changed, but on the big scheme... Well, we've got a few new tunnels on the Mittlerer Ring, but other than that I wouldn't really be aware of any major changes. In my view there was more of a change in the outskirts. For example, in case you'd still know Oberhaching/Deisenhofen/Furth from 20 years before, you'd be quite surprised how big it has become in the meantime - relatively speaking of course, as Bavaria isn't China, where million cities seem to pop up just like that, within only a few years...

Greetings back to NY (*)!

    Manfred / lini

*)  haven't been to NY myself yet. I do like SF, though - so I could imagine I'd feel somewhat lost in NY...

[glnz]

 
Drake - what's happening bro?  Are you fixing this?  Thanks.
 

[bob3160]

The Avast Self defense Module seems to do more damage to more things than some viruses   
It's also again preventing the Rescue Disc creation and a few other things.