Avast Shutting Down Randomly

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As of July 13 (approximately 30 hours ago), Avast (free) is suddenly shutting down multiple times during the course of the day. I have version 17.5.2302 (build 17.5.3559.176). The first time I notice the dreaded red "x" over the icon, when I restarted the service it required an update which I installed. The next several times, there was no specific message.

I repaired Avast via Control Panel and all seemed to go well. Nonetheless, it continues to randomly shut down. I ran a Trend-Micro Housecall virus scan as well as Malwarebytes full scan and both came up clean. When I tried to run Avast virus scan, the progress sat at "0" for more than an hour.

Looking for help a/s/a/p as Avast has been my only AV program for longer than a decade (!) and I feel nekkid!

Thank you.

P.S. Running 64-bit Window 7 Pro, if that makes any difference.

[Eddy]

Perform a clean installation of avast and see if it solves the problem.

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Thank you for the suggestion. Done ... using avastclear last night. It was off again this morning.

[bob3160]

Which Component is shutting down

There is a known problem with the Behavior Shield not turning on at boot time
on occasion.

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I leave my computer on 24/7 (hence my paranoia), therefore it was not associated with a boot up. I have all four shields activated; safe zone browser, security browser extension and game mode activated ... no other components are installed/activated. Avast has shut down twice since my previous post. These past two times I do not get the "UI Failed to Load ... This is embarassing ... " message (as I was getting for the past two days) but something about "Failed to Start." Nonetheless, Avast restarted and stayed on after clicking "Restart."

I am completely baffled as I have not changed any settings (they are all on default - normal sensitivity). Nor have I changed any settings within my computer (if it ain't broke don't fix it) or downloaded anything (suspicious or otherwise). There is no clue given by Avast other suddenly showing a red "x" indicating the entire program has shut down (meaning no notifications prior to shut down or when restarted).

[goemon01]

Try system restore if u have a point before the problem.(Disable avast self-defense module before try system restore).If u dont have may be your system infected u can try to fix it with Combofix.

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I appreciate your suggestion but I think system restore would be a last resort since I have already reinstalled Avast with no change to this odd behavior. Additionally, I see many other posts indicating I am not alone in this! Also I ran Housecall and Malwarebytes which both came up clean.

Out of morbid curiosity, I am waiting to see if the dreaded red "x" shows up again prior to or subsequent to a definitions update (set to auto, streaming) which may be triggering it (?) Also I have enabled debugging on logs since the last shut down. I can't think what else to do.

[bob3160]

Submitting a support file to Avast:
Instructions how to use it can be easily found:
https://www.avast.com/en-us/faq.php?article=AVKB33#artTitle

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Thanks for the suggestion Bob but I'm sure we are all aware of how notoriously slow Avast support can be and I am unwilling to deal with sporadic protection for the next 2-3 weeks while waiting for them to get around to it. Tech Support has apparently not been able to resolve the issue before as this problem has been widely reported for many months. See: nine pages of forum discussion https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=196459.120 from February 2017 through June 2017 involving various OS (mostly XP and Vista) and various versions of Avast (both paid and free) leads around in circles. And that is only one example. It is both disappointing and frustrating to say the least.

I guess I'll just keep researching until I've tried everything suggested. But other than wasting a couple days of my time, I cannot continue to use something that will not provide reliable protection.

[bob3160]

Your computer, your choice.

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Your computer, your choice.

Nice attitude. Not. sjesme2, I feel ya pain.

[bob3160]

Your computer, your choice.

Nice attitude. Not. sjesme2, I feel ya pain.

Noting to do with attitude. We can only make suggestions and alert Avast as to possible problems.
If a customer decides not to wait for a fix, that's his choice. Hence, your computer, your choice.

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Indeed it is a fact that it is "my computer, my choice" ... although I am trying to resolve the issue and deal with the fact that Avast tech support has been of no help for well over 5 months.

When I did the clean uninstall (avastclear) and manually removed all remaining Avast/Awil folder (only found one btw), CCleaner reported an "Invalid Firewall Rule" in the registry cleaner. I am attaching a picture in the event someone finds a clue to the problem. I have not "fixed" the problem but sense it may lead to a possible fix that no one has yet suggested.

Any help with this is appreciated.

P.S. Best I can do with getting the "whole" line(s) and still keep it legible

[bob3160]

That pertains to the SafeZone Browser. If you aren't using it, you don't need the entry.
Not that I think that has anything to do with your problem.