NEW Version: 18.8.2356

[schmidthouse]

Downloaded the 'off line Installer' for AIS
Last version for XP/vista......Going to want to keep this set up file saved

[Asyn]

ok thanks i have not changed the default settings when installing avast so it should be on auto, right?

Yes.

[Vitdom]

When is the New Settings look and feel going to be released?

[DavidR]

Downloaded the 'off line Installer' for AIS
Last version for XP/vista......Going to want to keep this set up file saved

I think that Avast need to do some work before this can be considered (saving the last of-line version) ready to split off XP.  For the last three versions 18.6, 18.7 and 18.8 AvastSvc.exe has a CPU problem, certainly on my system. 

In 18.6 after a few days use (no restart) I was finding AvastSvc.exe at 50% (occasionally higher) when there was no other activity reported on the Task Manager.  Closing down all other user programs made no difference avastsvc.exe sat there on 50% CPU.  The only solution was to reboot and wait for it to happen again.

When 18.7 was released I did a clean reinstall, but that too made no difference at some point the avastsvc.exe CPU spiked and remained at 50% or more.  Even with 50% remaining it had a massive impact on other running programs. Firefox in particular.

So I may need to go even further back than 18.6 and not 18.8.

[schmidthouse]

Downloaded the 'off line Installer' for AIS
Last version for XP/vista......Going to want to keep this set up file saved

I think that Avast need to do some work before this can be considered (saving the last of-line version) ready to split off XP.  For the last three versions 18.6, 18.7 and 18.8 AvastSvc.exe has a CPU problem, certainly on my system. 

In 18.6 after a few days use (no restart) I was finding AvastSvc.exe at 50% (occasionally higher) when there was no other activity reported on the Task Manager.  Closing down all other user programs made no difference avastsvc.exe sat there on 50% CPU.  The only solution was to reboot and wait for it to happen again.

When 18.7 was released I did a clean reinstall, but that too made no difference at some point the avastsvc.exe CPU spiked and remained at 50% or more.  Even with 50% remaining it had a massive impact on other running programs. Firefox in particular.

So I may need to go even further back than 18.6 and not 18.8.

Hi David
That certainly sounds discomforting and has no doubt caused you much dissatisfaction.

I have not seen that on my XP system and have the latest version installed.
I use my XP for very specific limited tasks (sometimes online). My system has 2GB of RAM and for me the BIGGEST issue I have is the amount of RAM used in the functioning of the GUI
I have repeated mentioned/Asked if the developers could 'lighten up' the GUI for those xp users with limited RAM
To this point 'never' have got a response.

Edit: I should add that to minimize system resources impact by Avast I only install File and Web Shields.

[DavidR]

<snip quotes>
Hi David
That certainly sounds discomforting and has no doubt caused you much dissatisfaction.

I have not seen that on my XP system and have the latest version installed.
I use my XP for very specific limited tasks (sometimes online). My system has 2GB of RAM and for me the BIGGEST issue I have is the amount of RAM used in the functioning of the GUI
I have repeated mentioned/Asked if the developers could 'lighten up' the GUI for those xp users with limited RAM
To this point 'never' have got a response.

It is more of an inconvenience (pain in the backside) the hope being that the last version to support XP/Vista would be bug free/bullet proof, instead it has issues, certainly for me.   

A long time ago I always shut down the system every night, so it may not get to the point of requiring a reboot to resolve the high CPU state of avastsvc.exe.

As I said even after closing all the normal programs run by the user the CPU doesn't drop, so I did capture a screenshot.

[bob3160]

I may help to shutdown the system a bit more often.
Many things build up in the background.

[DavidR]

I may help to shutdown the system a bit more often.
Many things build up in the background.

This system has been pretty stable (and fast) for a considerable time it is only recently around the 18.6 program version and outside of avast very little has changed.

The main problem all of the CPU activity is down to AvastSvc.exe and it is still there when I close the programs that I regularly and certainly all browser, email, internet activity (those that generate activity that avast is likely to be scanning) and yet the AvastSvc.exe doesn't release/reduce the CPU activity. 

This is why I posted the screenshot which only shows 3 process names with any activity:
1.  System Idle Process (49%), which isn't actually using any CPU but reporting what is available.
2.  AvastSvc.exe (48%).
3.  System (2%).

Essentially if there is no other activity avast (avastsvc.exe) shouldn't be scanning.

[maxxp]

It is 3 or 4 new avast version  but unsecapp.exe is still being started up 

[Asyn]

When is the New Settings look and feel going to be released?

Afaik, it's planned for V19.

[predatorz]

Update to 18.8.2356 successfully from clicking on Update for Program.

[DavidR]

Downloaded the 'off line Installer' for AIS
Last version for XP/vista......Going to want to keep this set up file saved

I think that Avast need to do some work before this can be considered (saving the last of-line version) ready to split off XP.  For the last three versions 18.6, 18.7 and 18.8 AvastSvc.exe has a CPU problem, certainly on my system. 

In 18.6 after a few days use (no restart) I was finding AvastSvc.exe at 50% (occasionally higher) when there was no other activity reported on the Task Manager.  Closing down all other user programs made no difference avastsvc.exe sat there on 50% CPU.  The only solution was to reboot and wait for it to happen again.

When 18.7 was released I did a clean reinstall, but that too made no difference at some point the avastsvc.exe CPU spiked and remained at 50% or more.  Even with 50% remaining it had a massive impact on other running programs. Firefox in particular.

So I may need to go even further back than 18.6 and not 18.8.

Well I have done a clean install (last night before midnight as the cpu spike occurred again), going back to Avast Free version 18.5.2342 and we will have to see how this goes.  But for me this issue warranted removal of 18.8.2356, the spikes were becoming more frequent.

It is 3 or 4 new avast version  but unsecapp.exe is still being started up 

I had noticed that, but I couldn't pin this down as a possible cause.  However, having gone back to 18.5.2342 on this XP Pro system, I haven't seen unsecapp.exe in the task manager, but it is still very early to see if it running is directly related to avast or if it will come back with 18.5.2342 installed also.

[lukor]

It is 3 or 4 new avast version  but unsecapp.exe is still being started up 

Hi maxxp, is the unsecapp.exe using a big amount of resources (CPU or Memory) ? AFAIK it is part of the windows implementation of WMI. Windows starts this process if an app wants to receive async callback about various events, like devices, windows services, running processes, networking. It is not started by Avast directly. My understanding is, that asynchronous callbacks are favorable over constant polling - which might, however, remove the unsecapp.exe from the process list.

[midnight]

I'm not going to update for a week or maybe longer.

[Asyn]

I'm not going to update for a week or maybe longer.

As this version fixed a critical vulnerability, I'd suggest to update asap.