Avast 4.7.869 and Norton Goback

[alanrf]

I posted this comment in the avast beta thread that has now been declared obsolete. It received no response from the avast team (not exactly an unknown experience).

Just one of those nagging ... I can't prove it (yet) ... concerns.

I installed this beta on 08/03.  Since then I have been experiencing significant problems with Norton GoBack (4.02.309).  Basically ... Norton GoBack is telling me (on every system hard start) that I can only go back as far as the most recent system start (my typical timeframe is 10-14 days).

I'm definitely not saying this an avast problem ... but the avast beta update is the only change I have made in the past week.  I have never experienced this problem with Goback before and there have been no updates to Goback in living memory.

Just wondering if there are any boot record/startup/file system intercept changes in this beta.

I have just restored my system to an (Acronis TrueImage) image from 10 days ago  so I am back pre-beta of avast.  I'll leave it and monitor for a few days before I try the beta again.

Do you guys test with Goback?

It did seek specific information. 

Since restoring my sysem to a pre-beta avast configuration normal Goback functioning has been in place for the last 24 hours.  Again, I cannot with any certainty ascribe the Goback problem to the avast beta.  It may just be a coincidence that it started after installing the beta and ceased after reverting my system to a pre-beta condition. 

So I would ask respectfully for an answer to my "wondering" and specific question to the avast team. 

I would appreciate hearing from any other avast user's of Goback that are using the latest release of avast with Norton Goback 4 without any issues in Goback. 

[Lisandro]

Just to mention that I've read but didn't know how to manage this.
I've used GoBack for some years, after all, too buggy and when I needed it, it did not work...
Right now, it can't be used in multi-boot systems and won't work on mine (XP + Kubuntu + Vista). 

I'm waiting an answer from them too, but here: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=22430

[alanrf]

The past weekend showed me an avast pop-up to tell me that there was an avast update (4.7.871).

I confess that, after some days of restoring my system configuration and having Goback perform as usual I had lapsed from checking its status every few hours after 6 days.

Trusting (as I have beome accustomed to) avast - I went ahead with the update. 

This evening, one of the folks I support called me to ask how my Goback was doing and should they install 4.7.871.  My reply was almost without thought - I'm sure it is ok - let me check. 

Ah well, I found that all of my Goback history was also eliminated - coincidentally just after the time I installed the avast update.   

I am not quite so sure that this is just another coincidence. Since the avast team deem this post unworthy of response ... I think it is time for me to part company with avast ... at least for a while to see how Goback responds in an environment without avast and avast updates for a longer period.
 

[igor]

As far as I know, GoBack uses a special disk format (I guess it probably stores the restore information somewhere in hidden areas of the disk?)
avast!, on the other hand, is an ordinary program - the update/installation just places/updates a few avast! files on the disk - i.e. nothing that thousands of other programs wouldn't do. So, I can't see any way how avast! can interfere with GoBack. OK, theoretically (and it's pure speculation from me because I really have no idea how GoBack works exactly) there could be a conflict between avast! (disk access) drivers and GoBack (again, don't know how "deep" it works) - but such a conflict would be permanent, not something that appears during avast! program update only.

So, for me, it's simply a GoBack problem - because I really don't see any way avast! could cause this.

[roro]

I updated Avast to version (4.7.871).  My GoBack has all its restore points, and I have had no problem.  I have version 3.1 Personal Edition.  I did notice that I lost restore points last week and thought it had to do with the Windows Security updates.  Is it possible you might have installed the security updates at the same time, and that caused the problem?

[alanrf]

igor,

thanks for a response. 

I was using Goback version 3 since before I ever started using avast. I used version 3 along with avast without any issues.

10 months ago I switched to Goback 4 (now owned by Norton) to take advantage of an 8Gb recovery file (rather than the 4Gb max of version 3).  The Goback recovery file is just a normal NTFS file - it is not a partition, but Goback does modify the MBR since it provides boot time recovery options. 

I have been using version 4 for 10 months along with avast without any problems until I installed beta 4.7.867. 

Since I installed Goback 4 there have been absolutely no updates to Goback.

I was a little troubled last week when Vlk reported in another thread issues between avast and PGP as being a "file intercept" issue that could not be resolved.  Clearly Goback does involve file intercepts.

After finding the issue with Goback losing all its restore history I restored my system from an image backup.  To be extra sure I uninstalled and reinstalled Goback 4.  I then monitored Goback every few hours last week for 6 days.  As I said I then got complacent and stopped. 

I do know (to answer roro's suggestion) that the installation of the Microsoft monthly updates last Tuesday did not affect Goback because I was monitoring it every few hours at that time and continued to do so for days after that.   

I do find it interesting that roro reports that at some time in the last week she lost Goback recovery as well.  I assume that she would have received the update released as 4.6.869 and installed that before the unannounced update 4.7.871 popped up this weekend.

[igor]

I'm not familiar with GoBack, but I believe it uses a special partition format (or at least it did in some of the previous versions) - I remember some "conflicts" with BART CD. If you plug the GoBack-ed disk into another computer without booting from it, or boot from a CD (like BART), you won't see the disk (or partition?) at all, because it doesn't have the common format that Windows recognize and understand.
[Again, I don't know if it's true for all versions of GoBack and all possible settings.]

Anyway, it doesn't matter - I guess I misread your post. I thought you were saying that the recovery points disappear after each avast! update (such as 869, 871, etc.). But I guess you are saying that the recovery points aren't created anymore since some time...?

[Vlk]

I was a little troubled last week when Vlk reported in another thread issues between avast and PGP as being a "file intercept" issue that could not be resolved.  Clearly Goback does involve file intercepts.

The issue with PGP online encryption was of a different nature IMHO - very similar to issues seen with multiple AV programs (on-access scanners, to be more precise) installed at the same time. In all cases, such an issue usually leads to deadlocks (i.e. computer hangs) as opposed to simple malfunctioning of a program's feature.

If you're saying that you can't create any recovery points when avast is active, it would be definitely helpful to find out if this occurs even with avast's Standard Shield (or any other o/a shield) disabled.

Or maybe even avast uninstalled.

Since the avast team deem this post unworthy of response ...

Sorry, I didn't notice your original post in the "Introducing" thread. And, as an apology for not replying to THIS thread earlier, let me just say that I just got back from the US (and Igor was on holidays, too).


Thanks
Vlk

[Lisandro]

I'm not familiar with GoBack, but I believe it uses a special partition format (or at least it did in some of the previous versions)

It uses a file, not a partition, to store the data. At least, version 3 and earlier 4 do this.
The driver is loaded just after booting and afects all partitions.
You can't use GoBack with dual boot systems.

You won't see the disk (or partition?) at all, because it doesn't have the common format that Windows recognize and understand.

Any number of partitions is showed just like one, I mean, all partitions are showed as being just one if GoBack driver is not loaded.